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Bought a couple of half grown panther (pictus) cats the other day, smashing little fish , doing well. Dont they EAT!

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a245/longhairedgit/IMG_5810.jpg

Nice catfish

The P.pictus I had always were sick when I got them, but their close cousins the 4 line pimodelus was a great alternative for me.. I had 2 keeping an oscar company. (oh yeah, they LOVE chopped shrimp as well as just shrimp pellets) These cats can and will gorge themselves to the point where they can't move if they can.

The Amazon Nut...

How big do they get? Cool looking fish. Enjoy!

Theres huge variance of opinion on how big they get,this is because they have quite an unusual reaction to tank conditions. Apparently it seems that in aquaria they rarely mature to breed or reach the sizes they do in nature(up to 10 inches) instead staying about the 4-5 inch mark.This isnt the traditional form of dwarfing, and longevity isnt neccesarily affected. Its one of the reasons ive acquired them, by putting them in a fairly huge and diversely decorated tank, plus all the varied diet I can give them im hoping of trying to replicate the conditions that will trigger them to grow and breed normally. I will be observing and replicating where possible the water qualities and conditions of their south american home to see if I can make breeding happen. At the moment theyre only two and a half inches long, so ive got a year or two to get it right.

It about time someone launched into a breeding project with an unusual fish. A school of 6 gives you a 97% chance of a pairing. Best of luck

The Amazon Nut...

I wish you luck on your project as well. I think watching them must really be a kick with those long barbels.

I think damossman and me are on the same level of thinking, I just called the aquatic habitat and put a reserve on another 8 of them.

Those barbels are cool to watch though, I was originally going to pop them in with the cories, but having watched the ones in the shop use their barbels to move cories on about every 3 seconds I decided against it lol.

They are cool though, as soon as they get a whiff of food they do 360's on the spot repeatedly in about half a second. Theyre food crazy!

'shark feeding frenzy' is what comes to mind.

These cats get stuck in fake plants quite easily.
Make sure none of your decor has holes just the right size to get lodged in, because they will.

Especially with wild fish, suit your tank to the fish, not the fish to the tank. I see sand and rock caves in your future.

I'm preparing soon for my own breed project, my homework is done, have the materials, just have to do a few more things, and I'm there

I broke out my christmas present (to myself lol)
'Aquarium Fish Breeding' by Jay F.Hemdal published by Barron's. (good book even though not huge)
It states with 8 fish you have a 99% chance of a pair.
You'll have 10. I'd say your chances are MORE then good.

Time to hit my own tanks for water changes and put some plant orders together for the fish club meet tomorrow




The Amazon Nut...

I might stick with the gravel , its only about twice the grain of sand, but it stays cleaner,its also light enough to root about in and bury yourself in if you must. The caves are already there and theres tons of bogwood, and the plants are all real, so hopefully no problems.

nice pics. now i want one for my 55 and that would look hella nice. i need a cool fish.

Sounds like the plants will love that substrate.
Tank pics coming or is that after the other 10 are in ?
(adds to the 'shock factor')

The Amazon Nut...

Yeah the plants do root pretty well in it, well apart from the java fern that always seem to get dislodged, cameras batteries are dead now, so ill take some pics of the tank and all 10 in situ on friday. Dont tempt me to another 2 over the 8 ive just reserved, ill do it, and itll cause more multi tank syndrome..Im cruising on nine tanks now.The girlfriend will leave me this close to valentines day.lol.

If you're putting your Pictus cats in a really large aquarium to get them to grow, you could still have plants in there. Just make sure they're large plants (e.g., big Amazon Swords such as grandiflorus and Giant Vallisneria). In the case of the Giant Vals, make sure they're well separated at first, but use them along the back to form a 'crash barrier' in case the Pictus start to become jittery as they grow older. Big walls of Giant Vallisneria are used to provide 'crash barriers' for things such as Sorubim lima which hits 2 feet, so they should be OK with your Pictus.

For cave construction, intricate gnarly pieces of bogwood with big holes in them are the way to go. You can root Java Ferns on them and they won't become dislodged after about 3-4 weeks. You can position them strategically so that they're a distance from the bottom, where the Pictus aren't likely to get tangled in them. Bigger Pictus in any case should be able to bulldoze their way through the foliage, especially if you get them past 6 inches.

Incidentally, I'm puzzled about this size phenomenon. Wild Pictus can hit 12 inches - and I would have thought that if they had sufficient space, they'd do so in an aquarium too, especially as most other Pimelodid cats outgrow aquaria in pretty short order! Is this size restriction related to the 'eternal juvenile' phenomenon of Axolotls, I wonder?


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Yeah , i wondered that, im not sure the issue is to do with cage size, it might be hormonal,and that could be triggered by anything chemical, and you might be able to bring them on chemically , hormonally or with patterns of water changes at certain times, perhaps even dropping water levels etc, much as people have done with some amphibians. Thanks for the tip on vallisneria, I already have some and I often use it towards the rear of tanks, it seems to be the place it should naturally be for display purposes, but I had never thought of using it as a crash barrier. Handy .