Upside down catfish-need help

**PandaLUV** · 09-26-2010, 12:07 PM

Hello there.
This is my first post, and i am very new to fish keeping, so excuse me if i sound like an idiot.
My plan is to have three upside down catfish in my tank, but im not entirely sure how aggressive the can get. i was just wondering if i were to have pygmy cory's in the tank with them, would they be to small and be bullied by the catfish.
thanks, 100% hugz and kissez.

**SCcten** · 09-26-2010, 07:08 PM

What size tank do you have? I have a upside down cat and while they aren't overly agressive. They will defend there area and will eat smaller fish. If you want 3 you should have room for all of them to have their own areas in the tank.

**Australian natives** · 09-27-2010, 01:13 AM

sorry i have no idea about upside down cats =P. good luck

**hari-goshi** · 09-27-2010, 09:59 PM

Im assuming the upside down cat your asking about is Synodontis nigriventris.They are generally peaceful but prefer to be in groups of 5+. In a 29gallon tank(noticed this from your other post) you will want to decorate the tank to encourage the synos to use the mid to upper levels of the tank to eliminate competition with the corys. Driftwood with long branches, floating plants or tall plants with broad leaves are a few options.
If the upside down cat is not Synodontis nigriventris then it will most likely grow too large for your tank.

**smaug** · 09-27-2010, 10:11 PM

I keep a rather large fat featherfin in a 58 gal with several small coorys including a dwarf.they remain un eaten and the ff pays them no mind at all.they have rather small mouths for there size and would not be able eat any but th e tiniest of fish and are not generally fish eaters anyway.fry and eggs will be hoovered immediatly.

**PandaLUV** · 09-28-2010, 12:27 AM

Originally Posted by hari-goshi

Im assuming the upside down cat your asking about is Synodontis nigriventris.They are generally peaceful but prefer to be in groups of 5+. In a 29gallon tank(noticed this from your other post) you will want to decorate the tank to encourage the synos to use the mid to upper levels of the tank to eliminate competition with the corys. Driftwood with long branches, floating plants or tall plants with broad leaves are a few options.
If the upside down cat is not Synodontis nigriventris then it will most likely grow too large for your tank.

actually i was meaning to ask but forgot. i read on the interenet that there was another species of UD cat, and was wondering if there was a key way to identify the two seperate species?

Thnx for the help guys, really appreciated.

**HeyNow** · 10-19-2010, 01:05 AM

The only true upside down cat is the Synodontis nigriventris. My local petland sells Syndontis Eupterus as upside down cats but its not the same species. The S. Eupterus are also called Featherfin cats and will get quite large- up to 8-9 inches and they get FAT too- they have a lot of girth.

I would recommend this book (link below)- its very useful and it has a nice big section on all of the various synodontis catfish species- it will help you recognize them and will explain the differences

http://www.amazon.com/Tropical-Fishe...7450092&sr=8-8

This is a eupterus (not a true upside down cat)

Eupterus- Even though it is upside down in this pic- still not the S. nigriventris

This is a S. nigriventris- a real upside down cat