They are groeing nice in the 400 for sure. I bet with the right conditions i can get them to breed but i need to know the right conditions... there is one video online showing how they collect the eggs and milk the fish.... i would like to do it naturaly though. So any info on how to breed or the conditions nesseary would be nice.....i think the myth that they are impossable to breed was started by wholesalers to protect their intress...... what are some fish that are close to pacu? That i can take pointers/cues from?
Need 250 Pacus for my aquaponic machine
- Thread starter Aquaponi Machine
- Start date
You can try...but there have been many Fish keepers who have had less pacu grown in much bigger spaces with no breeding success. They're native to South America so I would guess the triggers would be soft water and a short period of cool (to stimulate a rainy season). But like I said. I can remember pictures of members who have had 15000 gallon tanks with 10 pacu with no breeding. And they did waterchanges which would stimulate the rainy seasons as well.
In short if u want to try to get them to breed naturally in a 400 gallon...that is something I doubt anyone has done. Most have trouble keeping them alive over 5 years in a 400 gallon. I've only known of 1 pacu living in a 200 gallon tank for 10+years. And it had a lot of deformities around the gills and mouth due to lack of space and oxygen. There's probably a good reason why it's not farmed for food even though the growth rate is so good.
In short if u want to try to get them to breed naturally in a 400 gallon...that is something I doubt anyone has done. Most have trouble keeping them alive over 5 years in a 400 gallon. I've only known of 1 pacu living in a 200 gallon tank for 10+years. And it had a lot of deformities around the gills and mouth due to lack of space and oxygen. There's probably a good reason why it's not farmed for food even though the growth rate is so good.
I will try for sure i guess i shouldent buy so much as yet because i havent taste any so far but it is very big earing fish in brazil...... maybe they need confine space to breed. Of the 4 i have i cant even tell male from female...... i cant post links yet but if you google aquaponic machine you will see videos of my system and if you go to my page on you tube you will see videos of the fish and how the systems work.
Lol yeah if you're gonna buy 250 u better like the taste of pacu haha. I can only imagine...250 bad tasting fish...that keep growing lol
Lol in brazil they are called tambaqui put that in google and see how popular they are as a eatting fish.
I doubt it'll be confined spaces that trigger their breeding. If that was the case then most of the members here would be breeding like crazy by accident. I'm sure there are tons of members here who are keeping pacu in under 400 gallon tanks for years without any breeding. And 9/10 Fish breed easier in a larger body of water. It keeps water conditions closer to nature and it lets the fish do it mating ritual without bumping into each other. Few cases of big fish breeding in small sizes tanks are usually cases of a fish that has been bred for many years in farmed situation so the fry almost lose their natural instincts and adapt better to aquarium settings. This has not been done naturally with pacu to my knowledge.
one of my fish had looked swollen already.... dont know if it was ready like this one... from what i have been reading you have to inject them with some kind of hormone to induce this.... i bet it could be done by providing the right conditions for a while..... i would like to know what the natural habitat is to see if i can replicate.
You can fit 20 tilapia in a 400g if your goal is aquaponics which will be a higher bio load.... so if I am correct that is what you want with aquponics
Yes they can be milked and inseminated like that. That's why you have fish farms and a hobby with tons of them.
You said you wanted natural. That won't happen naturally in a small tank. Unless you consider what happens in that video natural. Put simply the odds are not on your side if you want to sit back and do nothing and have pacu breed.
Most likely you will grow them out and eat whatever gets too big maybe some pairs to show signs of swimming together. Laying eggs and breeding will be a completely different matter. I'm all for you trying. If it works please share your experiences. But so far all your doing is dreaming about what ifs and arguing that you will be the first to accomplish something that farms dedicated to Fish farming have been unable to accomplish.
Best of luck in your endeavor. I promise you will not find anyone on this forum that will say you can breed naturally in a 400 gallon tank. Heck I'm one of the few who will say you can even raise them in a 400 gallon tank. My only suggestion is to work on the 4 you have...and wait until they reach sexual maturation before buying any more. Learn as much as you can about their behavior in that time and you will most likely reach the same conclusion as everyone else (if someone has bred pacu in a 400 gallon or laid eggs please correct me) which is breeding pacu in captivity doesn't happen naturally. Heck we can't even breed clown loaches naturally on a farm yet. And those reach sexual maturity at under a foot.
You are embarking into unknown territories without the proper knowledge (the internet cannot even help you) and without the proper equipment. Again I wish you the best of luck but you would waste less time, energy, and money if you went to your local fish market and asked them to supply you with pacu to eat. If you want replenishable source of food you need to find species that are able to reproduce in smaller settings...unless you want to put in the work to do what they did in the video.
You said you wanted natural. That won't happen naturally in a small tank. Unless you consider what happens in that video natural. Put simply the odds are not on your side if you want to sit back and do nothing and have pacu breed.
Most likely you will grow them out and eat whatever gets too big maybe some pairs to show signs of swimming together. Laying eggs and breeding will be a completely different matter. I'm all for you trying. If it works please share your experiences. But so far all your doing is dreaming about what ifs and arguing that you will be the first to accomplish something that farms dedicated to Fish farming have been unable to accomplish.
Best of luck in your endeavor. I promise you will not find anyone on this forum that will say you can breed naturally in a 400 gallon tank. Heck I'm one of the few who will say you can even raise them in a 400 gallon tank. My only suggestion is to work on the 4 you have...and wait until they reach sexual maturation before buying any more. Learn as much as you can about their behavior in that time and you will most likely reach the same conclusion as everyone else (if someone has bred pacu in a 400 gallon or laid eggs please correct me) which is breeding pacu in captivity doesn't happen naturally. Heck we can't even breed clown loaches naturally on a farm yet. And those reach sexual maturity at under a foot.
You are embarking into unknown territories without the proper knowledge (the internet cannot even help you) and without the proper equipment. Again I wish you the best of luck but you would waste less time, energy, and money if you went to your local fish market and asked them to supply you with pacu to eat. If you want replenishable source of food you need to find species that are able to reproduce in smaller settings...unless you want to put in the work to do what they did in the video.
