Pictus catfish...not so humble.
- Thread starter Nedly
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
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aqua_holic
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Yes at one point in their life cycle they drop off and fall to the substrate. From there they hatch and seek out hosts. This is the phase where they are killed, by whatever means you are using to treat. Heat speeds up the life cycle pushing them to that point, where the temp kills them.
I understand that, and I am not battling them right now. I was just curious if the sand would help to defeat any that come in (if it ever happens) being that sand is more dense. It was a curiosity question.
I am about half way done making the switch. It has all went well and the fish are all ready showing a liking to it, and it makes me feel good to see their poop as weird as that sounds... I feel like gravel substrates just lock in junk and hide it..
I am about half way done making the switch. It has all went well and the fish are all ready showing a liking to it, and it makes me feel good to see their poop as weird as that sounds... I feel like gravel substrates just lock in junk and hide it..
treemanone2003
Aquarium Advice Addict
Substrate will not defeat infections or parasites. Only excellent husbandry and proper QT.
Sent from my iPhone that doesn't like me. Or you.
Sent from my iPhone that doesn't like me. Or you.
lil monster
Aquarium Advice Newbie
I have 3 Pictus cats and they're actually not very social. In fact, one of them hides in a log during the day and if another fish (including the other Picts) come near the opening, he chases them off. I call him the Godfather of the fish, lol! He won't mess with the turtle or the crabs tho!
I hope you didn't put sand in your tank, it's really not necessary. My tank is mostly large river rocks but I have a little area with small gravel that I can drop sinking pellets on and they love it. I also feed them bloodworms every night and they seem to be doing very well.
If you have any questions, let me know and I'll try to answer them for you.
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I hope you didn't put sand in your tank, it's really not necessary. My tank is mostly large river rocks but I have a little area with small gravel that I can drop sinking pellets on and they love it. I also feed them bloodworms every night and they seem to be doing very well.
If you have any questions, let me know and I'll try to answer them for you.
Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advise
Actually my Pictus have been better than ever since I put in sand, and added more caves, and took out the salt.
I wanted sand also for my other fish because I also have fish like the Cory which has rapidly learned how to filter the sand through its gills. Literally like a little vacuum.
But I also made caves through the length of the aquarium with breaks and since I have my Pictus are not only happy but actually go all around in the day if I feed.
I will add that one of them does guard most of the caves and will chase the others off, but the other two have made home on the other end of the tank and will do the same....
There are more plants in there too but I have them in the birthing box. I took in some guppies the other day, a nice family had them over populating a little 10 gallon, and some of their fry were super small. So speaking of Pictus, I had to post the little fry in a box with holes for now...
But if you check out the image, the big Pictus claims the broken pot on the right home and guards all through to the hollow log. The other two claimed the rock formation at the other end and hang out behind or in them. But having these intermittent caves with the sand made a world of difference. They love them and if it were not for this set up they would not go the length of the tank unless at night.
So with this setup all has been amazing. The sand is a heavy version so it is very easy to manage. It was a National Geographic brand. Currently I am swapping out the waterfall filters and installing a canister filter and am almost done building a custom lid for better lighting...
I wanted sand also for my other fish because I also have fish like the Cory which has rapidly learned how to filter the sand through its gills. Literally like a little vacuum.
But I also made caves through the length of the aquarium with breaks and since I have my Pictus are not only happy but actually go all around in the day if I feed.
I will add that one of them does guard most of the caves and will chase the others off, but the other two have made home on the other end of the tank and will do the same....
There are more plants in there too but I have them in the birthing box. I took in some guppies the other day, a nice family had them over populating a little 10 gallon, and some of their fry were super small. So speaking of Pictus, I had to post the little fry in a box with holes for now...
But if you check out the image, the big Pictus claims the broken pot on the right home and guards all through to the hollow log. The other two claimed the rock formation at the other end and hang out behind or in them. But having these intermittent caves with the sand made a world of difference. They love them and if it were not for this set up they would not go the length of the tank unless at night.
So with this setup all has been amazing. The sand is a heavy version so it is very easy to manage. It was a National Geographic brand. Currently I am swapping out the waterfall filters and installing a canister filter and am almost done building a custom lid for better lighting...
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lil monster
Aquarium Advice Newbie
Awesome! Sounds like it's come together very well for you! Good sticktoitiveness! When I bought the Pictus, I had no idea how fascinating they would be. They are very graceful swimmers, yet fast and powerful when they need to be. I like their personalities, and all their frenetic activity, especially at night. I have a glowfish blue light on my aquarium and they still come out and explore, and occasionally go after one another, or the Emerald Corys, lol!
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Thank you, Lil Monster. The tank has been a blast. The two most rewarding things I did so far is live plants and sand. Now I have a hard time even enjoying the looks of fake plants or gravel...
Originally I only intended to have one Pictus, but these two other guys were being homed by hippies that had them in a 50 gallon tank they did not clean, and stuffed this tank with a large 20" heli decoration that barely fit, so they had no swim room, no clean tank, nasty gravel, it was pretty crappy...
It took them all a while to chill in this tank and now they are a blast. Even my original is much more happy. I feed them flakes, pellets, and dry freeze goods and they go nuts for it all.. This last time I got flakes I ordered them from a special store online that sent the food in sheets, it had not been broken up yet, which allows me to pick off larger flakes and send them into the current and the catfish chase them all around..
Originally I only intended to have one Pictus, but these two other guys were being homed by hippies that had them in a 50 gallon tank they did not clean, and stuffed this tank with a large 20" heli decoration that barely fit, so they had no swim room, no clean tank, nasty gravel, it was pretty crappy...
It took them all a while to chill in this tank and now they are a blast. Even my original is much more happy. I feed them flakes, pellets, and dry freeze goods and they go nuts for it all.. This last time I got flakes I ordered them from a special store online that sent the food in sheets, it had not been broken up yet, which allows me to pick off larger flakes and send them into the current and the catfish chase them all around..
