synodontis catfish for a 55 gallon

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
H

HelloFrresh

Feeder Fish
Nov 26, 2018
4
1
3
Xenomorph Prime
hello, everyone, I'm new here but not new to fish keeping
so I need a type of synodontis catfish that can live in a 55-gallon tank as a pair along with some yellow lab cichlids I like synodontis eupterus but I'm not sure if I could have 2 of them the tank is already cycled and I plan to do 50% water changes weekly (if needed) also I have a budget so it would have to be under 20 dollars for both fish (I plan on buying them young so they are cheaper)
 
Perhaps Synodontis nigriventris aka the upside down catfish? Their size is perfect for a 55 gallon however I’m not quite sure how they would fare with yellow labs.
 
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ok thank you so much i can get these at lfs very cheep i can see if they would fight with yellow lab cichlids i think i will give it a try and if it doesnt work i think i will just get 1 feather fined is it ok if i just have 2 or 3 of these or should i go with like 4 yellow labs and 4 upsidown catfish
 
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African cichlids are jerks but the Synodontis catfish usually do well with them. IDK about the nigriventris specifically though.

The nigriventris are social fish and do well with their kin. I'd think the more you got, the better.

The eupterus grow a bit too big for a 55 gal but if you plan to upgrade, they could do ok for a few years. These however are a gamble with each other. The scenarios have been reported by keepers from hellish to paradisiacal and everything in between.

In general 2 is a bad number for territorial or hierarchy-enforcing fish, such as the eupterus. But a successful cohab of two eupterus has been reported before.

******

If I may, please, consider utilizing punctuation. It would make reading your posts less time consuming and they'd be clearer too.
 
OK so no, eruptus unless getting a bigger tank(I won't be upgrading). So I will make sure that they get along, if they don't I will get rid of one of the 2 types. I will start off with 4 yellow labs and 4 syno nigriventris, Would this work and would I be able to get more synos or labs?
(Will start useing better grammer and spelling.)
 
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It may work. Sometimes one needs to try and see. Unless 10 people tried this exact combo and it didn't work for 9. But no one else is chiming in.

Eupterus easily live for 20-30+ years. At some point you could have upgraded.
 
I have used S petricola "dwarf" in tanks of 55 gallon and up, with African cichlids, and without a problem.
Maybe the name has been upgraded since then.


in the tank above I kept a trio, with Saratherodon linneus

and then later with Lepidiolamprologus
 
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Petricola would be perfect. Multipunctatus would also work well. Nigraventis get a little bigger but should also be good. All of these do better in groups of 3+ usually.
 
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