Calling Pacu Owners...
- Thread starter bigpapaboots
- Start date
OMG that is a BEAST . my is like a dwarf in front of that giant
Think I made the turn, smell is down immensely. Will run a test for free ammonia later. For those who run into the same thing, here's how it went for me. Noticed that free ammonia smell in the tank after a water change five days ago. When I first noticed, added about 8 caps of seachem prime. Next day, did a 4 bucket water change, about 20 gals. Added more prime. 3rd day, tested closely and added more prime. 4th day, rinsed the 4 large media bags I have in the sump (mostly containing zeolite mix), topped off a large media bag I have with crushed coral, and dropped in a new nitra zorb bag. Important to only rinse in aquarium water here, not tap water. By pulling water to rinse the media in, I also swapped some tank water with conditioned fresh water. About 15 gals out of a 250 gal tank. Overall, the important things were to stay on top of it with testing, and swapping out reasonably small amounts of water every few days until the filter could catch up. Don't overreact and don't do massive water changes as to push the bio filter back further. Another important thing is to have a seachem multi-test ammonia test kit. It tests for free ammonia (toxic) and overall bound ammonia, or ammonium (non toxic). Reason I say that is because you could be testing for overall ammonia and freak out at the values, thus doing a massive water change and pushing the bio filter back or even making it start anew.
I hope this helps. Thinking about adding a second back of crushed coral to level an acidic ph. But other than that, think I'm good.
Thank you all for the help.
I hope this helps. Thinking about adding a second back of crushed coral to level an acidic ph. But other than that, think I'm good.
Thank you all for the help.
I'm telling you, he looks in photos about 60 to 65% of his actual size. I'm never taken a photo that does him justice. But yeah, he's a biggie. lol
Yeah he’s a whopper for sure. Good to see things are getting back in order.
You need something for scale in the picture.
You could tape an empty soda can to the tank and try to get the monster to swim close to it that may work.
But there’s no doubt he’s a big one.
I do admire your dedication that’s a long time to invest into a pet.
Even if I got something of scale, he'd never swim across to get a feel for his full length. Get near that tank and he's wiggling toward you looking for food. Only thing that could give a sense is the size of the tank. Doesn't look like it, but it's 5' across. I do have moments where I see him depth-wise and calm, snout to the front and end of tail damn close to the corners that house the piping and cascading area that drops to the sump. If his tail comes close to that, he's over 2'. Full depth of tank is 3'. Total 5 across x 3 deep. However, if I ever get a photo that gives a true sense, I promise to share here. Otherwise, just a fish story, ain't it? lol
Definitely on the right path. Just checked and free ammonia has dropped significantly. I could leave it to the recovering filter, but I'll probably swap out a few buckets tomorrow to be certain.
This was one of my brother after it jumped out of pool. That is a washing machine the pacu is on.https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZgDFn7codfGTN4u48
Lawd almighy. He's a beast. Damned if I'd jump in. I've had bites in my arm just cleaning the tank. lol. Ever seen the episode of River Monsters entitled The Ball Cutter? Let's just say keep the ole family jewels outta the river. This guy has my paccy beat by about 4 or 5 inches and all the girth that comes with it. Definitely impressive.
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Here's a better one. Stays more calm with the light off. Still caught him angled, though. Can never catch him going full length across. 
