# Pictus catfish?



## Camaro95 (Nov 11, 2010)

I have a 110g I have been trying to stock since last year, unfortunately none of the fish I've been searching for have shown up so it's back to the drawing board.

With 110g (60"Lx24"Wx18"H), I know I can house a community of six or seven Pictus Cats, which is the plan, I'm hoping I can add a breeding pair of Convicts.

Are the cats large/quick enough to not be bothered by the convicts?
Can the cats get hold of the fry as a snack source?
Will the Convicts bother Kuhli loaches or Amano shrimp?

I can't seem to find the answer to those question so if any one has any experience, that would be excellent!


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## oldcatfish (May 27, 2009)

The Pictus will eat fry, and the convicts will definitely see them as a threat.

If you are going to add them, I highly recommend adding another cichlid...like a single JD or something to draw some of the aggression away from the catfish. Otherwise the convicts will relentlessly go after them, and you'll rarely see the catfish (they'll hide all day).

Convicts will kill the shrimp and khuli loaches.


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## Camaro95 (Nov 11, 2010)

Thank you very much for your reply. That's unfortunately what I was expecting to hear, though hoping different.


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## xXGrEeNxTeRrOrXx (Jan 25, 2006)

Respectfully, I disagree with Oldcatfish.

A 110g aquarium is plenty large for a pair of convicts to lay eggs and not kill everything in sight. Yes, they are aggressive, but if you have 6-7 pictus catfish the convicts won't be able to single any one out. They'll chase them off, but won't kill them IMO. Especially if you create enough territory and hiding spots for all the cats. I think it will be fine.

The shrimp and loaches however, may not fare so well.


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

Since many catfish have sharp barbs on fins, they sometimes teach big mean fish quite a lesson. I can't really say what the results would be but once barbed a lot of cichlids learn to stand back a bit when the catfish comes round.


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## mlancaster (Jul 24, 2009)

Hi *Camaro95*,

Although not the same situation, I hope this may be somewhat relatable. I have one pictus (will get some friends once he upgrades tanks soon) and one large Geo living together. The pictus shows a fair amount of aggression to the Geo. The pictus lives under a piece of wood and the Geo spends a lot of time behind it. During feeding, or sporadically, the geo will take a bite at the pictus and the pictus will retaliate; or visa versus. No damage to either fish.

I guess the point of this is that I was surprised by the aggression of the pictus and even a large Geo does not do damage to the cat when confrontations do occur. Cons are obviously a different story, so take my experience for what it is worth.

Thanks,
Matt


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## oldcatfish (May 27, 2009)

I'm not saying that Pictus cats won't work, but I'd definitely add another potential fry predator, just to divert the Convicts attention a bit.


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## Camaro95 (Nov 11, 2010)

My tanks always seem to follow the same decorating pattern; an open side (sometimes planted), the big decoration (mountain, pile of rocks, giant cave, tree roots etc) and a the obstacle side (rock piles, caves, slate structures, wood, bottles, pots, pans etc).

The Kuhlis are rarely visible. I can sometimes find one out of 15+ but they are always under the mountain and in gaps I'm not sure water can even fit in.

Do you think once I managed to move the Kuhlis and shrimp out it would be best if I created a median or porous wall about half the height of the tank tall and about one third of the distance away from one end to manage the territories a little bit? In the smaller "section" I'd have numerous caves for the Convicts while the larger section would have less, but larger caves for the cats to swim around/hide in. The "wall" would of course have holes at different levels and would be mainly as an artificial territory divide.

How active are convicts at night?
How much time do they actually spend out and about doing fish things?
And how often are they in the upper levels of tanks?


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## maddyfish (Jul 23, 2004)

I don't think the cons will do much damage to the Pictus, but I do think the cats will pick off the fry though.


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## Camaro95 (Nov 11, 2010)

maddyfish said:


> but I do think the cats will pick off the fry though.


That's the plan. Let the Convicts do their thing while supplementing the catfish diet with live food. I also have some guppies for that too.


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## Guapoako318 (Dec 14, 2006)

If you had that many pictus, there is no way the convicts can keep them away if 3 or so decide they want a midnight snack. Unless you have a large fully grown Male Convict, I doubt it could really hurt/catch the pictus anyway.


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## oldcatfish (May 27, 2009)

I agree that the Pictus will eat the convict fry...most likely at night. But convicts are smart, they will go after the long "whiskers" as well as the eyes. I had a large male convict kill a 6 inch "striped raphael catfish." That species is really armed well, and it didn't take the convict long to find the weakness.

Now, in a larger tank like yours, they may be fine....but it's so easy to minimize that risk by just adding a larger cichlid tankmate to divert some of the aggressive convict attention away from the catfish. The more "threat fish" that there are, the less damage that each one will take from the convict pair.


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## Camaro95 (Nov 11, 2010)

Well with that said, I will allow the cats to get sufficiently settled before I add convicts. If the cichilds don't work I can always move them to their own tank or send them back.

Do you think the false/artificial territory should help curb aggression?


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## oldcatfish (May 27, 2009)

Yes, clear territorial markers will definitely help. But with no other cichlids in the tank, the convicts may take to trying to keep the cats well beyond their breeding site. With a larger cichlid present they will most likely stay a little closer to home, because they'll need to stay as a tight pair, instead of being the dominant fish in the tank.


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