My 125 gallon new world cichlid setup

[dent20]

I keep both a pleco and cat in a 125 and haven't had any problems.

 

[devder1]

sry about the facepalm didnt mean to be rude, its just that its terrible the kind of advice given out from petstores. This forum is your friend, and you can only learn more.

 

[Experiment397]

ok thanks everyone. i will try posting a pix of the pacu, btw i bought it from a friend who owns an exotics store so i just trusted him. all the fish are under 3 inches except the pleco and one of the jack dempsey is 4 inches. so correct me if this is wrong, but buy a baby oscar or just don't get one. stay away from salvinis or just get one. and be careful with the stonefish? i am stuck with the stonefish, it is on hold at the fish store along with one rapheals cat, since the bottom feeders are my fav. i will try posting a pix of the pacu soon.

 

[Experiment397]

i can't figure out how to post a pix but the pacu's scientific name is colossoma bidens. i will keep trying to post a pix.

 

[devder1]

red bellied pacu, yeah i would reccommend putting him up for adoption for someone with a pond

 

[Experiment397]

k i don't think that is his real scientific name but that is the one that looks like him. the store had an adult that was maybe 20 inches that they said they had had for 8 years so i am like really confused now, cause if he is the bidens i will get rid of him if he gets over 20 inches but if not i will keep him. i have a friend in cali who has a 3,000 gallon pond with lots of room cause all he keeps in it is catfish and bass, so if he gets too big i have a backup, the guy said he wouldn't mind him. what do you think about the stonefish?

 

[Toby_H]

Google colossoma bidens and see what you find... they get A LOT bigger than your LFS friend suggests...

I "rescued" 5 of them from a friend who was lied to by a LFS and put them in a 6' round 300 gal troft... in less than a year and half the smallest one was 22" and I had to get rid of them all...

The 8 year old 20" Pacu your friend has had to of been raised in too small of a tank in poor water conditions resulting in a stunted fish. This is not a very kind nor healthy way to keep fish. I'd be cautious relying on this guy for advice.

A Pond in California will not be a suitable home for Pacu. While California may seem warn to us, to a species of fish from Northern Brazil it is quite chilli in the winter.

 

[dent20]

But the fish has lived for 8 years, so how unhealthy is it? How stunted is it? I've read where pacu will reach two feet in length in captivity but that's it.

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/profile.php?genus=Colossoma&species=macropomum&id=450

 

[Experiment397]

their pacu seems really healthy. he is in a 250 gallon tank with a tiger shovelnose cat, oscars and a few other random cichlids and catfish. i was doing more googling and he doesn't really look like the c. bidens. to me he looks like a cross of a silver dollar and a c. bidens. well whatever happens will happen.

 

[Danger_Chicken]

There are species of pacu that stay that smallish. They are exceptionally hard to find in the aquarium industry.

Yeah they sell those at petsmart, I saw the sign.

k i don't think that is his real scientific name but that is the one that looks like him. the store had an adult that was maybe 20 inches that they said they had had for 8 years so i am like really confused now, cause if he is the bidens i will get rid of him if he gets over 20 inches but if not i will keep him.

The first clue is he said it wouldn't get bigger than 12-14" but has one that's 20". Even if he only gets 20" like you're hoping, you shouldn't keep a 20" fish in an 18" tank, how will he turn around. nc_nutcase pretty much laid out the most likely history of that 20" pacu.
Denial is fun.