Everything I read online said pictus cats do best in small groups of at least three so I stocked 3 of them in my 75g tank. So far one seems like he could care less that the other two are there, and the other two are consistently fighting lol. I have a bunch of different hiding places in pots, driftwood, and pieces of shale but these two keep crossing paths and get into a wrestling match. There doesn't seem to be any signs of injury and everybody's fins are still there but it just seems like my cats behavior is going against everything I read about them. They are all from the same tank at the LFS and all about 3.5" or so. The fight seems to break out in the same spot, a large open area of sand towards the back of the tank behind some driftwood. Should I add another rock back there to try and break up the territory? Do they just need to work it out? Anything else I'm missing?
Pictus cat fight
- Thread starter belltold12
- Start date
They school till sub-adulthood and adulthood. Then they become territorial.
Yours should be small enough though. With schooling fish like pictus, who still establish a pecking order, 2-3 is generally not a good number. My usual advice is at least 6.
I bet that there was peace in the LFS tank if there were many in there.
Yours should be small enough though. With schooling fish like pictus, who still establish a pecking order, 2-3 is generally not a good number. My usual advice is at least 6.
I bet that there was peace in the LFS tank if there were many in there.
nope, they were the only three in the LFS tank. Which had a lot more open space too, pretty much a few plants and a rock or two. There were other cats though about the same size, I want to say 4 line pims, and suns or hoplos.
So it seems like they just needed to work it out as the fighting has stopped. Sadly it does look like there was some damage to their barbels.
If your tank allows it, I'd add ~5 more. You'd be very pleased you did as they will become bolder, more relaxed, exhibiting their natural, busybody behavior, hide less, fight less, interact more.
Unless the damage is close to the barbel root, it is no problem. Catfish in general are designed to damage and lose parts of their barbels often and to grow them back. Same goes for fins and skin.
Unless the damage is close to the barbel root, it is no problem. Catfish in general are designed to damage and lose parts of their barbels often and to grow them back. Same goes for fins and skin.
So last night I got home and it seemed like the rest of the tank was upset. I thought maybe the boisterous cats might've finally started to agitate the other fish so they just needed to "go to bed" with the lights off and in the morning things would calm down. Woke up this morning... it's ich...