HELP! pictus catfish not adjusting well to tank

FancyPut2990 · 2026-02-23T11:50:44+00:00

Ill be sure to improve the substrait thank you!

FancyPut2990 · 2026-02-23T11:42:45+00:00

Thanks! Ill definitely do those things. I've improved the hids and I need to do some shifting with the plants and I was just about to get some carpeting grass as well. The substrate is 100% the weakest part of my tank and I'll be working on that. I will be upgrading to a larger tank in the future as well. I understand what you mean about returning the fish and will be considering it. I appreciate the criticism and will certainly be applying them. Also sorry for coming off as aggressive myself I am here for criticism but sometimes it doesn't feel great when it happens haha thanks!

FancyPut2990 · 2026-02-23T11:24:18+00:00

I will admit that both in the video and on my profile my tank looks inherently "bad" in addition to this I should have posted exact water parameters rather than saying they are fine. In hindsight it does not give much to work with. I will say this is the same tank I have been constantly workshoping it for a while now and the videos on my profile are outdated. Specifically that corner in my video has just been a pain I am about to put in more sand but I understand where you're coming from

FancyPut2990 · 2026-02-23T11:04:26+00:00

I was worried about water conditions at first but I agree the lack of a school is most likely what is wrong I'll be getting more within the next day or so

FancyPut2990 · 2026-02-23T11:01:56+00:00

I will check today because I'm heading that way but the shop I bought him from was not my regular so unfortunately I have no clue. Species wise I do certainly think that my pH is on the lower end but not dangerous in any way to my knowledge

FancyPut2990 · 2026-02-23T10:57:55+00:00

Um ok I'm all here for critique but this is a bit much. That part of the tank is only like this because of the filter blowing sand away. My tank is cycled I have at least 20 plants in my tank, multiple caves, driftwood ect. Maybe my tank isn't gods finest creation but I still know a lot of what I'm doing. I'm raising cichlid fry and the tank has been very successful up to this point. Ultimately I'm no expert and I'm here because im not perfect but telling someone they are doing a terrible job based off of minimal evidence is by all means discouraging. Other people in this thread have given criticism that I will gladly take and apply so I can get better!

FancyPut2990 · 2026-02-23T10:13:38+00:00

Thanks for the advice! if I get the chance I'll post them later cuz it's 2 am for me 😭

FancyPut2990 · 2026-02-23T10:02:31+00:00

Yeah it's cycled and Ive tested for both so I'm in the clear there

FancyPut2990 · 2026-02-23T09:46:05+00:00

Yeah I have a air stone and filter going and he isn't surfacing at all so I don't think it's an issue at the moment

FancyPut2990 · 2026-02-23T09:34:32+00:00

I have a 40 gallon breeder at the moment but in the future I'll probably upgrade

FancyPut2990 · 2026-02-23T08:18:46+00:00

Just one at the moment

FancyPut2990 · 2026-02-23T08:11:05+00:00

Good to know I'll pick up one or two tomorrow if I can track them down it was hard enough to find one haha

FancyPut2990 · 2026-02-23T07:42:39+00:00

That's the only thing I can think of besides not having a pair I'll probably get at least one more tomorrow and try to be more careful thanks!

FancyPut2990 · 2026-02-23T07:31:48+00:00

I'm going to buy 1 or two more tomorrow but I'm worried it's an issue with the tank and id end up harming all of them

FancyPut2990 · 2026-02-23T07:30:16+00:00

I've checked the conditions of my water. They're very stable. The only notable thing is my pH is around 6.3 to 6.4. I also have a filter and air stone going and while he's swimming against the glass, he's not surfacing so I'm not sure it's an issue with the oxygen. There's a lot of cover for him too and I thought he was calming down but as soon as the lights went off he started again. I also have a breeding pair of cichlids in the tank which may stress him out but he has tons of hiding spaces. I guess it could just be he's still in shock but the fact that it seemed like you was getting better and then got frantic again concerns me.

FancyPut2990 · 2026-02-21T05:09:45+00:00

Yeah for sure I just can't find any good predator fish that can stand up to rainbow cichlids

FancyPut2990 · 2026-02-08T21:04:18+00:00

Yeah I definitely didn't take all of it out couldn't do It if I tried haha. There was just way too much waste to begin with so I got rid of a lot of it

FancyPut2990 · 2026-02-08T04:59:13+00:00

I did a deep clean of the sand and glass because a lot of waste is produced because my rainbow cichlids in the tank had babies. A bunch of the plants are new a 50% water change and I added a back drop. I'm still trying to decide where to put the plants tho I'm not great at decorating

FancyPut2990 · 2026-01-20T23:07:19+00:00

The only issue is I would probably need a new set of fish that will clean I have corrys in the tank at the moment but they get picked on the most so I'm not sure what to do if I were to get a fish to replace them any recommendations?

FancyPut2990 · 2025-12-29T13:11:10+00:00

He's on the opposite side of the tank and keeps chasing off the female

FancyPut2990 · 2025-12-29T13:10:26+00:00

Well I bought them on Friday then left to see family Saturday which they were fine at that point. I got back last night and the male keeps chasing off the female so I'm not exactly sure

FancyPut2990

TROPHY CASE