Black Pacu turning white?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
1

101ita

Feeder Fish
Sep 25, 2009
2
0
0
Texas
A few weeks ago I acquired two 1 foot long black pacu's from a classified add. I was purchasing a 55g upgrade tank for my ropefish and gourami's, but didn't have the heart to just look past the doomed Pacu's and oscar.

I have had the tank for a couple weeks now *Still searching for a good 350g or so aquarium in the area X.X* and with frequent water changes and adding an additional filter the Oscar and 1 pacu seem much better and happier.

The problem is the one pacu has suddenly lost all of it's colour, it almost looks albino. This fish came with a decayed nose which is slowly healing but I don't know how it attained the injury. Is this a sign of disease or death? If so, what should I treat it with?

Here is a picture;
005-5.jpg
 
Pacu do change colors due to mood, tank background, substrate, etc. I've found that the dominant one is often lightest (this switches between my larger two red-bellys), with my smallest guy staying the darkest. These symptoms don't really point to any disease, illness, or parasite that I can think of. Just keep an eye on water parameters (0 ammonia and nitrite, nitrate below 20) and feed him a good staple pellet with some extra veggies, and he should be fine, especially after the upgrade.
 
congrats on saving pacu. you got some real cool fish on your hands, however, some TRUE monsters. for now i wouldent worry about them turning whiter, their known for going dark to light often. here or there, ive noticed their bellies have slightly more red than other times as well.

but, let me be the first to say however, your going to need a much larger tank than a 300g, TRUST ME on that.

look in the pond section on here. having pacu, and considering they can and will reach atleast 2.feet with proper care, your best option really is a pond. these guys really need massive ammounts of room, and ponds are much cheaper made than most people think.

by all means, if you like tanks better, you could have one custom built. however, it would be extremely expensive, considering you need a tank atleast 4' wide and 2.5-3' deep to give them proper room to turn around and swim up and down.
 
First off, those aren't true black pacu - so you're lucky. True blacks get HUGE, much larger than red bellies or some of the hybrids that get sold in petstores.

However, the lighter color could be stress related. I've seen in a lot in pacu I've had.
A beat up nose is usally a sign of too small a tank. They need a LOT of space to swim.
 
they look like true black pacus
 
poor little dudes!! if it were me i'd set up a 400g rubbermaid stock tank for them asap. it'll be much cheaper than a tank and probably easier to maintain as well. plus it's round, so they can swim around easier.
 
I agree that it may not be the best idea to wait around for a tank that large to show up. I've been looking for one for 2 years, and I live in a military area, and it still hasn't happened! It's probably best to go ahead and plan a pond, or have a tank made, whichever you choose.
 
a pond would be the best option imo.
-Alex
 
I had two red bellied that reached over 2 feet from the size of a silver dollar in 2 years. They were in 400 gallon. It was to small. From what I have read both types of pacus never stop growing their whole lives. They have a big growth spurt and then continue to grow slowly.
 
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