Pimelodus Pictus playing in bubbles?

JenniferLP · Post by **JenniferLP** » 22 Aug 2007, 23:55

I brought home 2 pictus cats to my 55g tank today - I've never owned this species before, was taken in at the shop by how beautiful and active they were. Since acclimating them to their new home a few hours ago, they have been staying in the bubbles from the airstone, rapidly swimming up and down - almost letting the bubbles shoot them up the glass and then they swim back down.

Do you think they are showing signs of stress or since they are happy in river currents in the wild, is this normal? Just curious...was wondering if anyone else has seen this before.

They are really neat little guys.
Thanks,
Jenn

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 23 Aug 2007, 01:08

Could be just normal behaviour - but I have seen tem behave similar to what you describe when my lightly overstocked tank was in sever need of a water-change & filter clean. Try making a (large-ish) water change and see if they "normalize" themselves...

Is your tank newly set up, or has it been running (with fish) for quite some time?

--
Mats

JenniferLP · Post by **JenniferLP** » 23 Aug 2007, 01:43

The tank has been running with fish for over a year. I originally innoculated with biospira and have had great biological activity. Before adding the new fish, we did a 50% water change and tested all parameters - all good. With the 2 cats, 3 little angels and 3 baby bala sharks, the tank actually looks empty.

I guess we'll see how they look in the morning!
Thanks.

Chrysichthys · Post by **Chrysichthys** » 23 Aug 2007, 16:00

What you are seeing is displacement activity which arises from keeping only one or two. They're a shoaling fish and you need a group of at least three, and preferably more than that if space permits, for them to behave normally.

Post by **Marc van Arc** » 23 Aug 2007, 17:32

Chrysichthys wrote:What you are seeing is displacement activity which arises from keeping only one or two. They're a shoaling fish and you need a group of at least three, and preferably more than that if space permits, for them to behave normally.

This comment is spot on. It's normal behaviour when they are new in a tank, but this will continue when kept single or with just two specimen.
There are many posts on this subject; you might want to scroll through this forum or use the search button in the upper toolbar.
Welcome to PC btw.

Pimelodus Pictus playing in bubbles?

Pimelodus Pictus playing in bubbles?

reply