Common Name: Pictus Catfish, Pictus
Scientific Name: Pimelodus Pictus
Average Adult Fish Size: 5 inches / 12 cm
Place of Origin: Amazon basins in Colombia, Venezuela, Peru and Brazil.
Typical Tank Setup: Well planted with drift wood / bogwood and some rock work. Make sure you have plenty of territories as Pictus Catfish like to take control of an area.
Recommended Minimum Aquarium Capacity: 64 gallon / 240 litre
Compatibility: Although a single fish will survive by itself, it’s a shoaling fish by nature and will be much more outgoing and active when maintained in a group of six or more. If kept alone it tends to remain hidden during daylight hours.
Temperature: 22-25 Deg C / 72 – 77 Deg F
Water Chemistry: pH 5.8 – 6.8
Feeding: Omnivorous, and will eat anything from flakes, pellets, and frozen foods when smaller to large pellets, earthworms, and chunks of frozen foods or market shrimp when larger.
Sexing: Adult females are likely to be stockier in build than males.
Breeding: Not achieved in captivity.
Additional Information: Take care when buying these. When first imported they can be in pretty bad shape, tending to suffer from a combination of malnutrition and oxygen deprivation.
Caution must also be exercised when catching Pictus Catfish. They have very rigid pectoral and dorsal spines, which can easily become tangled in the mesh of an aquarium net. These can also cause a painful wound if you happen to be stabbed.