Mustache synodontis

Care at a glance

Overview

This is a large, specialised squeaker that reaches about 46 centimeters and needs a very big tank, on the order of 1000 liters. Keep it singly, as it is solitary, and although it is mostly peaceful its size means tankmates should be large and calm rather than bite sized. It is unusual in feeding upside down just beneath the surface, straining tiny foods from the water. Provide open surface water and gentle flow. Feed a mix of sinking pellets and frozen foods, along with fine particles it can take from the water column such as small frozen and powdered foods.

In the wild

It lives in large rivers and floodplains of the Nile and the Sahel, in open water where plankton is plentiful. A suitable tank is spacious with clear surface area, gentle current, and some bogwood for structure. Keep the water warm, between 23 and 28 C, and close to neutral, at a pH of 6.8 to 7.5.

Good to know

A squeaker of the family Mochokidae, it grows to about 46 centimeters and was for a long time placed in its own genus, Hemisynodontis. Broad membranes run along its barbels, forming the moustache of its common name, and it carries many gill rakers that let it filter feed on plankton. Aquarium breeding is not recorded.

Did you know

It feeds while swimming upside down at the surface, filtering plankton through its gill rakers. Because the belly faces upward toward the light, its colours are reversed, dark underneath and pale on the back, the opposite of most fish.

Common questions

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