# Pictus catfish



## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

Has anyone experience with Pimelodus pictus? Would they do well in a large planted tank with hard water? Smallest fish in that tank are Rams... they wouldn't fit into the Pictus' mouth, right? I read conflicting info on the max size... some say up to 4/5", others over 10".


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## aeternum23 (Sep 17, 2003)

I've never heard of any pictus getting about 6" in length, but that doesn't mean they won't be a holy terror in a heavily planted tank. 

I've seen these guys in my friend's old community tank and they were "constantly" tearing around the tank at high speeds. He had a trio of adults that would race back and forth nonstop. He originally had quite a few species of plants in the tank, but they just couldn't handle the pictus' interminable and high-speed antics. Now, he has a couple Anubis Barteri and a giant onion plant. The Anubis have been permanently "rubber-banded" to a piece of driftwood, while the onion plant needs to be replanted every two days .


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

My goodness... thanks for the warning. Don't they look cute at the LFS? :mrgreen:


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## George Willms (Jul 25, 2003)

They are crazy though!


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## Pete (Nov 29, 2003)

A friend of mine has 6 pictus in his tank and he has trouble keeping plants.
But on a plus side they are fun to watch following each other around the bottom of the tank  (it sort of reminds you of a formula 1 warm up lap :lol: )
Pete...


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## oe254 (Dec 28, 2003)

I used to own 1 pictus catfish when I began with a small 10 gallon aquarium. That thing ate quite a few of my fish. Including a platy and 2 dwarf frogs. When I would feed the fish, the Pictus cat would chase after every single morsel of food. He would eat so much, that when he stopped and laid still, he would lean over onto his side because his stomach was so bloated. And he was fast too. It took me a while to figure how to feed the fish without letting the Pcitus cat know what was going on. And a few fish books that I have read advise the reders to keep the Pictus cats in groups! Other then that, a Pictus cat needs some place to hide and once he finds it will bully any other fish out of the way.


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## cich (Aug 5, 2003)

I had one once with quite hard water, and it didn't last long


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## Fat Guy (Nov 19, 2003)

Has to be one of the most annoying fish in a tank smaller than 55 gallons. They will not stop moving. 

They are awesome at first, but will bulldoze your plants and make you miserable.

Great looking catfish though.


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## Ibn (Nov 19, 2003)

I've kept a pair of them before and have to say they are very rowdy. They're basically pigs on speed... As others have noted, they're not really aggressive, just real feisty. You have to be careful though especially when they do get bigger. Being catfish, they're also very active during the night, and will eat anything that'll fit in their mouths (rams fit in this category).

As far as size is concerned, they're one of the smaller pimelods. I've seen them as small as half an inch to full grown ones at slightly over 8". At that size, they'll easily consume a full grown ram without any hesitation. Granted, it takes them awhile to get that size, but I'd rather avoid it. 

If you decide to pick one up, make sure it's healthy. Often times, these guys don't ship very well, and become ill very shortly (ich). Once acclimated though, these guys are quite hardy.

HTH,
Eric


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## Seanito (Sep 15, 2014)

I have had only one Pictus for about 2 years now, used to live in a 20 now he/she is in a 55 pretty heavily planted and it never messes with my plants. As for my fish I have a large school of small/tiny guppies I just bought at the LFS and it never touches any of them, but for sure it rules the tank. I guess I got lucky with a chill Pictus Cat.


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## rhody9 (Sep 7, 2012)

I had a great pictus for 2 years in my 55 gal. Hardy fish and hungry fish. He would zoom around alot on the bottom bulldozing any cory that strayed in his path and gulping down catfish pellets. When he wasn't doing this he would hang out under some drift wood. He grew to about 4 inches and never bothered any of his tank mates. Unfortunately, I came home and he was in the middle of my basement floor, he had jumped out of my cover-less tank. My advice, get a cover if you get these fish.


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

I think they'd do fine with well rooted plants but they are active little buggers. It's a fish I'd keep in a high tech tank (well, except I have bichirs so that's a little challenging)

It also depends on what species you get, the spotters stay under 5" but the 4 lines get closer to a foot.


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