Officially back in the game
- Thread starter Renegade Aquatics
- Start date
Well, I brought my 40B back to life with 5x pictus and a bunch of mollies from my pond, I knew when pictus grow bigger they might see mollies at food but for now they are safe, I think by the time the pictus get some sizes my tank have enough live plants and dense enough for mollies stay in there for their safety. So far, I have a bunch of Pothos, Amazon Sword, and I'm waiting for my water lilly to spout (just planted the bulb), I'm thinking to put some hornwort on the surface for babies molly.
Pictus are a lot of fun to keep.
It appears the key to relax them is to have lots of cover available for them to dart under / into. I've large rocks but little cover overall in one of my 240 gal and 27 pictus in there. They are not what I'd call relaxed. They swim together at one end and feed well but still scatter around like lightning when I approach the tank. I almost never turn the light on the tank either.
When I go to LFSs, they'd have pictus in small tanks with lights on but usually with plants and other cover and their pictus swim around leisurely. Of course they are used to traffic but I think it is most the immediately available cover.
Yours appear relaxed, much more so than mine. Good job.
It appears the key to relax them is to have lots of cover available for them to dart under / into. I've large rocks but little cover overall in one of my 240 gal and 27 pictus in there. They are not what I'd call relaxed. They swim together at one end and feed well but still scatter around like lightning when I approach the tank. I almost never turn the light on the tank either.
When I go to LFSs, they'd have pictus in small tanks with lights on but usually with plants and other cover and their pictus swim around leisurely. Of course they are used to traffic but I think it is most the immediately available cover.
Yours appear relaxed, much more so than mine. Good job.
My pictus seem freak out when the light is off LOL
Especially at night time they are dart around like crazy if no light on but if I leave a minimal night light on I saw them swim around much more calm rather dart around like a rocket.
Especially at night time they are dart around like crazy if no light on but if I leave a minimal night light on I saw them swim around much more calm rather dart around like a rocket.
Love pictus,they also aren't as likely to eat fish as other catfishes
Interesting info. Thanks. I'm trying to figure out which is the natural behavior and which is not. Which is natural for day and which for night.
My guys appear to behave the same day or night.
I used to have 150G community tank full of barbs species, mollies, danios, fancy goupy pack with ton of driftwoods and very heavy planted and top water surface dense with hornwort, duck weeds, waterlilly leaf, I have my light on 10 hours a day and my pictus out and round the tank day and night search for food, they still freak out when the light completely off at midnight, I can hear they splashing surface water like they are try to get out of the tank or like someone came after them and try to eat them LOL even they are the only predator in the community tank. Once I set a night light a t lowest just enough to reach bottom then they are come back down and relax at bottom, my guess they adapted with my light schedule
Nice but I am a bit confused. Are you saying that you observed the same unreasonable nighttime no-light behavior in both tanks? Your old 150 gal and the new tank too?
Yes, on both tank old and new tank.
Light off they will on top water surface and try to get out day or night, with light on they stay at bottom searching for food or seemly just stay together at their favorite spot.
