I recently added this guy to my 29 gallon heavily planted tank. But i have a problem and a question. problem: one of my platys tries to school with it, and the cat fish slap him with his feelers, now the platys acts sick (this went on for about 2 days). question: does the four line shock other fish with its feelers or does it secrete some kind of toxin with them? a girl at my LFS said she has had to grab them off the floor before and her whole arm goes numb after touching it, so I think it does one of the two but have been unable to find more info on the type of catfish.
4-line pictus...
- Thread starter DiN BLiX
- Start date
I've kept Pictus for years and don't honestly know if they have a toxin or not, but I do know that any catfish stab is a painfull experience, and sommething as small as a platy getting nailed by a pictus would have a tough time recovering no matter what. If they carried enough venom to make a human arm go numb, I would imagine the palty wouldn't last more than a few minutes though so I doubt there is a toxin involved.
Perhaps the person at your LFS has spent too much time around open tubes of silicone
Pictus don't "sting" nor are they venemous or electrified, but as daveedka pointed out - being stabbed by the spines in the pec fins can be very painful.
Go here for more info on pictus:
http://www.planetcatfish.com/
As for the platy acting sick for a couple of days - it could have been the stress of adding the new fish, or some bug that came in with the new guy. Add some stresscoat and see what happens.
Goodluck
Pictus don't "sting" nor are they venemous or electrified, but as daveedka pointed out - being stabbed by the spines in the pec fins can be very painful.
Go here for more info on pictus:
http://www.planetcatfish.com/
As for the platy acting sick for a couple of days - it could have been the stress of adding the new fish, or some bug that came in with the new guy. Add some stresscoat and see what happens.
Goodluck
well, Good news if he's still alive and not showing any damage, he's probably fine physically. As far as retrded, that wouldn't suprise me with a platy all :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
I HAD 2 pictus. 
When I first got them, I made the mistake of using a net. One got his fin caught in the net (or better yet, I got his fin caught in the net).
~Anyway~
I had to get him "unstuck". I got finned by the lil booger (man they're as quick as a waterbug, huh) when he thrashed in my hand. I dont remember getting sick, none of my body parts went numb, and I am obviously still alive.
I dont go by what my LFS says. If I have a question or concern...I find the correct answer RIGHT HERE!
When I first got them, I made the mistake of using a net. One got his fin caught in the net (or better yet, I got his fin caught in the net).
~Anyway~
I had to get him "unstuck". I got finned by the lil booger (man they're as quick as a waterbug, huh) when he thrashed in my hand. I dont remember getting sick, none of my body parts went numb, and I am obviously still alive.
I dont go by what my LFS says. If I have a question or concern...I find the correct answer RIGHT HERE!
Took the pictus back to the LFS the other day, he was gettting to big already (almost duobled in size). replaced him with a 4 julii-cory cleaning crew, i like them alot better, much more active and they dont try to kill other fish. The last straw was when the pictus ATE a brand new pair if red wag platys.
I read your thread the other day but I was pressed for time. I was going to mention the fact that they will eat small tankmates. And they get too large for a 29g. My 4-line was 8 inches when I returned him to the lfs for constantly harrassing my 4 inch oscar, anything smaller than he was seemed to be a target. He also moved alot of my decor around, so in a planted tank it would have been up-rooting all your plants once it got larger. Beautiful fish though.. Here's an old pic of mine...
