Introducing 2" Juvie Pacu, Potential Problems?
- Thread starter FISHY FINGAZ
- Start date
Everyone "eventually' plans on having a massive tank... very very few of us actually ever get them...
I honestly feel you have bitten off more than you can chew buying these massive growing fish when you only have two small tanks...
I honestly feel you have bitten off more than you can chew buying these massive growing fish when you only have two small tanks...
i cant help sticking my nose into a pacu thread. I speak from experience, having raised several pacu, and now have 2 beasts that are pushing 2ft each.
when it comes to pacu, there is no "upgrading eventually" you need up upgrade NOW or give them back to a pet shop. that little 1-2" pacu WILL be well over a foot, most likely pushing the 18" mark in a year with even the slightest ammount of proper care. pacu hit a growth spurt around 6-8" and they will balloon up to the point, you can literally see them growing from one day to the next and dont stop till around 16-18" or so, sometimes even bigger. to properly care for them, you need a pond or massive tank measured in THOUSANDS of gallons.
aside from tank size, you need to realize how much food they eat. feeding sparingly, i go through 1-2lbs of pellets a week. ive thrown a 1/2 pound in one shot in the tank, and it dident last 10 minutes. their food bill alone takes away hundreds of $$ a year from me, and would make me broke if i dident buy in bulk.
those are just a few of several reasons you will notice, even on a site called MONSTER FISH KEEPERS theres alot of people here that still wont keep pacu.
edit: i just read you have a RTC as well. my friend, without having ALOT of $$ to spare for getting a pond or something several thousand gallons, you have indeed bit off more than you can chew. a full grown RTC can reach sizes that are beyond that of 99.9% of aquarists to handle. and when fully grown, might possibly be one of the few fish that could take down a full grown pacu.
when it comes to pacu, there is no "upgrading eventually" you need up upgrade NOW or give them back to a pet shop. that little 1-2" pacu WILL be well over a foot, most likely pushing the 18" mark in a year with even the slightest ammount of proper care. pacu hit a growth spurt around 6-8" and they will balloon up to the point, you can literally see them growing from one day to the next and dont stop till around 16-18" or so, sometimes even bigger. to properly care for them, you need a pond or massive tank measured in THOUSANDS of gallons.
aside from tank size, you need to realize how much food they eat. feeding sparingly, i go through 1-2lbs of pellets a week. ive thrown a 1/2 pound in one shot in the tank, and it dident last 10 minutes. their food bill alone takes away hundreds of $$ a year from me, and would make me broke if i dident buy in bulk.
those are just a few of several reasons you will notice, even on a site called MONSTER FISH KEEPERS theres alot of people here that still wont keep pacu.
edit: i just read you have a RTC as well. my friend, without having ALOT of $$ to spare for getting a pond or something several thousand gallons, you have indeed bit off more than you can chew. a full grown RTC can reach sizes that are beyond that of 99.9% of aquarists to handle. and when fully grown, might possibly be one of the few fish that could take down a full grown pacu.
if i were to get a 1000 gallon garage tank built about 5 ft tall 10ft long and lets say 5 ft wide would that still not be big enough? which brings me to my second question my aunt has a bass pond on her property in northern ca if he out grows any tank i put him in could he possibly thrive in there? as the tank goes as far fetched as it sounds im in contact with a dude that builds tanks for the LFS's in my area so im pretty sure i can get ahold of sumthin huge for near the price of "cost of materials". let me no im open to all info! because if not i can raise them until i cant house them anymore, turn around and sell the RTC back to the aquarium and get 2 or 3 times what i paid for him in store credit. as the pacu goes i dunno i might be stuck like chuck wit that 1! because not to many stores i know will buy those i know 1 that i could donate it too when the time comes but thats it.
look at it this way, a red belly pacu can and will most likely reach between 2 1/2 and 3 ft or so, given decent care.
keeping that in mind, you want a tank that will enable to fish to get atleast a few seconds of speed up with swimming to get a bit of a work out on the length of the tank. you would want a tank thats atleast 9-10ft long and maybe 6-7ft wide, and at least 3ft deep so the fish can turn fully vertical. it may sound extreme, but a full grown pacu is a beast of a fish.
and you are right, you will have a heck of a time trying to rehome a pacu to anyone that can give it a decent sized home. most LFS wont take them back, public aqariums wont take them either. thats how i got stuck with my 1st and oldest pacu several years back
keeping that in mind, you want a tank that will enable to fish to get atleast a few seconds of speed up with swimming to get a bit of a work out on the length of the tank. you would want a tank thats atleast 9-10ft long and maybe 6-7ft wide, and at least 3ft deep so the fish can turn fully vertical. it may sound extreme, but a full grown pacu is a beast of a fish.
and you are right, you will have a heck of a time trying to rehome a pacu to anyone that can give it a decent sized home. most LFS wont take them back, public aqariums wont take them either. thats how i got stuck with my 1st and oldest pacu several years back
To those who reply to the OP: I have gone around and around with this guy in the catfish forum, everything from the nitrogen cycle, to feeding an RTC, to size requirements for his "ultimate build," yet he, I saw in another forum that he's already got another cat, a TSN, in this 55 gallon tank with all of these fish. I spent about three days answering his questions before I realized it was useless. Everyone, feel free to respond to him, but I have a news flash for you: He's not listening. If he was, he wouldn't have ANOTHER huge catfish in his tiny tank. And to you, OP, I'd ask that, for the fishes' sake, you stop spending your money buying fish and start putting some of that cash toward the tank or pond you'll need to build just to keep them allive. I have been watching you post in various forums, and in each post, you've added another potential monster to your woefully tiny aquarium with its HOB and sponge filter. Please, stop, research, and start to actually absorb the information that these people are spending so much of their precious time to give you.
