# Pictus Catfish Questions



## Tux09 (Nov 10, 2009)

Hi, I bought a tank full of fish about three weeks ago. Its 55 gal with 9 african cichlids and a pictus cat.

The pictus has been fine but I'm not sure how to know if he's eating, and I've seen him resting listlessly quite often, just hiding in a cave. 

I've tried putting sinking catfish pellets in after lights out and the cichlids still find it all.. they're the greediest fish ever and don't leave any leftovers. I'm afraid of overfeeding my cichlids in an attempt to feed the pictus. Any tips on how to do this or how to know if he's eating?

I mean hes still alive after three weeks so he must be getting something, but that leads me to my next question about the resting.

He's very active like all pictus, but lately I've noticed him resting very still in a cave, and when another fish goes by he swims out and darts around the tank like lightning again. 

He looks perfectly healthy when he's swimming, but then he just stops in a cave and rests for a while. When he rests he looks almost dead.

For all I know this could be normal behaviour but I can't find anything about it on the Internet, so if anyone knows about this it would be much appreciated, thanks!


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## gigman125 (Dec 23, 2009)

I myself have a pictus catfish in a 20 gallon tank along with one upside down catfish. Mine also rests sometimes then darts around and he has been around for about 3 years so i assume thats healthy. I regret to say that i have no experience on feeding him so that other fish don't over eat, since i only have one other fish in there with him. I would suggest that you try putting food on the bottom manually using a net or your hand so that other fish cannot get them. Pictus catfish usually eat anything on the bottom of the tank. I have also noticed that when i turn the light, he gets a little stressed out.


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