Suicidal fish!?

[Irenical]

so about two weeks ago i was feeding my pacu after i had got off work, i noticed that he was acting very panicked but i didn’t know the cause at the time. Well i found out really fast when i started my water change. Apparently the tank had become electrified >.> (after being shocked 6 time trying to find out what the cause was) I it turned out to be the heater >.> thinking the water proofing had given out. This was not the case after further inspection he had actually gnawed at the cord until bare wire was exposed.



that would be my heater cord.

i was just wondering has anyone else had something like this happen to them?


luckily i didnt loose any fish but my arm was numb for a day

 

[pshtex]

pacu r known for this

 

[cmsbthebest]

Ya I've heard of Pacu doing this before, try putting the heater in a sump or make sure the cords are covered

 

[Irenical]

man that silly good thing i covered cord on the new one

 

[kdrun76]

Do you have a sump that you can move that heater into?

 

[pi-eyed]

I've had the very same thing happen to me. Pacu are curious fish that want to chew on anything(like a new puppy). Not only have I had heater cords chewed on, but I've had glass thermometers disapear,air lines devoured and even had sea shells chewed on. They have an unreal amount of jaw pressure. They have enough jaw pressure to crack open brazil nuts!!!!!!!!!!

What I did to prevent cord chewing was to buy pvc(Small i.d. small o.d.) to cover the cord. I used suction cups to fasten the pvc to the aquarium. The pacu still tried to chew on the pvc but no electralisis occured after I covered the cord..

----Chris

 

[Irenical]

ya i knew they had powerful jaws but didnt know they were a hazarded to themselves! lol.