New acharas

[thebiggerthebetter]

Does anyone know if these guys have teeth up front? Since the cats have been added to my tank, I have noticed some fin predation. The smaller achara seems to have a chunk missing from its side that looks like it could be the size of the other's mouth. And now I am finding that my Oscar has half of his lower lip ripped off . I threw some salt in the tank, but I am wondering if this is typical with these guys? Every thing I read says they are pretty docile but I wonder if a beast emerges in the darkness of night ?

Of course they have teeth patches which look and feel like sand paper. They are usually docile but not to each other. In my 4500 gal I have three of L. marmoratus and they do get into a tiff every now and then. Nothing major though - tattered fins, barbels, and abrasions from bites.

As for the oscar... anything's possible but I doubt it. It could have damaged the lip hunting down them tasty spiny clown loaches or some other freak accident.

 

[Matteus]

Of course they have teeth patches which look and feel like sand paper. They are usually docile but not to each other. In my 4500 gal I have three of L. marmoratus and they do get into a tiff every now and then. Nothing major though - tattered fins, barbels, and abrasions from bites.

As for the oscar... anything's possible but I doubt it. It could have damaged the lip hunting down them tasty spiny clown loaches or some other freak accident.

Lol. Those tasty clowns. I put them in a grow out tank so he will have to stick to the pellets and frozen treats. It looks as if he got into a lip lock with something that had teeth and lost. I hope he loses interest in taste testing everything that moves in the tank after this. Lol. Not likely he still steals carrots when I put them in the tank.

I will keep a close eye on these guys. Make sure nothing to major pops off for now before I freak out. Lol

 

[Matteus]

The piece missing from oscars lip is roughly the same size as the chunk of flesh missing from the smaller acharas back.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

The piece missing from oscars lip is roughly the same size as the chunk of flesh missing from the smaller acharas back.

... and both match the mouth size of the bigger achara?

Remind us what else is in the tank, please, and out of them what else has a mouth this size.

 

[Matteus]

... and both match the mouth size of the bigger achara?

Remind us what else is in the tank, please, and out of them what else has a mouth this size.

1' albino pacu- much larger mouth

8" ornate bichir- possible suspect- but minds its own business and has never shown aggression toward anything out side of the smaller endli it may have eaten - do these guys have teeth up front?

Blue botias 4"

10" sailfin pleco

 

[Matteus]

So to answer my own question, I looked into it and yes the poly does have teeth up front that look as if the bichir could have been the culprit. But I still find it strange that it would have shown any aggression toward the smaller achara they have bob squabbled over a spot under the driftwood and the one that seems to be unscathed is now residing there as the other one mopes just outside of where it used to hide. Also the Oscar and bichir seem to hardly ever acknowledge each other. Hmmm. Mysterious...

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

I don't' think this is such a mystery. I am pretty sure pacu has a hand in it. Likely not in biting achara back because they cannot easily bite out of large flatter surface but anything that involves fins, lips, barbels and other things it can fit in its mouth, it will take bites out of them, especially from the timid fish who don't fight back and, of course, can't run away in a fish tank.

The size of mouth is not relevant here as pacu teeth are not patches but discrete, molar teeth, so whatever gets between at least two teeth, top and bottom, gets torn away.

IME pacu must never be housed with fish like channel catfish or iridescent shark catfish, some large doradidae, and other fish of similar placid-to-timid demeanor. It will supplement its diet at will with fins, tails, etc. of these tank mates. They will be miserable at best but likely will perish sooner or later.

Pacu tank mates should be real robust and aggressive if needed to fend it off, such as RTC, TSN, arowana, Distichodus sexfasciatum, large cichlids, pbass, etc.

 

[Matteus]

I don't' think this is such a mystery. I am pretty sure pacu has a hand in it. Likely not in biting achara back because they cannot easily bite out of large flatter surface but anything that involves fins, lips, barbels and other things it can fit in its mouth, it will take bites out of them, especially from the timid fish who don't fight back and, of course, can't run away in a fish tank.

The size of mouth is not relevant here as pacu teeth are not patches but discrete, molar teeth, so whatever gets between at least two teeth, top and bottom, gets torn away.

IME pacu must never be housed with fish like channel catfish or iridescent shark catfish, some large doradidae, and other fish of similar placid-to-timid demeanor. It will supplement its diet at will with fins, tails, etc. of these tank mates. They will be miserable at best but likely will perish sooner or later.

Pacu tank mates should be real robust and aggressive if needed to fend it off, such as RTC, TSN, arowana, Distichodus sexfasciatum, large cichlids, pbass, etc.

Ok. So the acharas may fall in to that category of the placid or timid demeanour?

I have heard some people say that feed every other day. I can not do that with the pacu. I understand what you are saying about supplementing its diet. Also if he doesn't get fed when he feels it is time to eat, a wave of water gets shot over the spot on the tank where the lid has a bit of an opening...

 

[Matteus]

All of those fish are on my wish list. But I have decided that 1 tank buster is enough for now. Lol then ended up with 3.

I have a friend who has a few big tanks on the go so I will relocate one of the acharas to him. Hopefully this will buy a bit of time in the 180. I was originally planning to take a wall out in my basement so I could have a bigger tank made in the laundry room and see it in the mancave. But at this point it is looking like we may be moving across the country next year. So might effect our resale value of our house with a 500 gal tank built into the basement...

Ideally I would like to ship the fish to a new home when we get that sorted out. But the reality is by the time we get all that sorted out the pacu wil most likely be 2' and not very smart to ship across the country. Even if we fly it's still 4 hrs. I don't know if I want to go through all that, and not to mention put the fish through all that and not have it live at the end... but it looks like I may have sources out a new home for the pacu once he is too big for my current tank. A 2500 gal pond that already houses 5 bigger pacus. It's a public pond so I would still be able to go visit. That was kind of my dream scenario, that others would get to see this guy full grown. Maybe only from the top view but better than nothing I suppose.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

I understand all your pacu blues. Been there. This fish is strong, smart, and armed, grows huge, and is the epitome of hardiness.

Achara usually don't fall victim to pacu parasitism but it is definitely markedly more placid than the other possible pacu tankmates I had mentioned.