Golden Pacu??

[Trav0]

I recently took over a tank that had what I was told is a golden pacu, but I just can't seem to find any info on such a fish, is it something entirely different or could they have been selective or cross bred with something else it is a shiny almost ivory color with a goldfish colored belly, I will try to attach a photo here.... (new to the forum....) anyone familiar with this fish

 

[MattW]

I'm not familiar with these fish but to me looks like an Albino pacu. All I know is they can get very big and I'm guessing the same care as a regular pacu.

Albino Red Pacu (Piaractus brachypomum 'albino')

One of the larger fish in the Amazon Basin, and an important food fish throughout most of the its range, the Red Belly Pacu is a beautifully marked "gentle giant" suitable for only the largest private aquariums, indoor ponds, or public displays. In the wild, this fish is an opportunistic grazer...

www.aqua-imports.com

 

[Colin_T]

It's an albino pacu, they can reach 2 foot in diameter but most get to around 12-18 inches diameter. They are monster fish and need a pond or public aquarium.

 

[Ichthys]

Agreed, albino Red Pacu. They grow 2ft plus, and need to be in a group.

 

[Magnum Man]

I also agree, as a former Pacu owner, that it’s an albino red belly pacu… ( the weird red eyes, are typical, for albino fish )

… Need / want??? So many of these are rescues, and are all single fish, often so large they can’t even turn around in their tanks any more, they seem to thrive as singles…

I had one that went 20 inches, when I had fish 20 some years ago they are very personable fish, albeit massive… not only being long, but mine was also 6 inches thick, and probably went 40 lbs in weight… mine was also pretty energetic, knocking the top off, and ending up on the floor twice… the 1st, he was 14 inches, and in a 55 gallon solo, at the time, then I built a custom 220 gallon, just for him, which only seemed to make him grow faster… the 2nd time he ended up on the floor, I wasn’t home, and he knocked a weighted cover off the 220 gallon tank, and that’s when I lost him… mine, I trained to eat whole raw carrots, like Bugs Bunny… you could hear him crunching them through the tank and water ( roots and nuts are a natural part of their diet )

 

[Ichthys]

often so large they can’t even turn around in their tanks any more, they seem to thrive as singles…

It defies logic for a gregarious fish to "thrive" on it's own. Why do you think they thrive? Because they live a long time? Because they remain peaceful?

 

[Magnum Man]

Mine engaged me, both times it jumped out, no one was around ( I was home, but not in the fish room at the time ) I’m not a fish mind reader, so when Mine would get excited to see me, I just assumed, it knew I was the only one that fed it…

They were nothing as “group needy” as my Tin Foils ( I have 5 ) I doubt my Tin Foils would have grown up, with less than 5 in the tank, yet I‘ve witnessed several Pacus exhibit ( what we would call ) normal behavior as solitary fish

I often wondered where some of these minimum specimen standards came from… sometimes I agree, but often I disagree with them, and quite often fish shoal up as babies or when Juvenal, but strike out on their own, and become solitary as they mature… I have not witnessed Pacus in the wild, but occasionally at public aquariums where they seem to tolerate, other Pacus, but not shoal, at all, as adults

 

[Trav0]

thanks for the response and discussion, after I added a heater to the tank he seemed to be a lot happier, seems to not mind being alone to much but is enjoying company with my Chinese algae eater, from what I heard and read it probably wasn't gonna work but I really wanted to get on top of the stuff... the tank was pretty infested with black algae I think its called..... it seems to be working fine... he is about 7 inches I think and in a 65 so still plenty of room but ill have to re home him at some point... if someone is interested feel free to reach out but I'm not advertising him yet cause he is quite fun

 

[Magnum Man]

As they get bigger, typically the reds start to fade, so I tried raw carrots once, and he wouldn’t touch them, but I was feeding big color pellets at the time, and started chopping them up the size of the pellets, soon he was gobbling those carrot chunks up Just like pellets… at that point I started mine on baby carrot sized pieces, & before you know it he was picking up and chewing whole carrots… we used to get company, come over just to watch “Buddy” eat carrots, as you could hear him chomping on them through the glass and water… at that point in our lives, we had several varieties of birds, and I had a lot of big fish, so we never knew when friends, would bring their grandkids by…

BTW, they are often known as vegetarian piranhas, but they are really omnivorous… mine ate gold fish quite often, but that was curtailed, as he got bigger, by the time they are mid sized, they can empty out a 1/4 of an aquarium trying to catch a few goldfish…

It’s kind of like having a Great Dane, in comparison to a little dog… the Great Dane, doesn’t make a good lap dog, a Pacu doesn’t get, that he’s a 100 times bigger, and they are athletic, so the tanks need covered, and put something heavy on the cover, and be prepared for lots of water being splashed out of the tank at times, so vinyl flooring is a good choice around a Pacu tank

 

[Fishfunn]

It defies logic for a gregarious fish to "thrive" on it's own. Why do you think they thrive? Because they live a long time? Because they remain peaceful?

It makes sense, but neon tetras are peaceful fish too, and they don't live very long. Pacus are such awesome fish.

 

[simonas]

I love my big fish and keep a few myself but a pacu is one that in my opinio gets far too big for the home aquarum as others have said its not just length its their weight and bulk.
Plus as they get older they aren't that exciting a fish to watch which is a sad to thing to say