# Feeding Syno Multi cats



## geotlyrae (Jul 3, 2008)

Just got *3 syno multi cats* yesterday.. As with new fish, I keep the aquarium dark for the first day, and don't feed them until next day.. This morning, I turn on the lights, but no catfish. ( They hide pretty good) Fed all other fish, again catfish did not show up. My question, do these catfish hide during daytime?? Do they come out to eat, or are they just new to the tank? Thanks for the replies..
Geo

Ps. I feed NLS and flakes


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Probably just new. Are they wild? Do you have lots of covered shallow dishes or dish-shaped spaces for them to hide?

Mine eat NLS but they don't come to the top. Definitely come out to eat, but they are out most of the time anyway. I have 5.


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## jgs240 (Oct 4, 2008)

geotlyrae said:


> Just got *3 syno multi cats* yesterday.. As with new fish, I keep the aquarium dark for the first day, and don't feed them until next day.. This morning, I turn on the lights, but no catfish. ( They hide pretty good) Fed all other fish, again catfish did not show up. My question, do these catfish hide during daytime?? Do they come out to eat, or are they just new to the tank? Thanks for the replies..
> Geo
> 
> Ps. I feed NLS and flakes


I have an unidentified syno cat, i will go weeks without seeing him but he is growing very quickly and looks great when i do see him. He hides under a rock in the back of the tank 90% of the daytime, and as far as i know only comes out when i feed and then leave the room.

I feed a shrimp pellet, and a general purpose pellet for the rainbows that are also in the tank.


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## geotlyrae (Jul 3, 2008)

Thanks Dj... I'm sure these are tank raised... I have plenty of hiding spaces with rocks, sewer pipes, etc. I have 16 fish now, and it looks like the tank is empty (LOL). They're all hiding at this time... I guess they're new, since these cats seem to come out during the day in many videos.. Perhaps, they're shy.. I'm just worried bout feeding them..

Geo


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## geotlyrae (Jul 3, 2008)

Perhaps, I should get different food to accomodate the cats... Also, I'll try to change my lighting to a 50/50 bulb, at this time the tank seems to bright..


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I tried wafers for the cats, but the mbuna ate them just as much as the cats. NLS is fine.

I'd wait a week and see if they start coming out after that. If you are really concerned, wait for an hour after lights out and put some NLS in the tank for the cats.

The cats like a very shallow cave...not like a pipe but like a 1" high space under a large flat rock. I have terra cotta saucers sunk in the substrate, covered with slate and then the mbuna rockpiles are on top of the slate to conceal the whole thing. The theory is if the cats feel safe from the other fish, they will come out more...knowing they can dive for cover as required.

Don't worry about them unless their bellies start looking concave.


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

I have four multipunctatus that are out ALL the time. They even were out and active when I only at two, at first. I have a typical lace/holey rock set up with lots of caves, so they have lots of options. If you are seeing none of your fish (did I read that right?) I'd wonder what's going on. The theory of having lots of caves is that your fish feel so safe that they don't use them. Do you have the light on all the time? I only put my light on when I'm in the room or just before I feed them. I do turn the room light on first (if it's dark out) and there are windows for day light (not direct sun). At this point, when I turn the light on in the room, they start begging for food and when I put the light on in the tank, they know it's dinner time! Everyone is out and about at that time, including the synos.

I do feed my synos broken up NLS H20 wafers, which I lower down to them with long tongs. They crowd around the tong and get the pieces (mostly) before the other cichlids dive for them. I do worry that they won't get enough dropped food in the substrate as the cichlids are pretty good at getting the NLS pellets before they hit the bottom . . .


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## Afishionado (Jun 6, 2006)

I find enough NLS generally make it past the mbuna for the synos, even though you don't see much. My 4 w/c's seem fine, a sign of which is that thye've bred 3 or 4 times now. On one occasion one seemed to be looking rather thin and listless; I caught that one and put it in a 10g by itself with some hiding spots and just fed it, no medicine or anything, to see if it was simply a matter of it not getting it's share. Sure enough it fattened up over a week or two, rejoined the rest, and has been fine since.


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## geotlyrae (Jul 3, 2008)

It's been a couple of days since my first post, and still cannot feed the synos. I only see them when lights are off, and I'm far far away from the tank. They seem to be very agitated and go up and down the aquarium glass.. The minute I go closer, they're gone.. I'm feeding some *NLS* *cichlid formula* while the lights are out, and flakes, but not sure what condition they're in.. All I can do, is wait, and hope they are being fed..

Geo


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## jgs240 (Oct 4, 2008)

I never purposely feed my syno, and he has grown to about 5" (was 2") in a year, inside a 20 gallon. Cats are awsome scavengers, i dont over feed (i feed 1-2 a week, even then i only feed 10-15 pellets of food). In the meantime they must be picking up the dust the rainbows spit out when eating the pellet and also eating whatever else they can find in the gravel. They will be fine, let them do there hiding trick and then one day you will be shocked when they outgrow there hiding place and you see a long tail sticking out lol


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