Hello

I am new to the hobby and am thinking about a couple of Pictuses as the centre piece of my aquarium. I have a 135l hexagonal one currently being run in.

What I would like to know is
1 Is this suitable for these fish and
2 What colourful tankmates aresuitable for this fish.I do not want them eaten in a year or so!
eg Red Tailed Black Shark Siamese Flying Fox Guppies, Danios Bettas Angelfish Platys etc

Thanks

Nick

That's about 25 gallons as a hex. In my opinion a 30 gallon rectangular is minimum.
The swimming space in a hex is too small and they will get stressed. They are fast & highly active fish and need plenty of room I'm afraid.

A pair of Angelfish would be lovely for such a tank. And perhaps some cories for the bottom if you want some activity.

This post has been edited by Bloo: Apr 28 2008, 09:16 AM

hey hey a pictus was my first (and currently only) fish!
as far as i am aware anything is pretty much ok so long as it doesnt fit in the pictus's mouth lol

i doupt it would eat the red tail but as they are both aggressive fish it might get a bit ugly

Anything is not exactly OK. As these fish are super / hyper active, they can frighten smaller more docile shy fish - and even beat the slower fish to food. Which may leave the slower fish always hungry / starving. Choose tank mates with care.
Pictus are not aggressive either. They may well carnivores / omnivores but I have not ever witnessed strong territorial behaviour or aggression towards other fish.

This post has been edited by Bloo: Apr 29 2008, 01:01 PM

lol if i was a fish i would be a pictus
hyperactive,rowdy,long flowing whiskers.... yeah,sounds like me

mmmm i might go gobble up a few neons.......

Ive got 4 pictus cats, and two hide hardly every see them, two constantly swim in circular motion at the front of the tank, and they feed like sharks a sort of feeding frenzy very fast and startle other fish. I keep mine with angels, bolivan rams, corys, columbian tetras, bristle nose plecs they do only feed from the bottom of the tank so its a good idea to have some tetras, the columbians are a good size and stay mid to top. As a warning i had two a year or so ago and at first the followed each other and were the star of the tank, then one stayed at one end and one at the other i hardly could find them, then one morning i was greated with the pair of them badly wounded both gasping lying in the plants, so guess they get very territorial that why i got four this time,
and two are just the same as the other two were. di

i have two that are in a 30 gal and are being moved to my new 75 in a week, they are kept with tiger barbs, nobody has ever been injured, in my opinion u need a fish that is willing to defend itself, tetras and fish the same temperament will not to, a school of tiger barbs or like fish would be good, and 25 gal hex is not big enough, my guys are strained in my 30 gal which is why i bought the 75.

From my own experience Pictus are active, but tend to be so in lower light conditions. They do need the space so a hex tank is quite unsuitable for them (and the red tail black shark) but they are quite predatory in the sense that they can and probably will eat fish small enough to fit in their mouth. This tends to happen mostly when the lights go out as well!

Pim Pictus can become quite territorial, and fights over hidey holes are quite frequent, often resulting in a series of "growls" (caused by their pectoral rays rubbing on a bony plate in its shoulder) and normally a few ripped fins. Given time and not enough hiding spots this can progress to more serious injuries.

I have kept 2x Pimelodela Ornata and 4x Pimelodela Pictus in the same tank before, so its doable, and very rewarding, but for what you have at the minute i dont think its quite time to be investing in these charming little catfish