red bellied pacu

[pacu girl]

i have a 13 inch red bellied pacu. hes very healthy no problems at all except with his tank i just cant seem to get the water to stay clear. hes the only fish in a 75 gallon tank. i have a magnum 350 canister filter with two bio wheels and an undergravel filter with 2 reverse flow power heads attached to it . he has plenty of air going to his tank and his light is only on for 9 hours a day. he doesnt get overfed as i watch how much and how often he eats, but the ammonia still skyrockets and its an established tank. i know hes a hearty fish and the ammonia doesnt affect him. ive done water changes and tried so many things to fix this problem. i know this is a piranah thread but they are cousins if anyone could help me id be very appreciative. i love my fish and i dont want to hurt him.

[Cyclop3000]

I think a 13" pacu in a 75g tank is pushing it. You might have ammonia due to the fish's waste, and it will only get worst. Do you have a larger tank for him? Cause if so I would move him soon...this could fix your ammonia problem.

Ammonia comes from somewhere, waste, rotting food, dirty gravel, not enough filtration...

One more thing...what do you do for water changes...# and quantity? Cause cloudy water and ammonia rings a little like a mini-cycling process.

[DeLgAdO]

you need more filter power

but i really suggest you get a bigger tank

a 300 will do, a red bellie max out a 2 feet, some say its 3 but then again im not sure

have you considered a wet-dry filter?

and one more thing, your tank is not cycled, to keep up with the pacus waster production

you could add a biological additive such as cycle or stress zyme.

pacus have a very innefficient digestive system so whatever you give him most of it comes out the other side.

[DeLgAdO]

Ammonia comes from somewhere, waste, rotting food, dirty gravel, not enough filtration...

One more thing...what do you do for water changes...# and quantity? Cause cloudy water and ammonia rings a little like a mini-cycling process.

bingo

do you have a deep bed of gravel?and lots of decorations

and how much (and how often) water do you change as stated above?

[rallysman]

how frequent are your water changes and what % do you change each time?

[pacu girl]

i am aware that they have a bad digestive system so thats why i monitor the feeding ive toyed with the idea of more filtration but i was kind of leaning towardds a bigger tank like it was suggested to me. i do weekly water changes with 25 - 30% of the water coming out he is going into a bigger tank but untill its set up what can i do. i have tried the biological additives they dont work. should i do more water changes

[rallysman]

more water changes certainly wouldnt hurt, but i think upgrading your tank is going to be the only option

[pacu girl]

no i dont have a deep bed of gravel and there are no decorations just a few large rocks on the bottom of the tank. i knew that the fish was going to get big when i got him so i wanted to give him as much room as possible to swim around and be comfortable in.

[adc-aquatics]

Add a Emperor 400 or Aquaclear 110

or better yet add a wet dry filter. And get a larger tank if possible.

[pacu girl]

ive heard pacus get between 2 1/2 to 3 ft in length with that knowledge and knowing that fish need to be able to turn comfortably without cramping themselves a tank thats at least 3 ft wide would be sufficent right. i was thinking of having one made because i havent seen them sold anywhere that are 3 ft wide 2 ft high and 8 ft long

[pacu girl]

are wey dry filters really good i have heard horrible reviews on them do you think itll actually work

[rallysman]

that would house one for a VERY long time:) Not to mention it would look awesome and you could give the pacu some buddies:)

[pacu girl]

approximately how many gallons do you think that is at least 350 right

[rallysman]

are wey dry filters really good i have heard horrible reviews on them do you think itll actually work

Yes wet drys are the best IMO. I cant think of any other way to filter my 300.
Its the easiest to maintain and work very very well. Try one out;) you wont want anything else after that.....


And yes that tank would be around 350 Gal.

[pacu girl]

what wet dry would you reccomend

[rallysman]

I'm cheap so i would recomend building one. There are several threads in the setup and filtration/DIY forums. Take a look around there and if you have any questions I'm sure we can answer them. Another advantage of building one is you can make it the size/capacity that you want.

[pacu girl]

thanks