pictus cat

dleonard · Post by **dleonard** » 29 Jun 2005, 17:34

I have 1 pictus catfish, 1 red tail shark, 3 oscars and 2 plecos in 125 gallon tank. this was set up 2 weeks ago. My catfish will not come out and eat or swim, it stays behind a fake plant in the bubbles...............never eats or swim...... what is up with that fish

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 29 Jun 2005, 17:46

1. Pictus cats are social fish. Although they _CAN_ be kept on their own, they are much happier in a group of maybe 6 or so.

2. They are definitely more active at night. So you may not SEE when it's out and about, but I would guess that it DOES come out at night.

3. They LOVE bloodworms, so if anything is going to entice it out, that will probably be it. They may not get it first time round, but after a day or two, they get the idea.

I'd suggest that #1 above is a major point.

--
Mats

pictus_man_77 · Post by **pictus_man_77** » 29 Jun 2005, 19:09

that is a good point but you need to remember a golden rule for pictus : Never own a pair. They will annoy each othe. And by the way, do your plecos fight? if they dont, watch this space !!!!!!!

rhaywood · Post by **rhaywood** » 30 Jun 2005, 17:04

I also agree. Pictus do a lot better in groups. I had 1 on his own and he went thru phasis of being active and then would go for a few months of not coming out in the day.
then i bought a second and the pair were both active most of the time. I have now found more in a shop and have 4 of them in my tank. thay are now crazy and cant sit still for five minutes, even the 1st 1 i bought which is now twice the size of the new 3.although he doesn't swim around with them as much, he is a lot more active.
and yes, they LOVE bloodworm and go loopy for it.

Beersnob · Post by **Beersnob** » 26 Jul 2005, 03:12

Definitely you need to have at least 3...6 if your tank can handle it. The question I have is how big are your Oscars? The poor Picti may be hiding for safety...

Good luck with him,

Scott

pictus_man_77 · Post by **pictus_man_77** » 26 Jul 2005, 22:07

make sure you look after him though. if those Oscars kill him, i will be angry and i will send my pictus minions to get you

hahahah
i think another reason your fish is suffering is lack of exercise!! seriously, pictus suffer from this. If they find a hiding spot behind your plecos ( like mine have) then they wont leave that area