Synodontis multipunctatus - February 27, 1996
horus says: ok, let's start before it gets too late. first of all excuse my
somewhat bad typing.
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horus says: standard disclaimer...everything i say is based on my personal
experience, experiences of fellow hobbyists and literature I've
read.
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horus says: synodontis multipunctatus is one of the most beautiful catfish in
lake tanganyika.
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Roger says: the room has been muted, only Horus and I can now speak. IF you
have questions, please ask me for the mic, and give it back to me
when you finish
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horus says: they are relatively common, extremely hardy once acclimated from
the wild, and with them being bred in captivity by more hobbyists,
they are becoming more readily available and affordable to the
general public.
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horus says: it is a schooling/shoaling catfish endemic to most parts of lake
tanganyika.
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horus says: the somewhat interesting characteristic about this fish is the way
it spawns, or at least has been spawned in captivity.
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horus says: it is not known exactly how this fish breeds naturally in the
lake, but in captivity it has been bred using a host fish...that is,
another species of fish that is currently breeding.
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horus says: this is necessary because the catfish have little or no interest
in taking care of the eggs once they are laid in the tank, thus they
must get the assistance of another species of MOUTHbrooding fish(a
fish that incubates their eggs in their mouth)
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horus says: the purpose of the host fish is solely to incubate the synodontis
eggs as in captivity the synos seem to have no interest in
whatsoever.
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horus says: i have bred synodontis multipunctatus on 3 different occasions,
each time using a different host fish. i am currently breeding them
in a 55g(4') tank using electric yellows as my host fish.
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horus says: i have 2 wild trios of synos, and 2M,7F adult jumbo electric
yellows.
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horus says: other host fish that i have used in the past are a. burtoni, "hap"
callipterus, and p. multicolor(Egyptian mouthbrooder).
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horus says: the key to making this work is that the synos must be in with a
group of fish that is actively breeding.
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horus says: also, the host fish cannot be something that is too aggressive
that
they will not allow the synos to breed in this "cuckoo-spawning"
manner.
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horus says: the bigger the group of host fish(and it should be as female heavy
as possible), the better your chances of breeding this fish. it can
be done, and is not as hard as you might think.
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horus says: before i describe my breeding tank setup, I'll briefly describe
the manner in which this fish spawns for those of you that are
unfamiliar. for those of you that know, bear with me. :)
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horus says: basically here's what happens...you have to make sure the synos
are well conditioned. i isolate them and put them in their own tank
where they are conditioned for 1.5-2 weeks.
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horus says: during this time, i feed them an extremely hi protein diet
consisting of mysis shrimp(frozen), bloodworms, mosquito larvae,
etc. anything that's high in protein.
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horus says: after conditioning, add them into the tank with your colony of
host fish.
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horus asks: you will be able to tell ANYTIME any of your host fish are
spawning. how?
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horus says: because the synos will be swarming and swimming around very
actively. otherwise with the exception of feeding time, they will be
hiding, based on my tank setup.
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horus says: the host fish spawns, the female and male are circling around
doing the dance, etc. and then she drops the first egg(s). male host
fertilizes them and female picks them up and puts them in mouth for
incubation
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horus says: during one of these circling/spawning moves, almost as quick as a
flash of light, the female syno will swoop down right on top of the
site where the host fish are breeding.
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horus says: the male syno is millimeters behind her.
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horus says: the female host lays a egg(s), but before the male host can
fertilize them and the female host can pick them up in her mouth,
the female syno(with male behind her) comes in to the hosts' nest,
eats the hosts' eggs, lays a bunch of eggs over the hosts' nest
area, and the host female comes back around to pick up her own eggs
to brood, only to pick up syno eggs.
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horus says: she will not only pick up a few, but as many as she sees in the
general area.
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horus says: for breeders purposes, the others can be removed via a turkey
baster.
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horus says: and incubated.
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horus says: thus, the host fish ends up incubating the syno eggs. the syno
eggs hatch in 2 days, whereas with most species I've used as hosts
don't hatch until 5 days.
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horus says: newly hatched synos begin eating whatever's closest to them,
usually the hosts eggs or other syno eggs.
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horus says: the breeding tank is setup with large pieces of slate on top of
reno caves and flowerpots. there are 3 "tiers" in the center of the
tank and much open space for breeding. the synos usually hang out in
the "tiers".
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horus says: the fry of these synos are quite hardy and can begin eating live
baby brine almost immediately. keep them well fed and mortalities
will be minimal. due to the cannibialistic nature of this fish, you
have to keep the babies in a manner where they have room to get away
from each other but where they can find the food as well.
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horus says: the catfish are clear->whitish when they hatch, only turning
brownish after 4-5 weeks or so. they have most of their adult colors
at 2+ months.
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horus says: that's about all i can think of off the top of my head. I'm sure i
left out alot of details, so if you want to pass the mic around, go
for it.
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Roger asks: questions?
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horus says: questions, discussion, whatever...
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Bard asks: How to you incubate the eggs the host fish misses?
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horus says: experiences of others here who have bred to tried to breed them...
