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I have three Pictus Catfish in a 100 gallon aquarium (ammonia levels 0ppm, nitrite 0ppm, nitrate 20ppm). They have a huge run of the tank, a lot of hiding spaces and are generally in (what I believe to be) a great set-up. However all three hide ALL day/night long. There may be a single occasion in the whole day where I'll see them dart out, grab some food and go right back to hiding again. It doesn't seem to matter whether it's daylight or nighttime, they just are not active fish whatsoever. I have absolutely no idea what is going on as everysingle story I read about Pictus Catfish go on and on about how active they are! What am I doing wrong here!?

They are housed with 6 Giant Danio, 6 Tiger Barb and 1 African Featherfin (who hides all day and then chills on the filter at night, so not a 'bother' to the pictus). All schools seem to leave one another alone so no one seems to be bullying one another. I just can't work out why my "very active" catfish are absolutely not active at all! Do I need to increase their numbers? Perhaps have 5?

That would be exactly what I would expect. You are probably expecting them to be like the large groups of fish with no hiding spaces in the shops.... They don't, unless you keep them in quite large goups. If you have a LARGE group of them (10 or more), it may be a different story. I had a group of 6 (in a similar size tank), and they spent most of the time hiding most of the time.

I also don't think tiger barbs will help - they DO go after catfish, as that's their natural enemy (not pictus cats, as they come from different continents, but they are similar enough to appear like "enemies" to the tiger-barbs).

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Mats

How long are they already in the tank?

MatsP wrote:That would be exactly what I would expect. You are probably expecting them to be like the large groups of fish with no hiding spaces in the shops.... They don't, unless you keep them in quite large goups. If you have a LARGE group of them (10 or more), it may be a different story. I had a group of 6 (in a similar size tank), and they spent most of the time hiding most of the time.

I also don't think tiger barbs will help - they DO go after catfish, as that's their natural enemy (not pictus cats, as they come from different continents, but they are similar enough to appear like "enemies" to the tiger-barbs).

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Mats

I just find it a little weird that people list them as very active fish, when they really are not in reality.

I have had absolutely no issues with the Tiger Barbs to date wither either species of catfish I have in there with them. If anything I've found the Danios to be a much more "aggressive" fish than the TB.

They are a shoaling fish, and you'll need at a minimum 12 to see their natural behaviour. You have a nice big tank, so why not add more pictus?

Try having a look at your lighting situation too. Really bright lights and few hiding places will make them more shy.

Post a picture of your tank and we might be able to help improve it.

Also moved to the right section...

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Mats