Pictus Cats

Fishdude · Post by **Fishdude** » 17 Jul 2006, 23:04

I have a 29 gallon tank that I would like to redo and I was wondering if it would be a good idea to get some Pictus cats? I would also like to get some other catfish but I do not know what I would like to get yet. Maybe someone could give me some ideas. I would probably like to get two or three Pictus cats though.

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 19 Jul 2006, 13:38

You can probably keep three pictus cats in a 29g. Or one, for certain. I wouldn't recommend going for two, as one of them will be dominant and agressive towards the other. With more than two, the aggression from the dominant one is spread about and you have better chances of keeping them happy...

Make sure there's no small fish in your tank! Tetras, guppies etc tend to "disappear" at night if they are in the same tank as P. pictus...

As to other catfish, there's only about 2500 species of catfish, of which probably 500 or 1000 would be compatible with your tanksize and the P. pictus. WIthout a little guidance as to what you like to see in the catfish, it's very hard to recommend something. Take a look at the Cat-eLog, and look through it to find some species, ask some questions both at your LFS (as to whether they can be found in the trade) and this site for advice on their compatibility with your other fish...

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Mats

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 19 Jul 2006, 22:28

if you really like pictus cats, best buy 5 or 6 and forego adding any other cats that take territorial bottom space.

plantdwelling Loricariids like Sturisoma or Otocinclus are a good match for pictus in a small tank; the pictus usually ignore these. Corydoras is also a good match, these don't claim territories, and their active behaviour can draw the pictus into the open.

adding highbuild tetra's is perfectly safe!
think about fish like Moenkhausia sp 'Colomba' (a blue fish with red fins), Gymnocorymbus spp, Hyphessobrycon erythrostigma and the like.
it's slimbuild tetra's like the Neon Tetra (Paracheirodon), Pencilfish (Nannobrycon and Nannostomus), small Hemigrammus and the like wich will be eaten.

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 20 Jul 2006, 02:33

sidguppy wrote:adding highbuild tetra's is perfectly safe!
think about fish like Moenkhausia sp 'Colomba' (a blue fish with red fins), Gymnocorymbus spp, Hyphessobrycon erythrostigma and the like.
it's slimbuild tetra's like the Neon Tetra (Paracheirodon), Pencilfish (Nannobrycon and Nannostomus), small Hemigrammus and the like wich will be eaten.

Quite correct - many tetras are perfectly fine, it's just the smaller/slimmer versions that tend to disappear at night. I wasn't writing a complete answer. Thanks to Sidguppy for helping clarify it. And I also agree that a bigger group of P. pictus is better... Might get a bit tight in a small tank, but then I guess I've got several other bottom dwellers in my big tank with my 5 P. pictus...

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Mats

LixuersMystus · Post by **LixuersMystus** » 14 Aug 2006, 06:50

I mix them with some middle and small sized bagrids and synodontids,Blue and pink Kryptopterus cryptopterus.