setting up a 250g pacu tank

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IKeepPacu

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jan 2, 2008
1,327
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Long Island, New York
Good evening, and thanks for having me MFK :) while ive kept goldfish and the basic cichlids for awhile, im moving into bigger and better things now, and could use some honest help. be easy on me now, im here to learn as much as possible, and hopefully make a few friends along the way....

I have a 250g tank i keep 4 pacu in. i know, i know.....i got suckered into rescuing 1, and then bought 3 more right after last year, before i really knew the potential of these beasts. either way, im keeping them, and plan on putting up one of those 20ft round, 4ft deep pools you buy in wal-mart ASAP.

right now i have a fluval fx5 running on the tank, with 4 pacu and 1 tiger oscar. 1 is maybe 15" and the other 3 are 8" with the oscar being 8". i have the filter set-up right now according to the manual, but from reading some posts already, i think their maybe much better ways to setup the filter. theres currently pre-filter, carbon and bio-max. what would be a better way to handle the load these 3 are producing??
 
Remove the carbon unless you are using it to remove tannins from driftwood or medications. That carbon space can be used for more Bio-media.
 
ccdoido38;1391988; said:
the pacu will rip those pools open!
Click to expand...
Do you really think that when the pool is full with water, the walls tighten, that the pacu could actually grab a chuck of the wall and chew through it?:screwy:
 
so carbon really isnt needed to keep the water clean?? pre-filter, foam and plenty of bio-media will be best to keep the water quality at its best??

it seemed like a good start to making a larger pond without having to spend alot. but i dont plan at all to use a pool alone. i will frame it out with 4x4 and 2x4 to give it a sturdy box to sit in, and use some type of foam or insulation between the liner itself, and the outside to take the pacu's blowing at the sides, as they seem to enjoy doing so very much. and no, i havent taken into consideration the pacu biting at the sides of the liner, but it dosent seem like anything they would, or have done.

ive thought this out to the best of my knowledge, altho im sure it will need to be changed some asi get opinions from others who have actually been there,. and i thankfully have a large basement with an old cement slab floor, so it will be able to hold all that weight.
 
Unfortunately yes they will chew through your pond liner. I keep some Pacu in an above ground pool too and have to repair or replace liners about every 3-4 months. Luckily with the water volumes involved there is plenty of time and warning as I dont mind water getting onto the floor of my fish shed. The pools are so cheap I keep one pool spare and ready to go so its easy to swap them over whist I repair or replace the damaged liner.

I usually add the new liner in over the top of the old liner and have even tried insulating between layers but the fish are very inquisitive and love to explore. Its all just part of the joys and tribulations of keeping these gentle giants.
 
no i dont think those pacus will rip through those kinds of pools...unless its those cheap ones....if you says it tight and if its sturdy and tough than its fine....no harm with that...besides the pacus dont have any reliable sharp points in their that like those rays and anything else with barbs in them...
 
but they can chew hard stuff so you may need to take the other MFKers ideas and stick with them...they can crush peanuts in as little as a couple of seconds...so you can see how powerful these guys teeth are
 
i dont doubt their teeth power at all. i know they naturally eat nuts that fall from trees. ive actually seen the larger ones front teeth from when he was 1st moved into my tank. he bashed his face up pretty good, actually could see his damn teeth. they look like little human teeth kind of. cool actually.

i dont mind at all the minor repairs here and there, or the occasional replacement. walmart usually has the better quality ones for cheaper than i could buy a 125g glass tank. but this is a whole other thread ill start beating this summer hopefully.

need to get their damn 250g straightened out so they actually make it that long happily and healthy. and i sure as hell wont keep a pond that size right, if i dont learn to set my 250g correctly.
 
Have you thought about using a trough? You can get 300-700g round plastic troughs. Plenty of surface area, not like the high metal drinking troughs you commonly see. They look more like a huge kiddie pool. Not cheap compared to the pools, but way cheaper than aquariums and ultra sturdy. No worry about water leaking.

Of course you may be limited by space constraints since they don't flex or fold like the pools, but I figured it could at least be something to think about.
 
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