eupterus catfish

[Sidman24]

So I put one of these guys in my cichlid tank.. He is pretty small still. Maybe an inch or two. And my firemouth tried to start biting him. Is this because he is new or too small? They leave my cories alone.. So I moved the catfish in my 29 hoping to put him back in the cichlid tank when he gets a little bigger? What do you think?

 

[Sidman24]

Anyone have a guess? I'm scared to put him back in there. He is doing okay in the 29, but it's already fully stocked the way it is

 

[bettaowner]

How big is the tank? If I had to guess, I would say the fire mouth attacked because the synodontis is new to the tank.

 

[Sidman24]

How big is the tank? If I had to guess, I would say the fire mouth attacked because the synodontis is new to the tank.

It is 75 gallons. Well I added a convict the same time and he didn't really bother it

 

[bettaowner]

Convict cichlids are fairly aggressive so that could be why the fire mouth didn't bother the convict. Do you have hiding places for the synodontis?

 

[Sidman24]

Yes. Plenty. But he went straight to sticking on the glass while the firemouth kept picking at his high fin. Then the krib started to seem interested...

 

[bettaowner]

I would remove the fish that are harassing him for about a week to let him get settled in the tank. Then rearrange the decor a day prior to adding the fire mouth back into the tank. I should point out that as he ages, the tables will turn and the synodontis may try to eat the firemouth.

 

[Sidman24]

Really?? The firemouth can get pretty big can't they? It won't eat my cories will it? Maybe I should just take it back then... And I can't really rearrange decor because there are a lot of plants I really don't wanna move and would have no place to put my firemouth

 

[bettaowner]

I would return it. I've seen a synodontis eurupterus that could have easily eaten a fire mouth.

 

[Sidman24]

Awh that sucks. He is so cute and cool looking!

 

[bettaowner]

An upside down catfish could work.