Pacu

[chopperdoc]

Ok. You now know that I had a 265 waiting for fish. Well...i added fish, specifically,a 14" red belly pacu. I believe he's about three pounds right now. He was pond raised here in jersey and just recently got to the lfs that I frequent. I must say he does fill the tank nicely. At that time i went and bought him a couple brothers. Two three inch baby pacus. I know. They'll outgrow the tank. My question is, I have a couple juvenile A.Labiatum's and was wondering if the dominant one would be compatible with the large pacu. Being one is amazonian and the other is central american.I have set the taqnk up initially as close to amazon river basin as I could. The only thing missing is a large enough piece og bogwood to make the tank look "natural". Anyone with responces from lovers of these mosters would be appreciated.

 

[semper fi]

don't know if i am a lover, but i am a keeper. mine is called karen. he eats everything in sight. about 16" now. they grow to lengths of 3' and are very widebodied. they do like to eat plants. boy, do they love the plants. i swear mine's eyes almost pop out of his head when he sees plants coming toward his tank! they are good community fish. but contrary to popular beleif, they can become carnivorous. they are a cousin to the pirannha. they get nasty looking teeth that do hurt when they grab on. they will eat small or injured fish if they are hungry enough. mine even eats the brine shrimp that i feed to the other fish in the tank. there are some pics of him in the member's section. may have to gs towards the beginning to find them though.

if you have any other questions i can try to help out.

maggie

 

[PunkRock050]

If its bogwood youre looking for, check out my Ebay auction. Ive got a peice for sale that would fill a 265 nicely

http/cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...2301804866&rd=1

 

[cichlidmaster]

Nice piece of wood there PunkRock!!

Keep in mind though chopper, Pacu's are skittish fish at times and may be prone to swimming into objects!!

I would go with a piece of wood that is low profile rather than tall. The piece that Punk is offering would work as long as it was layed flat and not upright!!

Nothing worse than having a mess of scales missing off your fish due to scraping themselves on something!!

CM

 

[semper fi]

pacus are VERY skittish. will freak out at times for no reason at all. hear a bunch of splashing in my tank and i know the pacu is going at it. they are like bulls in china shops that are blindfolded. don't watch where they are going!

maggie

 

[chopperdoc]

Thats what I was worried about also. Pacu are known as tank busters for a good reason. The fish I have seems to be pretty well mannered. But....I have taken some precautions in case he should get a little hair up his ass and start crashing about. Just so that I dont have three hundred gallons of water and a floppin fish on my rug LOL. I have decided to introduce the red devils in his tank just to see how everything works out. After all, experimenting is half the fun..

 

[cichlidmaster]

Let us know how everytning works out!!!!!!

CM

 

[semper fi]

i've got a pair of devils in with my pacu. they get along fine. when he starts one of his freak outs, they pretty much get out of his way. for the most part they get along fine together. about the only time that the devils get upset with him is when it is feeding time. the pacu will hoover the food and the devils hit him out of the way.

maggie

 

[chopperdoc]

Ok , here's the deal.....the pacu just sucked up one of the red devils. Can't figure out why. More than likely he was in a "mood" Hes fed well. He hasn't bothered the other one. (they were both the same size at the time). Must be one of those "things" i guess. So much for the intelligencia determining that they are mostly herbivorous huh? Hopefully he won't snack on an oscar I plan on introducing when it's a bit larger.

 

[.:Ming:.]

here's the thing, keep as less decorations in the tank as possible, pacus need as much space for swimming as possible........make sure you have enough filterations.................the bigger pacu might bully the smaller one and they'll eat anything that fits their mouth..........even things too big to eat sometimes........even poop..............

i didn't read the whole thread but that's what i think is important.........

ming P.S.- your tank is good enough for 2 pacus max.

 

[SayersWeb]

I had a 24" Black Pacu until a few months ago when the power went out one night and I lost most of my large fish. He was very impressive and would come right up and stare you in the eye. But, was never aggressive with the other fish and never fed live food. He was in with 4 Oscars, 2 Red Devils, 1 Festae, 1 Managuense. He would slam into the side occassionally.

 

[semper fi]

the pacu is a cousin to the pirannha. seems logical that not all of it's carnivorous tendencies are completely gone. they can and will eat fish that are dying, beat on or dead. mine does do battle with the red devils. just noticed that he is getting in his teeth. nasty looking things. they also will bite if cornered. do not think that they are totally harmless. it is an animal and will defend itself. mine is at about 18" right now and getting more aggressive since he is the biggest one in the tank. even will take on the buttikoferi that is in with him. last night we moved the 180 he is in. told my husband that he would get bit if he stuck his hand in there. he of course did not beleive me and is sporting a bob the builder bandaid to hide the bite. got him pretty good. not as aggressive as their cousin, but still not as timid as they are make out to be. definitely a tank buster.

maggie