seanmichael

i just bought a new pacu fish and completly set and cleaned my tank read fr fish... when i realesed him he sorta just sank to bottom and has been acting kinda lazzy just chilling bu swiming around ever now and then... i'm sure he's not dting because he's doesn't look it at all..but i was wondering why this is happening and if it's happening because the water might be a little too cold? i have it at about 76 degrees but not sure if that's right...i started feeding him some lettuce and other grrens but he hasn't eaten yet, i've only had him in the tank for a day ut do you think he just needs to get use to his new home? please help!!!

sirdarksol

Welcome to Fishlore
First of all, that fish is going to need much, much more than 10g. It should be illegal for pet stores to stock them at all. They should only be available on special order for people who have gigantic tanks.
Red Bellied Pacu get to be two feet long and almost as tall. They produce a ton of waste.
Sorry for the bad news, but it's better to get it now, when you can take it back to the fish store. (I'd also let them know that they should educate their customers who want to buy a fish like this)

susitna-flower

I must agree with sirdarksol, you need to do two things.

#1 take the fish back...or get a 75 gallon tank, and be ready to get one about 300 gallons within a year.

#2 read the article (link at the top of this page) on the nitrogen cycle. CYCLE your tank, and by the time you can post readings for:
Ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, you will have had some time to research what fish will fit in your 10 gallon tank. Good Luck

moparman01

so if someone wants to raise a pacu why do you people try to scare people away from it just give them the help i personally like to raise them and i have the means to raise many of them i started out with a 30 gallon tank and when i could i purchased bigger and bigger tanks so good luck with your fish

sirdarksol

Very few people can afford to purchase a 100g+ tank within a year. It's better to hear this ahead of time than to find out when your pacu is literally wallowing it its own filth.

To understand what we're getting at, though, you've got to realize that we aren't just talking from the point of view of helping the aquarist. We are talking from the point of view of keeping the fish healthy and happy.
Therefore, keeping the pacu in a 10g tank until a person can afford a bigger tank is not something most of us would consider an acceptable circumstance. If a person can't afford to get a fish the right-sized tanks as the fish needs them, then it is better if they find a fish that they can afford to keep.

Edit: I found your other thread, and you say in that thread that you still have your pacu in a 29g, so you have not yet purchased new tanks, it sounds like. If so, please be careful how you state things. Everybody is free to make their own mistakes, but if you're saying that you have successfully done this, and have not yet, you may encourage others to do the same with bad results.

vivid930

I agree with the person who said not to be scared away. I have had a pacu for 4 years now. He started out in a 35 gallon, which he was ok in, not great, but OK in for about 2 1/2 years. After that I had to add aeration because i noticed him breathing a bit faster than normal. Then we had a power outage, and this is when I got serious about getting him a big tank. I had to put him in a rubbermaid bin and cart him over to my sister in law's so she could give him some aeration.

Now he's in a 90 gallon. If you only have 1 fish in a 90 gallon, they will be OK in that size. The ideal situation for them of course is a 300 gallon.

Shawnie

MOST of the time we get them and say in time we will get another bigger tank, but SOMETIMES it never happens...I agree with everyone that even as a juvice, a pacu makes way too much waste for even a 29 gal...I wouldnt want to live in my poo icky! but as far as the issue at hand, I think susitna is right about the cycle of the tank...check your ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates then you can go from there...goodluck!

sirdarksol

A fish that survives is not necessarily a fish that thrives.
A human being can live in a 5'x5' room his entire life. That doesn't mean that it's good for him.
The concept that a goldfish kept in a pond will continue to grow while one kept in a bowl will stop growing once it's the right size for the bowl is a myth. However, as with every myth, there is a kernel of truth. Their growth will slow in a too-small tank, but the reason for this is that the growth is being stunted by excess waste in the tank. The same thing happens with pretty much every other animal. An animal kept in poor conditions will grow much more slowly than one kept in good conditions.
One member had two pacu, living in a 55g tank, grow to a foot long apiece within a year. With that growth rate, a 30g tank is really only an acceptable tank for a month or so.

I'm sorry that what we're saying goes against how you have kept your fish, but that doesn't mean that we're using scare tactics. What we're saying is based on scientific reasoning and on a large amount of communal experience. We try to use this experience to keep people and their pets from suffering due to a lack of knowledge. To me, keeping a pacu in a 30g tank is no different from keeping a betta in an unheated, unfiltered bowl.

Allie

A pacu is very strong too when they wigg out they can break the glass if not in the right sized. Pacu and piranha are very sketchy fish and need the room for wiggouts. Plus they are very dirty fish like gold fish. Big fish = more waste.
We had one in a 90g Lexan tank (bullet proof glass) alone and he was not happy at all. Whe he would freak out you could feel the smashing of the tank in our bedroom on the other side of our apartment. He was scared all the time.

Chief_waterchanger

I'm gonna be bluntly honest, as I am known to do most of the time...

Dino is a 200 and something pound man, and that is the same kind of pacu they sell at Wal-mart for 2 bucks next to him there...

I agree with the others that say thriving and surviving are two different things, but you tell me that fish could live a normal lifespan, much less a healthy lifespan in anything smaller than 200-400 gallons of water and I'll call you a liar.

I do notice that the beginning of this thread was started 4 months ago and recently revived, but I'm sure someone will see this thread that does not realize that pacu get huge and now they know.

This picture is taken at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, TN.

Attached Images

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Amnagrla

wow, great picture!

Seanmichael never seemed to come back.. it's a shame... Hope that pacu is okay!

sirdarksol

So.... One could say that you were being "curt" a moment ago?

Thank you CWC and Allie for providing more practical experience to discussion. This is a topic that seems to be revived periodically (I think that our forum shows up pretty early when you search for "pacu care"), so I'm sure someone is going to notice it.