advice on pictus cats please

[Lightning Bug]

planetcatfish's database says they only get to 4.7", does anyone know from personal experience if that's accurate? i ask because i want to put a school of 5 in a 29 gallon (30"L 18"H 12"W) but i want to make sure that i will be a responsible fish parent and not squeeze my babies in a tank that's too small :)

secondly, the only other fish that will be in there with them are 2 banjo cats, you dont think the pictus would bother them do you? are they aggressive like that? my smaller banjo is only about 3" and it doesnt have much girth on it. i do worry about the banjos getting to eat though.... any thoughts on that? i thought i might just feed them after lights out when the banjos have gotten a chance to get out of the sand and get moving for the evening.

will pictus cats bother plants? i love how my some of my plants have matured so nicely and i wouldn't want them to get torn up in a day.

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=276

[derekp]

The pictus cats will grow to a good 7 or 8" at max. I think 5 would be pushing it in a 29 gallon. I think 3 would be the most you could safely add. They are also very vigorous eaters and I am afraid that they will not allow the banjos to eat as the banjos are very slow. They also might uproot your plants because of their constant activity. They are awesome catfish, just very very active.

[DirTDeezl]

I have 2 pictus cats and they are flat spaztic at times! They are quite amusing to watch and they are very pretty. They try to mug my pleco for his algae tablet but he puts the kibash on that pretty quickly. "vigorous eaters" is a very accurate term and they are forever laying waste to my fake plants in the tank. My pictus are only about 4 inches long now, cant imagine what they'll be like at 7+ inches, whoooo boy.

[Lab_Rat]

Max size will depend on the type of pictus and where it's ancestors were collected from. I've got the sort that max at 5", some will max at 7" or so. If you've got the 4 line pims they'll hit 12". Regardless whether it's one that will max at 5" or 7", a 29g is way too small for even one of these active fish. I wouldn't do less than a 4' tank. I've got my 4 in a 75g, and that is even too small for them imo. They are extremely active fish.

[spacefish34]

I agree with Lab-Rat.My opinion is that a 29g is too small even for one.I would keep them in a group,minimum three,in a 55g to start.But,as they grow and definitely if you keep more than three,the minimum should be 75g.They are active,sometimes waspish,and all specimens I've kept got at least 5.5" with some reaching 7+.Good luck...