is this monster a RB Pacu?

[islander671]

Saw this beast in a PETCO in Texas. Sign said it was a red bellied pacu. but its all black? anyways, i didnt know they got this big but it looked to be almost 30 inches long. tried to get my 2 yr old daughter to pose next to it to judge its size but she wouldnt go anywhere near it. unforutnatly the only camera i had was my wifes camera phone so pic quality is terrible. hes kind of at an angle but he still looks pretty big. ive never seen one that big before. is it pretty common?

[Vitaliy]

Yeah, Pacus get huge!
http://www.fullaventura.com.ar/comunidad/usuarios/pacu2(1).jpg
http://www.emalaysiahotel.com/angling/images/pic5.jpg
http://www.fullaventura.com.ar/comunidad/usuarios/pacu1(1).jpg
I wish I had a big enough tank to keep a few of these guys...

[piranha45]

red bellied pacus are not often red bellied as adults. their name definitely derives from their juvenile appearance. Not to say that couldn't be a black pacu though, but blacks are much much more rare, whereas redbellies are available in every lfs in the country.

[islander671]

Yeah, Pacus get huge!

http://www.fullaventura.com.ar/comunidad/usuarios/pacu1(1).jpg
I wish I had a big enough tank to keep a few of these guys...

wow that last one is a beast.
one thing i did notcie though on the one i saw at petco, is that its mouth was small in comparison to its body.
yea it would be nice to have tank to support a school of them..hehe.

[islander671]

red bellied pacus are not often red bellied as adults. their name definitely derives from their juvenile appearance. Not to say that couldn't be a black pacu though, but blacks are much much more rare, whereas redbellies are available in every lfs in the country.

thanks for the info p45. How old do you think they are at a size like that?

[rayman45]

3-5 years

[piranha45]

what rayray said

[Rockie]

Monster

[guppy]

Where was that taken?

[Steve_89]

Holy ****!

[IMPULSEBUYER]

pacus grow soooo fast and theyll eat anything in your tank except it never ate feeders? i fed it brocolli lettuce shrimp carrots, melons, all kinds of crap never stopped eating, that thing...

[CentralMayhem]

blacks get way bigger than red bellies. both get large, but ive seen blacks that probably weighed in the 40 to 50 pond range easily. reds nowhere near that.

[ZeNGiR]

wow!

[zhuangsw]

big monsters. but they dont really look nice when adult. all black? :y220d:

[toxicfish]

:headbang2

[MindsEar]

Yeah -- where were these fish caught? Somewhere where they were indigenous -- or somewhere where they were pets released? Crickey!