red belly pacu

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T

TWiST

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 6, 2008
187
0
0
perth australia
hey everyone
ive just got a red belly pacu, he is about 30cm (1 foot) i have him in with 4 cichla monoculas around the 30cm mark ive been keepin fish for a while so im pretty sure i know what im doing :) im pretty much just making sure there isnt anything different i should know about keeping this spiecies

i feed him hikari gold, peas and corn brochalii pumpkin and chicken and live feeders (if he can beat the bass to them) i have the water temp at 27 -29degrees, sorry i dont know what the conversion works out to

is there any special food that they really love or anything else i should do?
and how big do they get? (in cm if possible)

cheers
neil
 
a full grown pacu can grow close to 3 feet long, or 91cm i believe. they can also be over 1ft in height and several inches in thickness. they are a true monster in every sense of the word. they will do so in captivity as well, so be forewarned. they need more swimming room than most other fish people keep.

as for foods, most fruits and veggies, and even plain tree nuts pacu will happily accept. grapes seem to be a favorite among most peoples pacu. fruits and tree nuts are the substantial part of their natural diets anyway.

for a kick, try throwing in live ghost shrimp. its amusing to watch a big pacu hunt down and suck up evry last tiny ghost shrimp in their tank, and it gives them some stimulation hunting them down.
 
sweet cheers mate, ill have to try the grapes, what type of tree nuts tho, im in australia and we have very different trees to the rest of the world, im pretty sure i cant get ghost shrimp over here either

im not worried about the size they get im saving for a 10x3x2.5 tank atm, im hoping ill get it half way through next year
 
ive honestly never paid attention to what kind of nut i give them. if its plain/unsalted, or straight from the shell, they get a few here and there.

ive never tried, but im sure you could throw whole nuts in, in the shell. their teeth are extremely hard, and could easily make short work of most nut shells.
 
I stopped giving my pacu almonds when they started inhaling whole nuts without chewing....was afraid it might clog my filtration system:) Our pacu like whatever we throw into the tank. They are our garbage disposers. Actually, their diet is almost exclusively pellets. We very occasionally will feed them veggies for the entertainment of our guests or ourselves. They make such a huge mess, the water is fouled, and there is a noticeable rise in nitrates. Here they are fighting over a carrot.

http://s148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/pacumom/Pacu/?action=view&current=MVI_0003.flvhttp://s148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/pacumom/Pacu/?action=view&current=MVI_0003.flv
 
TWiST;3634047; said:
haha thats a funny vid, what size tank is that tho?
Click to expand...

It's a 300 gallon tank, which they have outgrown. Their new tank (1800 gallon) will be delivered in two or three weeks and will be placed in a storage facility.:cry:

This happened in September, and nothing else has been done. The building plans supposedly will be finalized this week, then there are at least 3-4 weeks for a building permit, then the contractor has to be done building his pole barns, and it can't be raining...blah blah blah. When I purchased the tank in August, I thought my fish would be in their new home by now. I've discovered that nothing happens fast around here. My fish will be lucky to be in their new home before next summer.:( Meanwhile, today my husband is going to buy thirteen 2 1/2 tubular steel (16' lengths) to build the stand for the tank. The stand may have to go in the storage facility too.

IMG_0001.jpg


The new tank is going where the existing garage is. The excavation is for the new garage.
 
1800 gallons sounds like a big tank, but i dont really know how much a gallon is, we use litres for volume in australia and metres/centremetres for length but with tanks we do use feet, so how many feet is 1800/300 gallons?

cheers
 
TWiST;3644145; said:
1800 gallons sounds like a big tank, but i dont really know how much a gallon is, we use litres for volume in australia and metres/centremetres for length but with tanks we do use feet, so how many feet is 1800/300 gallons?

cheers
Click to expand...

The new tank is 15' x 4' x 4' or 6800 liters

300 gallons is about 1135 liters
 
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