Tank for Frank

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Red belly. The majority of red bellies lose their red coloration as they mature. I had assumed we had black pacus when we got ours, because they were black.....I was wrong. Take a look at this picture of Pacu Lady's black pacu. He was 28 years old and 40 pounds when he died in a tragic tank failure. He definitely looked different from the majority of pacus posted on MFK.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...e-largest-Pacu&p=321536&viewfull=1#post321536

Black pacus are not common. Most pet stores still selling pacus are selling red bellies. Half the posts on MFK where people are selling "black" pacus, are actually selling red bellies. They are funny threads, because some one will always correct the seller and set them straight. Haven't seen one of those ads in a few years, so hopefully people aren't buying these wonderful fish only to have to unload them down the road.

But you are correct Al, in your concern about tank size. My understanding is that red bellies can get to 36". I'm having trouble with our background, so our big tank is still not set up. Our 24" high 300 gallon tank is way too small for our pacu. They don't have much water to swim in. If we remove 1/3 of the water during a water change, the pacu have to swim on their sides to keep in the water (which they prefer doing :) ) They have to modify how they pick up food off the floor of the tank, or their tails are out of the water and hitting the tank lids. The OP has 7" more than we have right now, so he may be OK for the long haul...time will tell.
 
Hi, Pacu. Like I stated before, I've seen some pacus in canals here that are crazy HUGE. I mean nearly sewer cap sized. Get as big a tank as you can find or make. Also. The few pacus that I've owned seemed to be clumsy....They broke things. Heaters, siphon tubes, etc. It's nice to see your concern for your fish. Good luck! ED
 
Yes, frank is a red belly Pacu. I got him from a cousin who had him in a 30 gal. So far this "free fish" has cost 2-3 thousand. I really don't want to add it up. what I say to people is, that I did not spend it on frank, I spent it on a habitat for many fish. LOL

New update.
Had my architect friend over and the decision has been made to open up the floor and lower the tank to the basement. I can then use under the stairs for the pump/filter room. Tentatively set to drop the tank in the basement Feb. 7th weekend.

We are purchasing the steel today and building the stand in the basement. 2x2 square steel tubing. I don't want to try and get a stand down the hole we are making. I want to weld it where it is going to sit.


I like the idea of back washing the filters, I'm not for sure how I'd set this up. Because, I want be sprinkle the yard with the water changes, I need a larger pump for water changes ,than for normal filtration, at least this is what I'm thinking. But this is my first Huge tank (the 125 gallon I think of as small now) So I'm open to all suggestions.

thanks for the input.
 
How's Franks home coming along?
 
The stand took much more time than I expected. (can you say over kill) Well, the stand is done and we have dropped it and the tank into the basement. Now its on to filtration and buffing. I've been looking at 2 ultima 2000 for filtering. Here is a question that has been bugging me. Can I use a pool sand filter system for filtration, from what I see they are really close to the same. it appear the media may be different.

I've read that the bead filters can get clogged, is this a big problem or is this just over hyped?

we will be test filling the tank this week, to make sure it there are no leaks and to see what scratches need to be buffed out.

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Check out this thread on filtration. People are loving their glass bead filters. We're going with Ultimas on our big tank, but if I had seen this discussion, I may have gone with glass filters. Some people running Ultimas claim they need more mechanical filtration. Others love their Ultimas and have no issues. We're going with a separate mechanical filtration system, so we'll be using the Ultimas primarily for biological filtration.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...YOUR-FISH!!!!!!&highlight=ultimate+filtration
 
Buffing is done. lots of work, 8 hours in the tank. Of course I was watching game of thrones marathon, so I was not always working.

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