Need info on Pictus Cats

[thebiggerthebetter]

I can not for the life of me keep Pictus in groups for any amount of time, I’ve currently got a single specimen doing great, however the group I had him in just seemed to die off or I would wake up to pieces of them, god only knows but I’m reluctant to try keeping more, which I would love.

I've started with 27 pictus in a 240 (US) gal 8x2x2ft (then +6 more in a few years). They do fight it out a lot, especially after they sexually mature, and maintain a hierarchy, at times pretty viciously, which is a source of stress, of course, and probably the cause of an occasional premature death.

I've had problems with tank mate predation and disease - the two primary causes of deaths - and as of now probably down to about 15, that is 5 years later.

 

[bkfamus]

Thanks for everybody's posts on this subject. Very cool link and video thebiggerthebetter . If I can find some Pictus I'm going to grab a few. I must have had the Peruvian variety because he was spotted and didn't grow very large.

Tangled Up In Cichlids has 3" Colombian caught Pictus in their current stock list.. Thinking of getting 1 too.. ?

 

[celebrist]

8 years ago I bought 9 and quarantined them in a 90 for several months. They schooled tightly. I moved them to the 450 and they scattered, establishing separate territories. I still have all of them. They will squabble on occasion but not very much and seem to have gotten to a point that they accept each other more than a few years ago. My tank has a plethora of caves and such however