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[font color="#008000"]I might be able to get a 55 gallon for the pictuses. A small tank should be good enough to house them temporarily, right? (like a 10) I just don't want them having trouble finding food or anything like that.[/font]

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Born in radioactive waters, the Mutant Goldfish swims...
Check out my profile to see my tank setup(s)!

Hello, so is it a bad thing to only have one? My cat just stays in his cave and rarely comes out. Is this because he is lonely?

Well Ive only owned 2 at one time and lost to ick.They swam together. I switched to hardier, similar looking Multi Synodontis which "schoal" in the group of 6 I have.I was recently at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. The tank I saw the Pim Pictus in was HUGE , but with many other fish. There was a group of about 40? , and they were back and forth around the tank together. IMO I would call that "schooling". Just 1 observation though and in a more natural setting. Pictus are very cool though. Good luck and get the 75 :%)

I would still get 3. Schooling and Shoaling is different things altogether. Schooling is like Neons, stay together all the time and swim around with each other. Shoaling is more enjoying the company of each other but not always staying with each other all the time.

You could get 3 Pictus (real species) and then I would say some Cichlids or Red tailed Black Shark or a school of Babrs (Not fin nippers) and then maybe a Plec of some kind

[font color="#008000"]So, if that is true...then, I shall only get one pictus for the 55 G. And some fish that it can't eat...any suggestions for that, playa?

[hr width='20%']Spawned from Radioactive Waters.[/font]

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Born in radioactive waters, the Mutant Goldfish swims...
Check out my profile to see my tank setup(s)!

The Mutant Goldfish
Cup_of_Lifenoodles is correct the only time I ever see mine together is at feeding time and then it is only by chance they just fly out get their food and go back to their areas, the largest one lives in the large cave and patrols its general area and the other (smaller) lives about the center inbetween driftwood & rocks.

I would love more but at about Aust$30+

Some say they are hard to keep but I do nothing special for them all I can say they seem to be growing all the time and look very healthy.

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
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If by "official" profile you mean the FP profile, then you ought to know that many profiles on this site are incorrect, hence the need for memeber submitted profiles.

I've kept pictus for at least 8 years, thus being said, I can tell you with some degree of confidence that, unless severly spooked, they are NOT shoalers.

Recalling a past discussion of this subject, keith stated that, in his 90+ gallon tank, his pictus were completely oblivious to one another and staked out their own individual territories.

[font color="#008000"]Well...I don't know if that is true or not, because the official profile of the pictus is this:

Temperament: Peaceful when young, though grows agressive with age. Pictus catfish are shoaling and prefer to have the company of their own kind. Good for community tanks with medium sized fish. Will eat small fish such as Neons.

I'm sticking with getting them a 55 G.[/font]

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Born in radioactive waters, the Mutant Goldfish swims...
Check out my profile to see my tank setup(s)!

Bigger is always better, but IME, a 30 (the gallonage of the 29 with extra length) would be a very suitable home for pictus. Having been settled in, they sink right into the backdrop, and hide under rocks, or cruise lazily across the substrate. A colony is uneccesary, as they are not colonial or social fish, and will actually bully one another should there be a territorial misunderstanding.



Last edited by Cup_of_Lifenoodles at 08-Feb-2005 11:08

agrees with bael, 29g would be ok gallonage but Pictus need the room of a 55g at minimum. they are very active, possibly the most active fish for sale in FW so need as much space as possible

I've been thinking of getting a small school of these bottom feeders, for a tank dedicated to them. My question is, if I want to get 5 of them...(because I read they were a schooling fish)...would a 29 G. Be sufficient enough space for them to thrive their whole lives?

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Born in radioactive waters, the Mutant Goldfish swims...
Check out my profile to see my tank setup(s)!

*shakes head*
I still disagree. Even a true pictus @4.5" should have more room than what a 29 offers. 29's have the gallonage but havent got the space. These are active fish, to me putting them in a 29 is cruel.

I'll just remove this from my actives now to save myself the grief.

^_^ [hr width='40%']"Somewhere beyond happiness and sadness
I need to calculate,what creates my own madness...
and I am waiting for disaster"

Pimelodus pictus, the true pictus cat, only grows to 4.5" and would be a good fish to keep in a 29 gallon species tank. Other closely related species, such as Pimelodus blochii (four-lined pictus) and Pimelodus clarias, look very similar to true pictus cats but get significantly larger.

Just make sure you are getting the real pictus cat, Pimelodus pictus, and you will be fine with keeping a group them in a 29 gallon tank.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

I have 2 of them in my 90 and they are about 7-8". They are EXTREMELY hyper fish and fly around the tank at high speeds. If I had a smaller tank I'm sure they would damage themselves by running into things. They are cool fish though. Mine are the 4 lined variety and they chatter to each other sometimes which you can hear through the glass.

also keep in mind with pictus that not only should they be given proper space for their length, but they also need width room for those long beautiful barbels. they're very sensitive and I don't think the pictus really like them constantly brushing up against hard objects (like tank walls). just do the math - even at less than 8 inches each, 5 of those in a 12 inch wide tank would still be quite crowded

Last edited by nowherman6 at 07-Feb-2005 12:45

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Back in the saddle!

I still suggest a 75 over a 55 simply because these fish get long, a 55 is only a foot deep, and that's not much space @all.
A 75 with a small school of picti for the bottom and some active barbs up top, planted with low light easy plants would just be to watch.

^_^
[hr width='40%']"Somewhere beyond happiness and sadness
I need to calculate,what creates my own madness...
and I am waiting for disaster"

Yup...I don't plan on having any tankmates with these guys. I just love these catfish...my friend has a couple...and I looked at them, and then that's when my interest sparked. I knew I had to have them. I did some research, of course. So I do know a little bit about them. All I really needed to know was tank size, which I have gotten answers for. I'll see about a 55 G. then. Thanks guys, I appreciate your help.

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Born in radioactive waters, the Mutant Goldfish swims...
Check out my profile to see my tank setup(s)!

Bare minimum for a school is 55 in my book, and that's only if you havent got any other bottom feeders. A 75 would be highly recomended if not a 120 simply because of the activity level of these guys. They are big fish, and they are active fish. They would NOT work in anything smaller.

Also as I'm sure you know from your research into them they shouldn't be kept with small fish (under 2" especially slower moving ones like neons and cards. They will become lunch .

^_^ [hr width='40%']"Somewhere beyond happiness and sadness
I need to calculate,what creates my own madness...
and I am waiting for disaster"

Yeah, they can reach 8 inches and 29g is no where near for 5 of them!

55g would be ok for 3-6 depending on other stock. They should be kept in bigger groups so 6 would be good (more than that is great) So a 75g would be even better size, 55g a minimum though

Nope! Especially for 5 of these, it would be severly cramped! These fish can get very large,, 8"+... big big fish.. My fiancee has 3 in a 72 gallon bowfront tank, and if they get any bigger, they will have to leave! they are all between 5-6" right now. These are big fish, which need big houses! Hope this helps!

72 gallon bowfront:Tanganyikan Lake set up
75 gallon: A. Baenschi trio,Cyanotilapia Afra Cobwe(4), copadichromis trewavase, protomelas sp. tangerine tiger(breeding pair)