pictus cats

Hey hey.
just got 4( +_3cm) pictus cats for my 1.5m ,not sure if any one else has any but the coolest part is that my 2yr old pictus lost his spots about 6 months ago and his colours were back to normal in about 2 hours ,can any one explain ???
tried getting a pic but when he sees the camera he dissapears, managed to get one of the little guys.
cheers

 

wow this catfish looks great, can you tell me more about it(size, compatibilty etc)

how much does this fish sell for

 

my old guy is about 10cm his two barbs in front are prob about 6cm .they are very active in low light conditions or feeding time , almost always hiding somewhere at bottom of tank , had the big one with a redtail shark and some malawis and they were always fighting ,now in tank with silvers, angels and baby arowana.ive only seen them 3times in a lfs all 3 times they were about R100 im sure you can get em cheeper. one of my fav fish

 

That looks like a good specimen of Pictus catfish - Pimelodus pictus - I would so love to add some of them to my tanks

I see at http://www.aqua-fish.net/show.php?h=pictuscatfish that they stay "small" and should do OK in a community tank.

I need to keep an eye-open for a few of them ....

F

 

you should ideally have 5 or more as they like to school and to sort out hierarchy. although i have kept 2 and they were great together and with other ground dwelling fish, except the cons.

tank should be at least 1.5m for 5 or more and 1.2m for 2. i have seen pics of ones reaching 15cm. also bear in mind there are a few species of pictus.

 

what about hoplo catfish, anybody got this fish?

 

I like these fish, although I've never bought any because they tend to have a steep(ish) price, also considering they like to school...

I do prefer Hoplos. They don't mind if they're alone, although they look great in groups as well. Not to mention the get to a decent size, both of mine are at least 16cm each.