PlanetCatfish.com

I'm interested in getting a pictus cat for my tank. I had one many years ago and do recall a lot of missing fish. I am aware they will eat small fish. Any information would be helpful (how many to keep, feeding, etc)
thanks

Sheila

You should read this.

Thanks, that was a good article. Is there anything else I should know before I get these guys?

Sheila,

I'd say go get some... They are very nice, active fish - however, if you have a lot of hiding spaces, you may not see a lot of them for the first few weeks, as they can be a bit shy when they are first introduced. There's also a clear hierarchy in my group (5 of them).

They certainly do better if you have enough space to keep several, 5 or more. If you don't have that much space, I'd say keep just one, because there can be a little bit of agression between them, and keeping two can lead to the agression from one to the other resulting in damage to the non-dominant one.

And heed the advice in the COTM article about nets - I had to cut one of mine out of the net - not just cutting the net into rags, but I was also forced to cut one of the rays in one pectoral fin... Not a great thing to do. Much better to chase them into a pipe/beaker or similar to "hide" in, and pull the whole thing out - assuming you actually need to ever catch them again...

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Mats

Well, I went and got one yesterday. My hubby is quite happy with it. He/she is a very active fish only hiding occasionaly. It's nice to have so much activity in the tank. I just have a few questions, I haven't seen it eat yet, could it be that it only eats at night? Also is it possible to sex them and has anyone successfully bred them?
Thanks

They are a bit shy about eating at first - it'll learn...

Feeding it froozen (or live) bloodworms (the Mosquito larvae type) may help - feedign with lights out may be even more successfull to start with.

But don't worry if it doesn't eat for the first few days - it's probably a bit stressed.

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Mats

Great, thanks for your help