Pictus Catfish

[Jörmungandr]

I have 4 of the pictus in my ray tank. They are all about 4" and active all of the time. Two of them eat about anything, the other 2 are picky. I have always read that they do better in groups. IME, they are more solitary. Each one has it's own "space" in the tank. If one strays too near someone else's area, they get chased away. I also had a 4 line pim in the same tank. That fish was a beast. Very peaceful with others, but spent most of the time hanging out under the drift wood.

Ya know I wondered how they would feed and mine will eat anything day one they hunted down a dozen ghost shrimp that were for a baby RTC lol I was not aware they would eat live things but also they ate carnivore tabs and hikari cichlids gold that night idk where it all goes well.... I guess they do move a lot lol

 

[Jörmungandr]

Are Ornate Pims not considered "Pictus"????

Seems they fit right between the 2 mentioned in this thread.

They are their own what is the order ??? species genus family ? Lol either way related but differ much larger reaching 11.2 " max by what I saw but still active eating machines require a large tank given their larger size

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Does any1 keep These? If so how active are they?
How big do they usually get all i have read is 5".
I am getting 3 for my 75. Can i see some pics of them if you all have any. Thank you.

They are very commonly kept.
If you set up all right, they are super active, quirky, interactive, entertaining busybodies.
5" is about right, rarely we hear of 6"-ers.

Love these growing 3 now in hopes I do well and want to get about twenty for a monster tank so I have a cloud of awesome in the tank that doubles as entertainment/clean up

Few yrs ago I had a group of 9 pictus cats. Ranging from 4"-6". Super active and non stop action. They do best in a group as they interact with each other. Not fussy about food. Very awesome small size cats. I had them in a 75 gallon. Now I have the bigger pictus( 4 lined pictus) also called Pimelodus blochii. I have 2 and they're 7" and 8". Don't swim at all. Just lays in their caves till feeding time. Once they smell food, look out cause they'll dash like crazy gulping up food. These are more suited for bigger tanks. You can't go wrong with a group of pictus.

Agree with the guys. Get 1-2 dozen to be thoroughly entertained day in and out.