Well today I went to my local Maidenhead Aquatics (I don't normally go there) to buy another 2 Pictus. The guy I was talking to started telling me that they are poisonous so you can't handle them and that they are very aggressive and can't be kept with many fish as they'll take their eyes out    He also said catfish are nocturnal and will only come out if you keep the lights off. I agreed and bought them anyway.

So far the new ones are keeping to themselves but one of the new ones is quite aggressive (Stumpy one with dark spots) and chases all the fish in the tank! So I turned the light off and the 3 pictus are starting to settle down together.

I'll see how it goes and keep everyone updated  

Your tank length is a bit on the small side so I would opt for another two pims to bring them up to three instead of the four which I mentioned earlier. Maybe 4-6 small barbs such as the checker barb or similar when your tank has gone through the Nitrogen cycle should suffice.

The problem with smaller tanks is that the water parameters need to be kept good, more so than a larger tank which would take a lot longer for things to go wrong. Good luck with your new venture.

Thanks for the help. At the moment I have 1 pictus and 2 small congo tetras and they all seem to get on pretty well, the pictus is very active at night. On thursday/friday I'll be getting my LFS to test out my water and if it is ok I will add the other Pictus at the weekend. Later on (about a month or so) I was thinking of changing the tetras for a Whiptail (http://www.scotcat.c...ets/r_parva.htm) What are they like? Is my tank size ok?

Once again thanks for the help and sorry for the questions!

Well I went to my LFS today and couldn't resist!



Apologies for the picture but he's a fast little bugger. At the moment there is only one as my tank is new but once he and the tank are settled he'll have some friends! They're quite cool, they even make a buzzing sound when they are out of the water  

(BTW my tank is 21" length, 20" height and 13" width is this OK? )

I'm afraid I don't have any space for a bigger tank. I've also decided to change the type of fish I'm going to keep (Serrasalmus Sanchezi  ) but I may be back in the future because my next tank will be catfish!

Everyone's has been a great help, Thank you!

Thanks for the replies!

I'm looking into cherry barb's as well.

(The tank is now set up and cycling   )