Pacu keeper new to this forum

I did a quick search on red belly pacu, and your site was the first site mentioned. There is a lot of misinformation about pacu floating on the web, which makes it very difficult for even the most diligent fish keeper seeking information to ferret out the truth. From personal experience, I can say that a 250 gallon tank or even a 350 gallon tank is inadequate for keeping pacu. To join this site, I was asked if I had an understanding of the Nitrogen Cycle. That is an excellent question. Here's the reason that small 300 gallon tanks are inadequate for pacu: Water changes become increasingly difficult to do. It is possible, but it is difficult.


A 2' tall tank is just NOT tall enough when the pacu get big. When my pacu were smaller, I could dump out 50% of the water with no problem. Now even a 30% water change has risks. My pacu HATE their dorsal fins out of the water, and have to swim on their sides to keep in the water. I think three foot high would work, but four foot high would be even better. After many years, my poor pacu are still stuck in their way too small 300 gallon tank. Family illness and multiple surgeries for me with incapacitation have prevented me from working on their big tank. Pacu do best with nitrates below 5ppm. Because I can't change out much water at a time (110-120 gallons max), I have to do multiple water changes (4 - 5) daily to keep nitrates low.


Frankly, I think that the minimum tank size for a pacu is 1,000 gallons. When my big tank upgrade is completed, we will have a 2000+ gallon system for two pacu with the 405 gallon sump included in the total water volume. I would discourage people from keeping pacu unless they plan to have a home of at least 1,000 gallons for the pacu. From personal experience, even the best plans can get fouled by life events. Hopefully, though, my fish will finally be in their big home this year if all goes well.

 

All I can say is WOW! That must take a lot of commitment to change their water so often. That huge tank is looking awesome, and I can't wait to see it when it's all set up!

 

Great intro, welcome to fishlore!

I recently saw a group of black pacu at my local aquarium and was just stunned at how big they can get. They were bigger than my kid!

Looking forward to seeing your tank when it’s completed, best of luck.

 

Third water change almost complete. Need to clean out the wet/dry filter and change the filter floss before completely filling the tank. Might have to change the cartridges in the mechanical filtration also

 

Welcome to Fishlore! That is going to be some tank!

 

Great intro, welcome to fishlore!

I recently saw a group of black pacu at my local aquarium and was just stunned at how big they can get. They were bigger than my kid!

Looking forward to seeing your tank when it’s completed, best of luck.

Sorry, but those are red belly pacu. Red bellies usually lose the red color as they mature, so are frequently mistaken for "black" pacu. I thought I had black pacu since mine were a dark color with no red. I was wrong and was corrected on a fish forum. Red bellys have a rhomboidal shape, and black pacu an elliptical shape. Blacks actually have a greenish color.



Interesting that blacks can end up with more reddish colors than red bellies when mature....

 

Sorry, but those are red belly pacu. Red bellies usually lose the red color as they mature, so are frequently mistaken for "black" pacu. I thought I had black pacu since mine were a dark color with no red. I was wrong and was corrected on a fish forum. Red bellys have a rhomboidal shape, and black pacu an elliptical shape. Blacks actually have a greenish color.
Interesting that blacks can end up with more reddish colors than red bellies when mature....

I think somebody must have messed up on the signs! Either that or they were saying they were literally the colour black…

 

I would think you'd have to have a custom water change system right? A pond pump and hose and connections to drain and fill or something along those lines at the very least? You can't be doing it by python from the sink or buckets!

 

Here's why I thought I had black pacu:




The really sad thing is that pacu are long lived fish and can live 30+ years if kept in a good environment. They are really problematic to rehome, as there are not enough fish rescues and large public aquariums to take all the pacu that people don't want or can't keep. Sadly, these beautiful fish with personalities as big as their bodies are usually doomed to very short lives in miserable conditions. In 2005 I joined a pacu forum which closed in 2006. Both moderators lost their 2 yr-old pacus kept in 75 gallon tanks, and the forum closed. Pacu are very sensitive to nitrogen products, and I suspect high nitrates was behind the unexpected deaths.

 

wow, those are HUGE fish. How long have you had them?

 

I would think you'd have to have a custom water change system right? A pond pump and hose and connections to drain and fill or something along those lines at the very least? You can't be doing it by python from the sink or buckets!

We have a fantastic water change system. The drawback is running out of hot water. I have to wait an hour for more hot water and doing the next change. Takes under 30 minutes to drain, fill the main tank and fill the 55 g holding tank for the next change)

Water change system is tied in with the mechanical filtration system. We have a pipe under the house going to the patio. Open a valve to drain. Turn the pump back on and open the valve from the holding tank to pump water back into the main tank. Mechanical filtration is two RTL-25 filters plumbed to a Reeflo Hammerhead pump (fish love the swift current). Mechanical uptakes are two vertical pipes just off the floor "poop" suckers. I can drain the tank dry if I'm not careful or get distracted. Old video refilling the tank.

wow, those are HUGE fish. How long have you had them?

Summer 2005

 

Woah, that's a long time. That's so cool!

 

WOW! Impressive fish! Impressive tank. That new tank will be amazing. I love the Pacu and am excited to learn and see more of them.

 

My current mechanical filtration. Two RTL-25s run with a Reeflo Hammerhead pump. Uptakes are two vertical poop sucker pipes just off the floor of the tank. Debris is removed via the poop suckers.



