Pimelodus Ornatus Single or Group ?

[Aqua_Bankie]

Recently I was finally able to locate an Orante Pim who is a stunning cat, I wanted a small group of three but the LFS only had the one left.

I have kept, Pictus in the past and I currently have a single subadult Blochii .

The Ornate is a juvenile at about 4” , I cant keep him in the same tank as the Blochii, As the Blochii becomes very aggressive with him.

So he stays on his own sharing with some Brochis and all is peaceful.

I have checked the Cat log and they do ok single or in groups.

My Experience with Pictus was they were great in a group as juveniles then became territorial with each other as adults. Does anyone have experience keeping Ornates in a group?

Thou its early days with the Ornate he does seem shy compared to the Blochii which was never shy and the most active Pim iv kept.

If I could get a second one would that lead to problems with an Alpha fish bullying the lesser?

Would a small group of three work? (assuming I can find any)

[Viktor Jarikov]

These are rarely kept and the cumulative experience of the hobbyist community is one millionth of that for the most widely available pictus and blochii. In the last decade, I came across posts from perhaps only half a dozen keepers here on PCF and on MFK.

I got a dozen of these cats but only recently - a pair a year or two ago and 10 more last November (2017). What I read in other keepers' posts is consistent with my experience so far - they appear to school tight regardless of age and size and they are timid, skittish, and wary fish that tend to dart around when their tank is approached, when feed is introduced, when lighting suddenly changes, etc.

Here is my thread on MFK on my ornatus with videos and some info on pictus-ornatus interactions but in larger groups than your pair. https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/foru ... st-7697397

[Aqua_Bankie]

Cheers Victor , I agree on how rare these are to get took me over a year just to get this one, in the short time i have had this fish it reminds me more of Pictus as opposed to Blochii.

Interesting observations on how Orante and Pictus seem to interact, yourself and another poster on the mfk thread comment on how Pictus tend to group with ornates ? you now have a good sized group of ornates , but when you had only the pair did the pictus group with the ornates and did it help the orantes become more confident?

[Viktor Jarikov]

IME, ornatus and pictus associate loosely. They join each other every now and then, then split. It's nothing of a tight school. They seem to not mind when they bump into each other and if they happen to want to spend some time in the same spot, they are ok with each other. Something like this...

When I had just the two, I don't recall having pictus in with them... or if I did, I have no recollection of how they interacted, so it must have been unremarkable.

My smallest tanks are 240 gal, so they always had good room to roam.

Everyone's tank is different. Perhaps when younger they would be more prone to associating. Or in the face bullies / threatening tank mates, safety in numbers kicks in. If there is only one spot they find decent. Etc. Or there is your experience, wherein your older pictus wouldn't have any of it. It's valid too. Just not enough statistical data to begin making sense, IMHO. It's all but empirical at this point for me.

[Aqua_Bankie]

OK Thanks , think I will try and locate another couple of Ornate's ,which would seem to be the way to go (if im lucky to find any)