Pacu are Killers...

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oftalmos

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 24, 2006
45
1
0
Mexico
I just want to share what happened last week in my 765gal tank...in case anyone thinks pacu are not dangerous.....

When I arrived to my home I saw a 20cm midas almost dead...the tail and fins were completely destroyed with no chance to grow again...I was confused asking what the hell happened......the answer appear when suddenly a 30cm pacu start eating the fish.....I really got impressed...and then I got much more impressed when other pacus and other midas start doing the same thing..... the fish was almost dead and floating...I thought that couldnt happended. So I had two options...take the fish out of the tank and wait it to die....or leave the fish in the tank..... I decided to leave the fish and let nature to decide....

After a couple of hours I arrived....and the fish was destroyed....no mouth left....I supose the 60cm pacu ate it after a while....so the question is
why happened? Im not new at keeping pacus....so I thought it for a while........the answer is......

I feed my fish almost with vegetables and fruit, and once a week some meat (they get crazy about meat), and I feed the fish every 2 days....the last couple of weeks I gave them only vegetables and the temperature got from 24C to 28C cause the days where hot......so all the fish got more hungry.....

Pacus can eat anything...but when you start giving them meat, you should give them forever....or maybe its they nature....Im pretty sure in the while pacus eat other fish regulary....

So...if anyone have a Pacu with other fish make sure they eat meat....

Does anyone had a similar experience?

Cheers....
 
All the stores in this town treat their Pacu as if they are Pirhanas and just drop in feeders untill they are sold.They all do it,I even remember them doing it when I used to work in a shop years ago.They never get any friut or vegetable matter,these fish probably wouldnt even eat it if it was given to them.
 
my 3 10 inch red pacus in a 250g ate the tail half of 2 6 inch yellowfin barbs in two dayys. Never fed them anything other than vegies and pellets
 
Hear my story.. today after feeding the fishes , about an hour or two .. My 8cm pacu who i never fed meat before ate my 6cm danio .. i was checking the tank and i saw something in the pacu's mouth it was the tail of the danio and i used to have three now i have one .. the second one last week was missing th tail and flesh parts and was so stressed that i decided to take its life fast my offering it to my jag in the other tank.. now my fear is if the pacu will keep at it ,and start with my tiger barbs?! :S
 
a pacu with tiger barbs? lunch. i hand feed my pacu pieces of fish fillet. he comes right up and grabs them like my oscars and red devils do. he is on a staple of pellets, but i feed meat for my carnivorous fish so he eats meat every other day also.
 
im sure if i through him in with some feeders (danio's) he would make them lunch. and as far as tiger barbs go i feed it chunks of meat larger than a full grown tiger barb
 
So , i have 2 solutions .. get rid of the pacu, or get rid of the barbs ,and that's a tough desicion .. need to sleep on it ;)
 
take a look at your tank, does it look like a school of 1 inch fish would fit well, or does it look like a 3' 65lb fish would fit. decide which species to get rid of.
 
Had a pacu kill and eat a young soft-shell turtle several years ago. I have one now and it eats algae wafers (like a pig!) and brussels sprouts. I just throw a frozen one in the tank and as it thaws it sinks and the pacu takes chucks out of it. The growth rate of these fishes is nothing short of frightening, in six months it went from 2" to about 6-7" and shows no signs of slowing down. It is in a grow out 55 and is already in need of a bigger tank. So far this one has not eaten any fish, but it's early......
 
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