Five years ago I got 4 Sailfin Marbled Pims, aka Leiarius pictus, at ~8" from snookn21. They did well in a 120 gal and then went into a 1500 in-ground concrete pond for 2-3 years. One was lost early on, I only presume to a predatory attack because I've never found it. Quite possibly it was one of my jau catfish.
Two years ago the trio went into one of the 4500 gal, where I could finally observe them conveniently and consistently.
They hit about 2' in about one year and then screeched to an almost complete stop, perhaps gaining 1"-2" every following year.
Just like their cousins Marbled Pims, they are utterly non-predatory. They have been housed with fish they could swallow and barely notice, like 3" koi, for 4-5 years and have never done it. They prefer pellets strongly to frozen-thawed marine baitfish I feed the tank. They appear to take the baitfish only after a fast and when given no other option.
Their interaction is confined to themselves, they don't seem to interact much with other tank mates, of which there is a hundred of very diverse fish. During the first half a year, the biggest one (by maybe an inch or two) was dominating. Then in the summer time, unexpectedly the smallest one took over its spot and held on to it for a long time. Nowadays, I don't know anymore. They are getting hard to tell apart too, which is not helping.
When the dominance is challenged, their fighting can get a bit rigorous with body slamming and pushing, poking, and scratching each other with their pectoral spines, which leaves deep white (no red) grooves. This I have seen 2-3 times in 2 years. Their dorsal fins often get tattered too but the tails and other fins are usually intact. The enforcement is manifested in the chasing around the tank and an occasional getting a hold of a dorsal fin.
Our colleague and my friend Jeff V victor448 is also a fellow pictus nut, who has been keeping his pictus for much longer than I have and keeps them solo, recently having gone from ~250 gal tanks to ~500 gal tanks. Maybe, he will pipe in to provide some interesting contrasting points. He is supremely focused on having his fish be 100% healthy and intact, with the particular riddle he is trying to solve being the shape of pictus dorsal fin - how deep are the grooves supposed to be between the fin rays? Jeff, as you can see from the video and photos below, my current trio has pretty deep grooves, while the old one from Rochester, NY does not.
Meanwhile, here is a video featuring two of my pictus (the third one decided to keep its mugshot off the world wide web):
Here are some photos of the current trio:
Here is a smaller one, 1.5', from my prior life in Rochester, NY. Got this one from George Fear personally (Shark Aquarium) back in 2010.
Here is my first ever one, the bigger one from Rochester, NY, 2'+ in 4000 gal pond, 40'x6'x2.5'. Got it from Pets Plus in Lockport, NY in 2009. Lost both during my move to FL in 2011.
Two years ago the trio went into one of the 4500 gal, where I could finally observe them conveniently and consistently.
They hit about 2' in about one year and then screeched to an almost complete stop, perhaps gaining 1"-2" every following year.
Just like their cousins Marbled Pims, they are utterly non-predatory. They have been housed with fish they could swallow and barely notice, like 3" koi, for 4-5 years and have never done it. They prefer pellets strongly to frozen-thawed marine baitfish I feed the tank. They appear to take the baitfish only after a fast and when given no other option.
Their interaction is confined to themselves, they don't seem to interact much with other tank mates, of which there is a hundred of very diverse fish. During the first half a year, the biggest one (by maybe an inch or two) was dominating. Then in the summer time, unexpectedly the smallest one took over its spot and held on to it for a long time. Nowadays, I don't know anymore. They are getting hard to tell apart too, which is not helping.
When the dominance is challenged, their fighting can get a bit rigorous with body slamming and pushing, poking, and scratching each other with their pectoral spines, which leaves deep white (no red) grooves. This I have seen 2-3 times in 2 years. Their dorsal fins often get tattered too but the tails and other fins are usually intact. The enforcement is manifested in the chasing around the tank and an occasional getting a hold of a dorsal fin.
Our colleague and my friend Jeff V victor448 is also a fellow pictus nut, who has been keeping his pictus for much longer than I have and keeps them solo, recently having gone from ~250 gal tanks to ~500 gal tanks. Maybe, he will pipe in to provide some interesting contrasting points. He is supremely focused on having his fish be 100% healthy and intact, with the particular riddle he is trying to solve being the shape of pictus dorsal fin - how deep are the grooves supposed to be between the fin rays? Jeff, as you can see from the video and photos below, my current trio has pretty deep grooves, while the old one from Rochester, NY does not.
Meanwhile, here is a video featuring two of my pictus (the third one decided to keep its mugshot off the world wide web):
Here are some photos of the current trio:
Here is a smaller one, 1.5', from my prior life in Rochester, NY. Got this one from George Fear personally (Shark Aquarium) back in 2010.
Here is my first ever one, the bigger one from Rochester, NY, 2'+ in 4000 gal pond, 40'x6'x2.5'. Got it from Pets Plus in Lockport, NY in 2009. Lost both during my move to FL in 2011.
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