Scavengers if you please....

[Suzanne0101]

Hi, I am not new to fish keeping but I am sort of new to African Cichlids.
The reason I am getting into these fish is that my well water is a natural HI PH.
It runes at about 8.2
I gave up fighting with keeping the PH at a lower setting. So I started to look into what fish like a high PH. My salt water tank is thriving for the past 5 years.
My question is: What scavengers like that kind of hi PH. Should I go with Corry or Pleco’s
I have 1 tine upside down cat fish that hides all day long…
Thanks in advance..
Suzanne

 

[JustOneMore20]

What type of Africans will you be keeping?

I would not put Cories with Africans....they just wouldn't stand a chance with most of them.

If you are going with a Mbuna or Malawi tank, then I would suggest no scavengers as these fish are really aggressive and while some people have good luck keeping Bristlenose plecs and Synodontis catfish with them, you never know if your Malawians will torture them or not. If you choose peaceful Mbuna or Peacocks, then they would have more of a chance of thriving (and should be fine). It all depends on your fish choices though. When I had a Malawi tank, I chose not to have bottom feeders/scavengers because of the aggression. A tank is fine without bottom feeders.

If you are going with Tanganyikans (a better choice IMO), then I suggest some Synodontis catfish, as these are actually from Lake Tang. Syndontis petricola are the smallest ones and pretty common. S. multipunctatus are the next up I believe and get around 6 inches. I wouldn't put these in anything less than a 40g (might even be better in 50+ gallons). The petricolas should be fine in anything 30g+ since they only get about 4 inches. Your Upside Down Catfish is a Syno (you probably knew that) and would appreciate more friends. If you aren't going to have aggressive Africans, then the USD cats should be fine....but again, it depends on what fish you have. Synos can definitely thrive in the high pH, but they aren't aggressive at all, so you have to choose tankmates accordingly.

Have you decided on a tank size yet? If you are undecided on your fish choices, tank size may limit you/determine what you can keep.

 

[kay-bee19]

Most of the synodontis catfish species I've kept with african cichlids were all well equipped in regards to fending for themselves or being totally ignored by them (s. eupterus, s. angelicus, s. ocellifer, s. multipuncatus); very compatible in african set ups.

I've even seen my s. angelicus and s. eupterus drive african cichlids off during their aggressive 'moods'. But experiences will vary with each set up, I suppose.

 

[Zagz]

I have synodontis with my full grown africans. No problems there.

 

[Suzanne0101]

Hi, Thanks for the information. I ended up getting 1 very nice, active Synodontis decorus and 2 Synodontis species (upside down cats) kinda small but they have places to go during the day.
As soon as i learn about pictures and how to add them i will. What i did not mention in my first note that my tank is a 45 gal corner set up. it has been set up for a few years now with a Breading pair of Nelamprologus Brichardi that spawned constantly. They were such good parents that i ended up with a Tank full of them plus 20 of there babies and all other tank mates were pinned up against the glass no one could go any where. I also had a very bad case of BLACK alge it just would not go away. So after reading a lot in here i decided to break down the tank get rid of the cravel put in a new sand base. boil the rocks, toss the ones that i just could not get the Black alge of and redo the tank. I was able to set the breading pair up in a 12 gal all to them selves and all the babies about 10 1/2" and 1 complete set of new born (plus i thing they did it again) I now plan on stocking the tank with Lake Tanganyika Cichlids. All the stores in my area in PA, all stock them as Misc. Africa Cichlids. frustrating as heck.. Ok i went on long enought thanks for the information on what cat fish to add... I love this file

 

[Chimone]

I''ve always kept a few crawfish in my tanks to keep the tank bottom clean.

 

[Critterlovr]

I have common plecos in all of my tanks. Even with the agressive fish they do just fine and sometimes even go right back at them to chase them off.