Problem With My Pacu...

[dknight]

howd

stubled across this forum and thought you may be able to help, my housemates pacu does not look very well, he has a really large white coloured belly, it has happened over the last few days or even over night, i check it daily, he doesnt look happy either...

Can anyone guide me with whats up with it?

cheers

Dan

 

[monica]

He is probably bloated.

 

[dknight]

what causes that?

 

[-germ-]

The fact that you are posting about your housemates Pacu suggests to me that you may be caring for it while, in the abscence of your housemate.
Is this correct?

Edit1)Please reply ASAP, i'm in a rush.....

Edit2)C'est la vie, GTG, if you are looking after the fish for your housemate then i'd look into your feeding, this is a comon mistake made when non-fishkeepers end up looking after others fish.

 

[monica]

Usually a change in food routine, it can also result in constipation. Try feeding the fish crushed peas. I heard it works for that, though I have never tried it myself.

 

[dknight]

i live with the guy, he just doesnt feed it very well, he recently started feeding it TetraDoromin, special food sticks, im sure ti has to be them?

 

[andypandy]

i suggest cutting down on the food, what you think is enough is probably too much. also i think peas work as someone said, but in my experience there is little evidence, and a lot of fish turn their noses up at peas

 

[dknight]

well his diet is minimal anyway, he feeds him utter ####...

 

[-germ-]

i suggest cutting down on the food, what you think is enough is probably too much. also i think peas work as someone said, but in my experience there is little evidence, and a lot of fish turn their noses up at peas

Nope, just the vast majority of fish-keepers having used them succesfully for such purposes.....

 

[Musho3210]

uhh you do know pacus can get up to 30"? How big is the tank?

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3S7aCigaBE...ted&search=

that ones not even fully grown.

http/www.aouo.com/bunsamran2005/pacu.JPG

IMO, pacus should be banned from the trade and should only be offered to people who have licenses. They just get so HUGE

 

[dknight]

yeah he knows they grow big, he is about 3 4 year old tho, he knows nothing about pacus really, im just concerned about this bulge, it doesnt look good at all...

 

[Musho3210]

how big is the tank? Water params, we need more info. We can probably know what the bloatedness is (dropsy, constipation, overfeeding) but what caused it?

 

[dknight]

unsure on tank size, cant see the relavance really, and the cause of it, unsure, nothing has changed with its way of life!

 

[-germ-]

Tank size can make all the difference, depends what the issue is

Most common causes of bloatedness are;
Overfeeding, particularly too much protein, often results in dropsy (similar symptoms), dropsy is also often as a result of....
Bacterial infection, Osmoregulatory issues.

In my humble opinion i'd diet the fish, feeding veg if possible to encourage his guts to get moving and treat with a decent broad-spectrum antibacterial.
Then again thats just a guess, with the limited symptoms it inevitabley will be.

 

[Musho3210]

Small tank:

Stress
May not be able to hide and get stressed

Fluctuating parameters
Big fish, small tank, either ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate rises fast. may cause drastic pH change if all buffers are used up.

Lost the will to live
I have no proof but i would be pretty darn depressed if i lived in a tiny closet all my life (small tank), i would rather spend all my life in my room (big tank).

We cant help you without knowing at the very least water params and tank size. Measure the length, width, and hieght and tell us.