Pictus cat Q's

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Guppy's_Hell

Candiru
MFK Member
Apr 2, 2007
271
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Miami, Fl
Hi, I'm new to the gathering catfish info but have found much, much great info on these boards for my Bichir over the past... I had a couple of questions about a pictus I bought.... (Google hasn't helped on some questions)

1- What is the growth rate of these catfish? It is in a 56gal column tank with my Bichir. He (the catfish) is about 2 1/2 inches long. Is being fed shrimp pellets and flake food.


2. My Bichir's diet is based on free feeding on ghost shrimp, dainos, guppies and occasional night crawler. Do i have to worry about the catfish over feeding its self once it gets bigger?




In case any one is wondering the Bichir, a senegal, is about 7 inches long and they are getting along fine as of now sharing the same cave in the tank a good bunch of the time...


Thank you for your info ahead of time...
 
The Pictus should be fine in that situation. I haven't seen mine overeat. Good that you are feeding it a varied diet.
 
Thanks! I was worried a little by it my work schedule doesn't permit many trips to buy live food at the LFS during business hours often... What about the growth rate any one have an idea on that? One inch in six months?
 
i had a 6 in pictus and he would eat a guppy a day or every other day, till he got a huge growth on his gill and died:/

the guppies were not intentionally food either...
 
Slow growers I have found, my 2 maybe grew 2-3" in the first year and then from 3"-4" in over the next 2 years.
 
Thanks for the input guys! Good to know the little guy should be ok as is... Ill make sure both him and the Bichir are well fed to avoid any possible upsets... :)


FYI for any one that might find this in a search later on....

My Bichir (7-8inch), although known to have eaten prey of similar size, has gotten along with the Pictus catfish (2.5inch) quite well (day 4). I have seen them "sleeping" together under the same cover often, however the Bichir has been quick to show its dominance in the tank. During feeding of pellets or flakes, the catfish enters a "frenzy" like state, and the bichir lunges at him aggressively. Once the catfish sees this and backs off to a slower pace searching for food, the two seem to interact just fine without any aggression.

Just thought the interaction would be interesting to share...

(Note: My senegal bichir seems to very active even among senegals)
 
At my LFS they have a pictus full breed that is about 9inches and 3 inches wide. I have never seen anything like this. It was extremely healthy. They are selling it for only 15 bucks too. They raised him since young and have only had it for 3 years. It was a very interesting sight. I don't see my pictus getting that big. He has maybe grown a 1/2 inch since I have had him. Very hungry fish at night. Hides all day except random points when my pacu chase eachother.
 
The Ippster;1936521; said:
i had a 6 in pictus and he would eat a guppy a day or every other day, till he got a huge growth on his gill and died:/

the guppies were not intentionally food either...
Click to expand...

my four-line has an odd growth on his gill too... but it hasn't grown any more and doesn't seem to bother him. I wonder if it's similar to yours
 
mattheuw1;2124758; said:
At my LFS they have a pictus full breed that is about 9inches and 3 inches wide. I have never seen anything like this. It was extremely healthy. They are selling it for only 15 bucks too. They raised him since young and have only had it for 3 years. It was a very interesting sight. I don't see my pictus getting that big. He has maybe grown a 1/2 inch since I have had him. Very hungry fish at night. Hides all day except random points when my pacu chase eachother.
Click to expand...


That Pictus that you see is more than likely a pimelodus blochii, the one in my pic is a fully grown 10", they are very similar and often confused with each other.
 
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