# help with identification and behavior



## orthikon (Aug 20, 2005)

the fish has been up by walls of the aquarium instead of the bottom. Could it be hungry? So far i've been feeding them flakes and a couple of flakes fall down the surface. I've only had him for a day and I'm a total fish newbie.

BTW sorry for the large pic I don't have any image editing software right now.

Thanks


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## Courtney (Jan 18, 2005)

well it looks like some kind of pleco, and he would probably love some Algea Wafers


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## cucci67 (Aug 3, 2005)

I can't really see from the pic, but does its mouth look like a suction cup. If so then it is some sort of pleco and you should feed it algae tablets. If it has a larger "regular" mouth, then it isn't a pleco, and should be fed a bottom feeder/catfish tablet.


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## orthikon (Aug 20, 2005)

So flakes would not be sufficient for a pleco?


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## flynngriff (Jan 19, 2005)

Depends on the variety of pleco... Also, some are carnivores and do not eat algae... 

The picture isn't good enough for me to tell you what kind of fish it is, although it's likely either a pleco of some kind, or a synodontis of some kind. Do you remember what the store had it labeled as? Also, how much did you pay for it?


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## garfieldnfish (Jan 18, 2005)

This is a pleco and I'm tempted to say either an L333 or 260, hard to tell. But go to Plantecatfish http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/com_list.php and compare. A lot of plecos are carnivores and prefer bloodworms, mysis shrimp, shrimp pellets and frozen brine shrimp to algae wafers, but not knowing for certain what you have I would attempt both to see what he goes for.
Like already mentioned it certainly would help us to know how much you paid for it.
I have carnivorous, wood eating and algae eating plecos and while they will munch a little on flakes once they hit the gravel, sinking pellets are prefered. Besides, my other fish pick the best morsels out of the flakes before they hit the bottom and my plecos would only get left overs. Not fair to the coolest fish around. (plecos are my favorite in case that's not obvious)


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## orthikon (Aug 20, 2005)

got the algae discs (spriluna to be exact).

i got the tank from a friend and he doesn't remember how much (just <$5) he also told me that this was a catfish.

garfieldnfish:

i looked at the pics of the L333/260 and they don't have antennae (dunno if this is the right term) that's one piece of information i forgot to mention and it also isn't apparent in the picture.

i hope i didn't waste money on the food if it's not a pleco. on the back it says for all bottom feeders/algae eaters so will this food be okay if it were not a pleco(catfish?)

thanks


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## Jonno (May 22, 2005)

its dif a plec i suggest u feed him alage pellets that sink and if you have algae in the tank he or she will also feed of that i would says its a zebra plec but i dnt think it is


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## malawi4me2 (Jan 18, 2005)

Are you guys sure that it's even a pleco? I immediately thought of one of the Synodontis cats, possibly _Synodontis robertsi_ or a young _S. eupterus_... It appears to have a prominent adipose fin behind a large dorsal fin. It's a tall bodied fish also, where (aside from the Panaques) most plecos are "flatter" (for lack of a better word). It's eyes also look more like the eyes of a Syno than a Pleco to me. What do y'all think? Orthikon, how big is this fish?


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## flynngriff (Jan 19, 2005)

Like I said... No way to tell from the photo if it's a pleco or not. I'd lean towards a type of Synodontis catfish, but I don't know of any with those markings. I can't say for sure that it's not a pleco cause I can't see it's mouth clearly, and a lot of plecos have similar markings.

See if you can take a better photo... And please don't start dumping in different kinds of food trying to see what it eats. That will polute your water, and the fish can stand not eating for a day or two while we figure this out.

-Flynn


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## orthikon (Aug 20, 2005)

Sorry for the delay guys just got home. Hope these pics will do I will try to get better ones I'm too clumsy I keep hitting the tank and the fish move so it's hard to get a clear picture.

edit: the fish is about 2 3/4 to 3 inches long


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## mr.dark-saint (Aug 16, 2005)

that's a Syno. It'll eat anything meaty like Brine Shrimp, Worms (of all types), Sinking Pellets, Flake (basically any and everything).


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## Lydia (Feb 6, 2005)

Yeah that's definately not a pleco. Just out of curiosity, what else do you have in the tank with it? It looke like an awesome tank! Could you by any chance post a full tank pic?


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## flynngriff (Jan 19, 2005)

Yep, I'd say it's a Synodontis Eupterus. 

I'm 100% sure on the "Synodontis", and 95% sure on the "Eupterus"...

The markings can vary from spots to the intricate maze this one seems to have. It also looks pretty fat. I'd cut back on the feeding a good bit!

This guys are pretty hardy fish that don't really have any special requirements that I can think of... They can get up to 6 inches long, and they grow pretty fast.

-Flynn


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## orthikon (Aug 20, 2005)

Thanks for the responses guys!

Regarding the behavior of the syno the first two days i had it it was just swimming by the bottom surface. Lately it it's by the walls of the aquarium, to be exact by the thermometer it seems to swim around the suction cups. Could it be looking for algae? cleaned out the tank (thoroughly) when my friend gave it to me. For now I'll be feeding it the pellets that I got above before I go to bed.

Lydia:

The tanks doesn't look spectacular it's just a 10g and it is pretty empty right now. pics are here: http://photobucket.com/albums/v165/orthikon/fishy/

I n addition to the syno, I have two glassfish and a blackskirt tetra.

The glassfish I have look like these:
http://www.fishesnpets.net/explore/...1glassfish2.jpg

I've read that they are brackishwater fish but one that had this description didn't match the pics so any help is appreciated if this is not the right forum pls direct me to the right one.


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## malawi4me2 (Jan 18, 2005)

Yep, I'd agree with Flynngriff. Looks like a young _S. eupterus _to me also. I have one with my Malawi Cichlids that I've had for about 18 months. She's grown from about 3/4" to almost 6" now. Very peaceful, hardy, and will eat anything that'll fit in her mouth! One of my favorite fish! Those stripes will probably change into a spotted pattern at about 4". Can you get a side view pic showing the dorsal fin?


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## solar-ton (Aug 15, 2005)

its _synodontis schoutedeni_ if you dont belive me look at this.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Solar-ton might be onto something. How big IS this fish? If it's a little juvenile, then eupterus is a good candidate, but if it's an adult, it's not.


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## solar-ton (Aug 15, 2005)

judging by the size of the fish to substrate ratio i looks only about 4"


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## orthikon (Aug 20, 2005)

it's 2 3/4 to 3 inches long

i'll try to take a better pic with the dorsal fin later.


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## zenyfish (Jan 18, 2005)

*Eupterus*

Eupterus. Eyes too big, dorsal too long, color too white, and whiskers too dark to be Schoutedeni IMO.


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## orthikon (Aug 20, 2005)

I've looked around and it definitely looks like a eupterus.

So what should I feed this catfish? So far I've been feeding him flakes and algae discs.


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## malawi4me2 (Jan 18, 2005)

It'll eat just about anything. Mine just eats the pellets (NLS Cichlid Formula) that fall to the bottom before my cichlids can eat them, and as I said, she's grown very well on this diet! Also, she loves live brine shrimp! Just about any standard aquarium fare is good... A high quality pellet/flake food, frozen food, live food... It should be easy to please!


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## Georgia Peach (Sep 23, 2005)

nice fish!


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