Pictus community tank

[hoblob]

Hi, so i have some questions about keeping some Pictus cats in somewhere around a 90 gallon tank. I have a dream of making a wooden frame for the tank to put my tv on top of, but I can see how this might not work out. The tank will probably only be up for 2-3 years.

So my questions are these:
1. How many Pictus could I house in here?
2. Tankmates for the Pictus?
2a. Swordtails?
2b. Large school of smaller fish? (I'm betting they would turn into food shortly)
3. I'm willing to try planting the tank. If I do, what plants, which substrate, and what kind of lighting would I need?
4. What dimensions of tank around 90 gallons would be optimal?
5. I would love to have the Pictus, but I could be convinced against them. Which other cats would be good for a colorful community tank?
6. What sort of tank layout would be the best for them? (cave size/number, long stretches of open space, foresty patches)
7. What kind of food do they like the best, could I easily breed live foods for them?
8. How long will it take to cycle a tank this big? (I have a 36 gallon in use now, is it comparable?)

I'm open to pretty drastic idea changes if necessary. All your help is gratefully recieved.

[wrasse]

Hmmmm, why only 2-3 years? Then what happens? Do you not think a 90gallon tank is more longterm?
Modern flat screen TVs are quite lightweight, so that's not really a problem. Although booming loud noises from the TV might disturb the fish.
Why are you not convinced about keeping pictus? (point 5)
What are the water parameters of your smaller tank and what fish do currently keep?
You could quickly mature a new filter by running it on your existing tank, then transfer it to the new tank.

[hoblob]

After 2-3 years, I'll graduate from college and move away.
I've decided against the TV stand idea for that reason.
I would love to have a Pictus. It's the reason I wanted to start fish keeping in the first place, but if I won't be able to provide a good home for it, I wouldn't want to keep them.

I currently have 2 separate tanks.
The first is a 36 gallon bowfront with about 17 tetras, 3 cory cats, and some red cherry shrimp, with water parameters of 30 ppm Nitrate, 0 ppm Nitrite, 80 ppm GH, 0 ppm Chlorine, 40 ppm KH, and about 7.0 pH. This is right before I did a water change.

The second is a 10 gallon with 2 brand new dwarf puffers, and a single red cherry shrimp. The parameters are 5 ppm Nitrate, 0 ppm Nitrite, 80 ppm GH, 0 ppm Chlorine, 40 ppm KH, and about 7.0 pH.

[Buddiechrist]

For Cats I ALWAYS go for biggest ground layout verses height of tank. A 90g of 48x24x18 is my common set up for under 5 inch cats (In my all SA tank I have 6 pictus currently). I would advise against planted tanks for any catfish with hevty barbs like these guys. Stick to SMOOTH River rocks / Masz wood seems to be their fav. For tank makes you need non aggressive fish that will not fit into their mouths. So swordtails guppies all these little guys are totally out of the question unless they are your live food, since I only do catfish now, I got lots of tank mates for these guys just make sure that the Pictus are the smallest of the fish in the tank. Now I only give my guys live food every so often; I mean my shrimp don't spawn that often, and they don't seem to like Crayfish. But they go NUTS for garlic shrimp (COOKED) Catfish pellets, Talipia, and crab. These will help keep healthy and keep they as shinny as ever. If you have more questions about these guys give me a holla.

[hoblob]

Thanks Buddiechrist. What tank mates do you keep with your pictus? and what do you guys think about plywood tanks?

[Buddiechrist]

My Pictus tank mates are my Niger Catfish, Iwrin Cats, Raphels, Jaguars, False Jaguars, and a few sentry birchirs (G/f's).
As for Plywood tanks I do think they are awesome if you build them right. I have 1 Plywood Epoxy tank(Custom 75) and 2 Plywood Fiberglass Tanks (250) (480). I do work at a few Yacht Companys so I do have access to all the proper goodies. If you do a Plywood tank make sure you use Exterior Plywood and Make sure all Epoxy / Fiberglass resign is Marine OUTDOORS grade. DO NOT USE ANYTHING AUTOMOTIVE, or Marine INDOORS. These will leach / poison your tank. Also Airdry DO NOT use. Proper Silicone or Marine grade 240 is useable / better in my opinion holds stronger lasts WAY LONGER under pressure, the only downside is if you make a mistake removing it is a billion times harder. If you have any questions about making tanks give me a holla, if you were local every now and then I'll bring in a few people from other fish forums to my shop to teach them to make proper tanks / get rid of materials that we can not use on the boats (to small, or extra)