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Goldfish for Sale
Upside Down Catfish
and
other Species of
Synodontis Catfish
Click
here
now to buy
Upside Down
Catfish from us.
This video shows the dark silhouettes of two
Upside Down Catfish swimming under a piece of
driftwood.
This video shows a Synodontis nyassae catfish resting on a big rock.
Here is another Synodontis nyassae catfish looking for something to eat.
Click on the images above.
Scientific Name:
Synodontis
nigriventris
Comments
All Synodontis Catfish are very good aquarium fish. They get along
well with other fish, and they're
energetic, healthy, and interesting to watch. Many of them swim upside down, when they are excited or hungry. The Upside Down Catfish, Synodontis
nigriventris, swim upside down most of the
time.
There are many species of Synodontis catfish and all of them are usually nocturnal, so they need a cave or a piece of drift wood to live
under during the day.
Be sure the rocks or pieces of pipe and everything else you put in your aquarium will not contaminate the water.
Click
here
to read about how to avoid contaminating your aquarium.
Synodontis
Picture Gallery
The Upside Down Catfish, shown above,
is swimming around the aquarium
upside down. Upside Down Cats are hardy and energetic, rarely bother other fish and are rarely bothered by other fish. They often live for many years. Click
here
for more details about buying Upside Down Catfish and other wild fish from us.
A
very good
aquarium fish.
Synodontis
multipunctatus,
shown above,
whose ancestors
lived in Lake
Tanganyika in
East Africa, but
this fish was
born and raised
on a famous fish
farm. About 3"
in this photo
and can grow to
be about 11" in
a large aquarium
with good care.
A very good
aquarium fish.
Synodontis
eupterus,
shown above, which
was imported as
a wild fish from
West Africa.
This fish is now
about 1.5" long
and can grow to
be about about
8" long in an
aquarium. A very
good aquarium
fish.
So-called
Leopard
Synodontis
that may be a
hybrid. That is
to say, it
parents were
different
species of
Synodontis
catfish.
The fish, shown
above,
was
often
incorrectly
called
a
Synodontis
decorus,
which
is
close
to
the
scientific
name
for
this
species.
English
words
do
have
gender,
do
they?
But
Latin
words
do,
and
the
Latin
word
Synodontis
is
feminine,
and
so
cannot
be
correctly
paired
with
the
masculine
Latin
word
decorus.
So
the
correct
Latin
name
for
this
species
is
Synodontis
decora,
and
perhaps
the
common
name
should
be
the
Decora
Catfish,
not
Decorus.
By
the
way,
whether
an
individual
fish
of
this
species
is a
male
or
female,
the
scientific
name
is
still
Decora.
Confusing?
Maybe
so.
Scientific
names
can
be
useful
and
helpful,
but
if
they
annoy
you,
ignore
them!
Synodontis
is a
huge
genus
of
catfish
species,
and
most
Synodontis
are
very
good
aquarium
fish.
Some
grow
so
big
that
they'll
eventually
need
a
huge
aquarium,
which
is
not
so
good
for
most
aquarists.
But
some
Synodontis
grow
to
only
about
5"
to
7".
Decora
Catfish
grow
to
about
10",
but
some
get
as
big
as
12"
long.
That
makes
them
too
big
for
most
aquariums,
but
about
the
right
size
for
really
big
aquariums
...
think
250-gallons.
Like
many
fish
species,
all
Synodontis
Catfish
will
eat
small
fish
that
fit
into
their
mouths.
I
put
one
5"
long
Synodontis
in
an
aquarium
with
lots
of
rocky
ornaments
and
lots
of
baby
Mbuna
Cichlids,
thinking
the
babies
would
have
lots
of
tiny
places
to
hide.
That
night,
when
the
lights
were
off,
the
Synodontis
found
and
ate
every
baby
Mbuna,
and
that
was
very
disappointing!
It
also
illustrates
the
fact
that
Synodontis
tend
to
be
nocturnal
and
search
the
aquarium
at
night
for
food.
But
Synodontis
usually
do
not
bother
other
fish
that
are
too
big
to
swallow,
and
Synodontis
catfish
have
sharp
spines
that
discourage
most
other
fish
from
biting
or
eating
them,
so
Synodontis
are
often
seen
with
aggressive
fish
like
Cichlids
in
large
aquariums,
where
they
help
by
eating
bits
of
leftover
food.
Appropriate
Home
An aquarium with at least 29 gallons of water, an
exterior
power filter with a BIO-Wheel, a maximum of 1/4 inch of
gravel, and an
aquarium
heater adjusted to keep the temperature of the water between 78 and 82 degrees F. Click
here for more about
warm water aquariums.
Synodontis
Catfish
enjoy Cichlid
Stones, which
are hollow
ceramic aquarium
caves that make
ideal homes for
Synodontis. Many
Cichlids, Loaches,
Eels, and Sharks
also love these
caves. Click
here for
more about
Cichlid Stones.
Recommended Diet
Floating Flake Food for Tropical Fish. Click
here for more about feeding fish. I feed these catfish a few live Black Worms every other day. Click
here for more about Black
Worms.
Size and Lifespan
Upside Down Catfish can grow to 4" and sometimes larger. They live for 10 years sometimes longer. A friend of ours, Mr. Frank
Dayes, got some of the first Synodontis Catfish imported into the United States in the early 1950s and kept them for over 25 years.
Hello, I was wondering if you could answer a question for me about the upside down catfish. We have had ours for almost 14
years, can you tell me how long or how old the oldest upside catfish in captivity is or how long we can expect ours to live. I know for us it won't be a pleasant experience when
it does die, but was wondering how long we might have left?
Thank you for your help, Mrs. Lee Ann L.
Reply. Hello Lee Ann. Thank you for reporting about your Upside Down Catfish (UDC). You've had it for 14 years, so it's older than than that. It
was probably at least one year old, when you got it. That is just an estimate. If so, your UDC is now over 15 years old.
As mentioned above, Mr. Frank Dayes, told me he kept some types of Synodontis Catfish for over 25 years,
and I saw those Synodontis, but I was never sure what species they
were. Your UDC is a Synodontis
nigriventris. I think it may live for several more years and maybe for many
more years.
Good luck with your fish.
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