Help Pacu Really Sick

as long as you dont give up on him then he has a chance no matter how slim. let us know how it goes.

I don't have anything to suggest, but I wanted to wish you luck with your Pacu.

We had a Pacu a few years ago, whom I ended up naming Jaws, as she ate just about every other fish we put into the tank. Her natraul food that we fed her, however, was vegetable pellets, fresh vegetables, and occasionally meat (not fish). Anyway we had ours in a 75 gallon tank that we bought pretty much just for her when she outgrew her previoius tank. She was about five years old or so when we went on vacation and had my grandparents come over and take care of the fish for us. When we got back we found our Pacu doing the same thing, just laying on the bottom of the tank on her side. We cleaned the tank up, medicated it and did a water change and she recovered for a few days but then went back to laying on the bottom of the tank and breathing really hard. She was otherwise in good condition, no diseases known to us at all. The only thing we could think of was that she was very skittish and would often flip out when she was scared and ram herself into the sides of the tank. We tried everything we could think of to try to get the tank where it was supposed to be (all our values were good) and we just didn't know what was wrong. I wish I'd known these forums then. One night I went to bed (I was still a little kid when we had our Pacu) and my mother got tired of seeing her suffer so she placed her on top of the tank out of the water to kill her (my mother told me later what she did and said that her one eye had rotted away and some of her scales on the side that she was laying on). However, after leaving the Pacu out of water for 45 minutes, she was still alive. My mother placed her back in the tank, went to work (she works in a vets office) the next day, and called me at home and asked if she could bring home some euthanasia. I said yes, and hence our Pacu was put to sleep. I didn't want to do it, but with only one eye and rotting scales, not eating and struggling to breathe she was obviously suffering.

Like I said, good luck with your Pacu. I hope you cand find something to make it better.

i'm really sorry to hear about your pacu.

i'm afraid this has probably been caused by poor living conditions, tank too small and not good enough maintenance.

to keep a big fish like that in a 55g tank you need to be doing water changes every couple of days, not every couple of weeks. You say he's been fine up to now but things like the fin rot look very well developed, like it's been going on sometime. Just cos he's only just started to lie on the floor and look really poorly, doesn't mean it hasn't affected him before.

I'm sorry if that sounds harsh, I appreciate you are doing what you can do now to help him but I think it's important that you and anyone else who happens to read this thread see that this is what happens when you have big fish in tanks too small for them.

If you can't get him a bigger tank and he does pull through then you need to try and re-home him with someone who can look after him properly. Try public aquariums and fish shops with large tanks, also try the buy/sell/swap section of this forum.

Take all Black Angel's advice re medication and what you should do now.

I have my fingers crossed that he pulls through and that you manage to find him a suitable home, either with you or elsewhere.

nope not giving up on him at all.... did another water change and im putting meds in after.... on his head his scales and now eatting away or scracted off it seems... but he was doing seemingly alot better yesterday ... he even almost tried to eat....so i dont know it seems the medicine and water changes is helping.... now he is back on his side though but he is breathing more normal and some of his skin color i think is back. i might get a pic of the thing on his head and post it ...

OK he had some scales that were alittle reddish and messed up and then this started to form big time since lastnight. It looks like another fish took a chunk out of him but he is the only one in the tank except for like 1 last goldfish i am trying to catch without bothering him much. Is this the medicine getting rid of the infection or it spreading worse or is it mostly because he has been leaning and rubbing on that exact spot on the glass and gravel?
I really want to thank you guys for your help and its giving him atleast a chance at survival. On a side note the ammonia is still high and im trying to run the filter after a water change for a couple hours then i put the medicine in. rinse and repeat the next day...

Are you switching off the filter? if so then dont.

what are you getting on your tests for ammonia?
His body colour looks a lot better now anyway, and the scale loss has a ring of red round it which suggests a bacterial infection.

im using the maracyn-two medicine now cause it seems to be a better fit for what he has wrong as per what you guys have said...i know those all in ones arent as good. just keeping you guys updated with any changes just in case some other things turn up like this thing near his head... its not hole in the head is it? i dont think it is from what i have read but just wondering... its odd how fast it turned into what it is now ..

no its not hith.
if as you say he has been lying on it then he could be just sore but the red ring round the edge looks bacterial to me so using the maracyn is a good idea.
bacterial diseases can spread quickly so with a bit of luck it wont spread any more.

thanks again... yeah the red ring is why i thought it wasnt just from laying... other areas look better like around his gills and all though. stupid question can you drop pellets in a fishes mouth kinda like force feeding as i want to give him every shot and without food im sure its another thing he doesnt need to deal with.

magicvega said:

thanks again... yeah the red ring is why i thought it wasnt just from laying... other areas look better like around his gills and all though. stupid question can you drop pellets in a fishes mouth kinda like force feeding as i want to give him every shot and without food im sure its another thing he doesnt need to deal with.

Click to expand...

you can take a horse to water but you can't make him drink.


give it a try but don't stress the thing out. just drop some right infront of him and see if he takes it.

if not then make sure you scoop it out cos it'll pollute the water if it's just left in there

yeah he ate 3 pellets...i guess its a start... the rest i took out after a couple minutes...

id just like to say, i hope your fish pulls through

at least he is eating now. whats his appearance like now, any better?

is he swimming again?

some of the marks are gone and the swelling is down alot in his gills... the one that was all red isnt really red anymore... he is sitting on his tail with his head towards the top of the tank now and lays against the glass and once in awhile sort of drunkenly swims back and forth...it makes me wonder if he has brain damage or something or it could just be he is still off balance... but in general he seems alittle better but i know its gonna be a long road if he can recover. thanks for all the help guys ..i will keep you guys updated with pics/ info

Good new's hope it gets better, I hate seeing a ill fish when it's small but a large fish sick just is that much more depressing ( not sure why to me but it is)