Request: Best fish/aquarium discussion forum

[Noodle Pirate!]

I'm the new owner of 2 Pictus catfish and my knowledge so far on them and their care is from a few brief webpages and the petco fish guy I bought them from. Most of what the petco guy said ended up being bs ( no surprise really).

I'm looking for the best/largest fish forum discussion site that will help me learn more about other people's experiences with them and the best way to care for them and fish tank setup suggestions.

Most of what I have found on the net so far is very brief and I just want somewhere I can go and read endless amounts of information on them and other fish. - As well as ask questions and advice without being called a noob ;P

I figured with such a huge userbase here, there would be a few fish owners who could stear me in the right direction.

Thanks for any websites and advice you can throw at me.

 

[Skylander7]

Pictus are really easy to care for. However, never add any salt to your tank (like if you plan on adding brackish water fish to it). They tend to be a schooling fish, and will sometimes become neurotic if they are the single specimen in a tank... but many will do fine (I currently have just one in my tank.. he stays hidden in a log until lights out).

The best online retailer, IMO, is liveaquaria.com. They also offer alot of information for each species that they sell (whether it be freshwater, saltwater, or plants/inverts). One forum that I know of is www.aquahobby.com/board/ (there are many more out there, but I don't frequent them).

How big is your tank? The thing about Pictus is that their max size can really sneak up on you (mine is about 6"). If you have neons or other small tetras.. they'll start disappearing. Also, aquabid.com is kind of like an Ebay for aquarium fish.

My current community is as follows:
(1) African Lionfish
Breeding pair of Kribensis
3 large Angels (one albino, one convict-striped, and third peppered)
3 Emperor tetras
3 Red Eye Tetras
3 Golden Wonder Killifish
2 Golden Dream Killifish
2 Upside Down Catfish
3 Pearl Gourami
1 Pleco (another one, depending on species, that can really get big if you don't pay attention to the species)
1 Pictus
1 Hammers Cobalt Blue Lobster
1 Raphael Catfish
2 Banjo Catfish
2 Cory Cats

This hobby can suck your money away if you really get into it, so judge your tank needs carefully. I also use live plants, sand substrate (which requires a little more care than a gravel substrate, especially in preventing nitrogen pockets developing underneath it). Also, try to get twice as much power filter as your tank size (example.. 20 gallon tank, filtration up to 50 gallons). Keep a ph of about 7.0 for the Pictus, and they'll be fine. If you have hard water locally, a little water softner would help too (but not overly necessary.. they're tough fish).

 

[garfep]

The boards on nano-reef.com are really helpful.

 

[Noodle Pirate!]

Wow thanks for the board suggestions and fish advice!. I will defintely be registering for both forums and it looks like I have a lot to read!

Right now My fish are about 3 inches long and I just have the 2 of them. I got a 12 gal starter tank to hold me over till I can research enough to get a larger tank ( hopefully about 30 gal.)

I'd eventually like to have maybe 2 to 4 more fish max in the tank but want to research and get to know my pictus and tank maintenance up and down before I introduce any other fish.
Right now I'm feeding them bloodworms, but would really like to read up and see if they can handle something less icky like flakes or discs or something.

Skylander, I would LOVE to see a set up of your fish tank, do you have any pics online or anywhere? I was really leaning toward saltwater fish, but figured I should start with freshwater till I get the hang of things. Your set up , just by the fish alone, sounds beautiful. Lion fish are so amazing looking.