Pictus catfish

Question
I have a 30 gallon tank, with 5 small Malawian cichlids, a small pleco, and a small pictus.  I was assured that my pictus would be ok with the africans, but he is very very energetic, constantly moving, and I'm afraid he'll stress the others, especially my very docile pleco.  Am I just overreacting?

Answer
Hi Kris;

He will probably settle in eventually but they are a pretty hyper fish. It does help to have more than one though. He's probably lonely. They stick together and don't scurry around quite so much once they get used to things. It may take a few days. Keep in mind that they get about a foot long so you will need a bigger tank eventually. The good news is that they are fairly slow growers. Here is a profile page of them;

http://www.worldcichlids.com/fotm/july2005_pictuscat.html

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins