Pictus catfish questions

[ShadowBeast]

I plan on getting a couple(3) of pictus catfish but I was wondering a few things:
1.how big do they really get?I've heard 4.5 to 6 inches and I've heard 9 to 10 inches but that might be people confusing it with the similar "four-lined catfish".
2.how big do their mouths get?
3.will they uproot plants?
4.what is the max length of fish that I could keep with them?
I think I'm forgetting some questions I also had so i'll post those once I remember them.

 

[67chevelle]

Pictus get to be around 6 inches.
Their mouths will get big enough to eat most smaller community fish. And they will eat what fits in their mouth.
I have never kept them with live plants. But as much as they scurry around on substrate, they may uproot them. If the plants have been there for awhile, and are firmly rooted,you might be able to do it.
What kinds of fish are you wanting to keep with them? Most larger semi aggressive fish should be fine with them.

 

[ShadowBeast]

Pictus get to be around 6 inches.
Their mouths will get big enough to eat most smaller community fish. And they will eat what fits in their mouth.
I have never kept them with live plants. But as much as they scurry around on substrate, they may uproot them. If the plants have been there for awhile, and are firmly rooted,you might be able to do it.
What kinds of fish are you wanting to keep with them? Most larger semi aggressive fish should be fine with them.

Well so far I've got some pretty good sized cories which I think would be too fat for them to eat, and I want to get some swordtails too.
I keep hearing how their mouths get big but I'm curious as how many inches wide and long it gets so I get an idea of how big of fish I keep with them.
hopefully 3 inches of eco complete will keep any hygros rooted.

 

[67chevelle]

I would be a bit wary of having cory and pictus together.The sword tails too. If you are not attached to them,then give it a try. But you may see them slowly disappear.

 

[ShadowBeast]

I would be a bit wary of having cory and pictus together.The sword tails too. If you are not attached to them,then give it a try. But you may see them slowly disappear.

That's why I'm curious to how big their mouth gets, though the swordtails gets 4 inches which is pretty close to the pictus's size and the cories I have aren't the small type plus they're a pretty fat fish so I doubt they'll fit.

 

[67chevelle]

Catfish swallow their food whole. They don't have teeth. If they think they can eat it ,they will. Often killing themselves if the other fish is too large. I would personally not keep pictus with cory or sword tails. JMO.

How big is the tank you want to keep them in?

 

[Cerianthus]

Ive kept them with fishes mentioned w/o ill effects but I categorize angel cat as one of Ich magnet and they'll go crazy at feeding time.
As far as plants, they should be well secured.
Def avoid tiny/slender tetra, imo, especially in small aquarium.

 

[ShadowBeast]

Catfish swallow their food whole. They don't have teeth. If they think they can eat it ,they will. Often killing themselves if the other fish is too large. I would personally not keep pictus with cory or sword tails. JMO.

How big is the tank you want to keep them in?

I have a 36 gallon bowfront tank.
I've had a couple of pictus with a small cory about half a year ago and the pictus never bothered it unfortunately neither lasted too long due to common pleco bioload creating high ammonia :wall: but any way I've heard stories of people of successfully keeping neons with them without fatalities so I can only hope I get merciful pictus who'd rather have zuccini and brine shrimp pellets then live food it'll all depend on personality and plus keeping them fed would help too and considering my trumpet snails keep breeding up a storm I'm sure they'll get enough food:grinyes:

 

[ShadowBeast]

Ive kept them with fishes mentioned w/o ill effects but I categorize angel cat as one of Ich magnet and they'll go crazy at feeding time.
As far as plants, they should be well secured.
Def avoid tiny/slender tetra, imo, especially in small aquarium.

I've heard they especially go crazy for bloodworms as much as sharks go crazy for blood.

 

[ExPeNsIvE HoBbY]

I've heard they especially go crazy for bloodworms as much as sharks go crazy for blood.

Yes they do! I have 2 of them that I have had for about 3.5 years. They are very fast darty fish, but their mouths stay very small, maybe .250" at most, on 4.5" fish. They do not seem to get nearly as large as I have read, and have not seen them much bigger than what I have. After 3.5 years in a 135 gal you would think they could reach their maximum size. Since they did not grow large, i put them in my sons 46 gal with 2 juvie oscars, 5 tiger barbs, and common pleco.