Hello, I am new to owning and caring for fish and I have a question about my catfish. I have a Pictus Catfish that pushes around my African Dwarf Frogs. Its a nightly occurrence. I understand that they are both nocturnal. Im worried my catfish is harming/stressing my frogs. Yes there are hiding places for the frogs to go but they swim to the catfish. I started out w 2 Pictus Catfish however one didnt make it. I also started out w 3 African Dwarf Frogs and one didnt make it. Should I be worried about my catfish stressing my frogs??
Pictus Catfish w African Dwarf Frog
- Thread starter meg.gala
- Start date
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Andy Sager
Aquarium Advice Addict
This is a bad combination I'm afraid. Pictus are highly aggressive feeders so your frogs are not going to get enough food while if you overfeed to get more food for the frogs, the pictus will overeat. Since I see other fish in the tank, I suggest setting up a small tank for the frogs by themselves. 
Thank you for your advice. I dont believe my frogs arent getting enough to eat. And I dont think my pictus is overfed. I attached a pic of one of my frogs and what I could get of my pictus. Im still learning, are my fish overfed??
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Andy Sager
Aquarium Advice Addict
You asked if your Pictus was stressing your frogs because it happens nightly. If it's happening nightly, then yes, it's stressing your frogs. As I said, Pictus cats are fast feeders ( as you can see in this video:
Can both be in the same tank? Yes, if the tank is large enough and there are areas in the tank that meets all the species demands. Are they a good combination? No, they are not. What you need to learn in this hobby is that not all fish and invertebrates can be in the same tank together. There are good combinations and bad combinations. When there are bad combinations, one side will suffer. It shows as death, disease, hiding, not eating, etc. So if you are losing frogs, it's probably from stress. That you lost a pictus is not that unusual as they can be touchy. As an importer, I've had boxes of Pictus come in with half the box dead and yet the other half did fine. No explanation as to why.
I'll also add that the crabs are really more a brackish water crab so while it does live in freshwater for some of it's life, it does not live in it all of it's life. They also need to be able to come out of the water for air and given the opportunity, can eat a sleeping fish or frog. ( Just an FYI
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