wizardfitz

we have a question about our red bellied pacu, we wanted to know if it likes caves etc in its tank. our pacu seems to like to hide in the makeshift caves i did in its tank. it can get skittish and hide out in the caves and sometimes i would coax it out during feeding time by dropping its food in front of it. once the food is visible, it comes out, sometimes it would stay for the feeding other times it would wait til i have my back turned before it would forage on the tank gravel for the food thats been dropped

is this normal? how do they normally like their tanks set up? any info / advise would be appreciated, thanks!

Amanda

What size tank is he in? These fish are commonly known as tank busters, and for a good reason. They easily reach 2 ft. in length, and need a HUGE tank. With there given size, I don't imagine that there will be much room in the tank for long.

Shawnie

the pacu ive been around, are not ones to hide or be skittish...but they are usually in a tank with others .if he is alone, or new to the pack, that might be normal.....they like to be in schools together or with other large cichlids...I agree with amanda, they need huge tanks to be healthy and they are huge waste producers so between their size, and waste, they should be raised in 200 gals or more...the bigger the better..

Butterfly

They are also more out going with more than one, which due to their size I wouldn't recommend.
What are you feeding?
Carol

aquarist48

Good afternoon. The above posters are correct in mentioning how large the Pacu can get. I've seen them grow to 26" and had no room to turn around in a 125g tank. Some were sold to me as Silver $'s and when I brought them home and compared them to the Silver $'s that I had I was like oh No..... I took them back.
They are a beautiful fish though

wizardfitz

we have him now alone in a 75gal, with a couple of catfishes. we feed him anything from pellets, wafers, veggies *zucchini, squash, green beans, cucumber*

we are in the process of getting a bigger tank for it though as we are aware that it needs a much much bigger tank. it wasnt skittish at the pet store so i am thinking maybe since we introduced it to a cave it might have gotten used to it LOL!

Butterfly

Be sure to offer him fruits also. Our friends Pacus loved grapes.
Carol

wizardfitz

oh cool thanks!

fishpie

I would get a bigger tank it's gonna get huge I would give it to a store or friend willing to take it