i signed the petition when i saw it. they get HUGE and often die because people think they are piranhas
NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!
- Thread starter rob0521
- Start date
Its all about Educating people,but what often happens,just like with Oscars people see these cute little fishies in the store,feel sorry for them and buy them irregardless.
rob0521;1139585; said:http://tampa.craigslist.org/pet/424578311.html
Some crazy person wants to stop the sale of pacus in Florida!!! They must be stopped!
Any GOOD fish shop SHOULD tell any potential owner of Pacu how big they will get and what would be resonable size tank to house an adult fish in. That said, many shops are only interested in the bottom line and will sell one to a kid with a goldfish bowl. But, government already has too much control over everyones lives, and are already in our aquariums up to their necks (oh for a picture of that!). Maybe if hobbiest would do their homework and exercise a little personal responsibility we wouldn't need government to regulate everything?
In any case, it is too late for most of Florida, the dirty little secret is that many native habitats have already been altered to the point they will never return to natural conditions. Not all of these exotics are from hobbiests, some were added for sportfishing, some by accident and some by hurricane flooding fish farms. Pacu can be seen in parts of Central and South Florida, the real question is are these breeding populations and what damage will they do?
Red bellies are dirt cheap and so common because they are primarily the pacu farmed for food. The other pacu are kind of self regulating because they aren't as common. They still make it into some unsuspecting homes I suppose but not in large numbers. I noticed the pictures were not red bellies, probably larger black pacu. Red bellies do not grow to five feet unless I've been misinformed. I personally don't have a problem with red bellies being sold any more than iredescent sharks or a hundred other similar fish. Dying in a small tank or ending up on a dinner plate isn't much of a life either way. If the government wants to do something they should require a max size label and or warning to be displayed with the fish and included in any list or catalog that an individual or distributor might obtain this fish from. Watch what you are banning or the best features in your new tank might turn out to be the rocks and water. 