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Roger says: let me also add that in Loiselle and Pool's Catfish and Loach book
(reference information available in the bookshelf here), they
discuss this species' breeding as well
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Arcas says: are there any other syn species that have been breed in captivity
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Severus bubbles: how important are water conditions to breeding?
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horus says: i incubate them in tumblers that i had made for me. i understand
that you can get tumblers commercially for as low as $10-15. don't
know how efficient they are though.
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Severus bubbles: test
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Severus says: test
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horus says: slow down on the ?'s just a tad...i can do one at a time.
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horus says: arcas, s. ocellifer and s. eupterus have definitely been bred in
captivity. I'm sure there are others that i can't think of, maybe
the generic lace cats
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horus says: water conditions don't seem to be as important to this fish to
breed, but has to be right for the host fish.
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Roger says: s. nigriventris as well
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Juanmi asks: Is there any other synodontis that you know Jeff that follows
multipunctatus technique for breeding?
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horus says: my breeding tank is filtered with aqua clear 500 and tetra phaseII
sponge on an AC802 powerhead. 1/4 inch of sand on the bottom
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horus says: yes juan, the petricola are cuckoo spawners as well. and also the
"dwarf" petricola. i have never bred either of them.
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Juanmi says: Thanks
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horus says: what intrigues me is how this fish multiplies in the lake...what
it uses as a host fish, or if it just scatters the eggs like it does
in my tank and leave them and some hatch.
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Arcas says: this Cuckoo method is strange... bizarre... This had to be
discovered accidently... I would have freaked out..if I stripped a
mouthbrooder and discovered baby syn...
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Roger says: I wonder if any studies have been done on the matter
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horus says: btw, the synos apparently lay up to 40 eggs.
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horus says: i stripped a h. callipterus once and there were 32 eggs in her
mouth.
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Roger says: another interesting this is that the syno eggs are different
colors from the cichlid eggs, yet the cichlids will pick them up
anyway
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horus says: you will probably only witness the actual breeding act once if
you're lucky because I've only seen it happen three times.
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Severus bubbles: do the synos help the cichlids in any way?
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Severus bubbles: or are they just parasites?
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horus says: if you use an mbuna, the mbuna egg is 2-3 times the size of a syno
egg, but if you use something like p. multicolor or burtoni when
they are young, they can't tell(i believe).
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Roger says: the example used in Loiselle's book is p. lombardoi, I think
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Bard asks: is there enough sexual dimorphism in the multipunctatus that I will
be able to identify the sexes at the fish store when I buy tomorrow?
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horus says: i don't know if the synos help or hinder the host fish.
eventually, some of the host fish do get wise to the synos and at
that point, you have to change hosts or give them a break.
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Roger laughs.
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horus says: yes bard. if you look at the fish swimming from right to left, the
males have a little "penile" type tube, short albeit easily
recognizable.
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horus says: a little extension maybe 3-4mm
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Bard nods his head in understanding.
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horus says: and none on the females.
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Bard grins.
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horus says: they do take a long time to grow out. i have some that are 3 years
old and they are barely 3".
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Bard asks: at what age do they breed?
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Arcas says: they are really slow growers..wow
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horus says: if you want to breed them, buy wild adults. this is your best
bet. I'd guess that the F0 adults that come in at 5-6" are at least
5 years old.
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Bard nods his head in understanding.
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Roger asks: do you know their life expectancy?
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horus says: I'd guess that they breed after 5 years. I've found females to be
larger than males, at least in the groups I've had.
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horus says: don't know, rog. never had one croak on me. the F0s come in in
good shape and this is a bullet-proof catfish.
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Roger nods his head in understanding.
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Bard asks: are they omnivorous?
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horus says: i think they'll eat anything you throw in. at least, try to eat
it.
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Bard nods his head in understanding.
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Severus bubbles: how do they get along with other synos?
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horus says: start the babies off on baby brine for 2-3 weeks, then you could
probably go to finely crumpled flake.
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horus says: no problems. most synos only fight amongst their own kind
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Severus bubbles: what would be needed to grow a normal spawn out for 2 months?
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Arcas says: they are slow growers , Ken
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horus says: there is no normal spawn with these. it's entirely dependent on
A) if your host fish let the synos do this, and B) how many syno
eggs were picked up by the host, because what's left is probably
eaten quickly by the bystanders unless you are right there to get
them out.
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horus says: but if you had say 50 catfish, you could easily grow them out for
2 months in a 20g, preferably a 40. bare tank, of course.
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Bard asks: no cover to prevent the fry from lunching on each other?
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Bard asks: just room to flee?
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horus says: I'm sorry, i meant bare-bottom tank. i use a few large smooth
rocks and a few pieces of slate stacked at angles. simple, but just
break up the tank a bit.
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Bard nods his head in understanding.
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horus says: i.e. lean the slate against the corners at 45 degrees.
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Roger asks: any more questions?
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Juanmi applauds
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Roger says: thanks for hosting tonight, Horus
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Juanmi says: Nice talk Jeff
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Bard says: well I am intrigued, thanks for the great presentation on a great
fish.