Vertical pipe on the right is from the 55 gallon holding tank sitting on a high shelf. There is a water line from the utility sink to the holding tank. Behind the vertical pipe is a pipe going under the house and onto the patio. Opening that valve drains the tank by gravity flow. This system has worked amazingly well for us. I do not care to have a tank without RTLs and poop sucker pipes. In the big tank system there will be eleven pipes for my mechanical filtration which will consist of six RTL-100s run with one or two Reeflo Hammerhead pumps.
For biological filtration, there will be two Ultima II 4,000s run with two Reeflo Barracuda Gold pumps with 120W UV sterilizers, The 405 gallon sump is for redundant filtration only and will have submerged (I know, not the best use) Momotarro Bakki House Media, and some other stuff I have come across through the years browsing various fish forums. I also have a Clarity CL-3 fresh water protein skimmer I plan to hook up to the sump. I had Universal Rocks fabricate this 15' x 4' low profile rocky background "rug" for me.

Had it all stretched out ready to install, but we changed our minds. Our fish are so rambunctious, we were afraid they would injure themselves on the rough flooring. Gave it to a worthy fishkeeper. The plan is to place Polygem 307 Lite on the floor and paint it to resemble sand. However, this project has been so long, that I can put the epoxy down and throw sand on the epoxy. Will finish with clear epoxy coats for a smooth floor for the fish. Had to cover the seams of my backgrounds for one continuous piece across the back and sides.

Apparently, I had some dust contamination and have "orange peel" in the clear epoxy coating. I started to dremel out each of the hundreds of little pits (necessary for the new epoxy to adhere well). Haven't been in the tank since sometime in 2017. Am healed now and have two major projects to complete before I can climb back into the tank again.


Built a platform to access the top of the tank. The floor of the platform is hinged, so we will be able to access the sump underneath it.


There are two 3" floor drains. There are hot/cold water lines just above the tank, and there will be hot/cold water to the sump and utility sink. We put in a generator to protect the fish.


I saw this picture in the gallery of the defunct Tenecor site. It has been my dream tank look. I love everything about it.







I imitated the look as much as I could for my fish viewing, library, music room.

 

Wow. Just wow.
That is amazing.

 

We have a fantastic water change system. The drawback is running out of hot water. I have to wait an hour for more hot water and doing the next change. Takes under 30 minutes to drain, fill the main tank and fill the 55 g holding tank for the next change)

Water change system is tied in with the mechanical filtration system. We have a pipe under the house going to the patio. Open a valve to drain. Turn the pump back on and open the valve from the holding tank to pump water back into the main tank. Mechanical filtration is two RTL-25 filters plumbed to a Reeflo Hammerhead pump (fish love the swift current). Mechanical uptakes are two vertical pipes just off the floor "poop" suckers. I can drain the tank dry if I'm not careful or get distracted. Old video refilling the tank.

Summer 2005

Thank you for sharing and I think it's awesome! Welcome to the forum!

 

Welcome!

Really enjoyed reading through this thread and looking at the pics. It really is fish keeping on a giant scale. The effort you go too to give these beautiful fish a proper home is very impressive

 

Here's the really good news today. I only had to do 3 water changes instead of the usual 4 or 5.


While this Hanna nitrate photometer has an accuracy of +/- 5, I'm taking the reading and calling it good for today. Looking forward to when the pacu are in their big tank - the dilution of pollution part -- nitrates will build up much more slowly than in the small 300 gallon tank. I'll be removing water by purging the Ultimas. Love the idea of killing two birds with one stone. Have on on-demand water heater for the new part of the house (yes, we had to build an addition to house the fish tank) so will have an endless supply of hot water. I am aware of continuous drip systems, but I have to purge the Ultimas anyway.
WARNING!!! This can be what happens if you keep pacu. No room in our old house for a big tank. As it was, the joists of our wood floors were shored up with blocks and jacks for the small 300 gallon tank. We tore down the garage for the new fish room.


800 cubic yards of dirt had to be removed to build the new garage.




The area under the tank was fortified with extra reebar per our engineer's directions.









Since we did not have a garage anymore, the stand was fabricated in my parents' garage. 3 1/2" tubular steel.





It was much prettier after it was powder coated. Had to take it nearly 2 hrs away to a metal fabricator.



Tank and stand were brought it before the outside walls were completed.




It was an exciting day when the tank finally came home.



An engine hoist was used to get the tank on the stand. A pallet jack was used to more the tank/stand around during the dry walling process.



While they pull out salmon and trout from the river behind our house. Our house is definitely a pacu house.

 

Now that is something else. I can't even imagine what would happen if I asked for a new addition for a fish tank... My parents would probably think I went crazy
That is really cool though. A whole fish room with a 2,000 gallon tank would be a dream.

 

I see at Ohio Fish Rescue they have a ton of pothos in their sump to pull out nitrates. Have you ever tried that? I've always had one stem coming out of my tanks but they are just small (5 and 20gal) and I have never been sure if it makes a significant difference from me!

 

I see at Ohio Fish Rescue they have a ton of pothos in their sump to pull out nitrates. Have you ever tried that? I've always had one stem coming out of my tanks but they are just small (5 and 20gal) and I have never been sure if it makes a significant difference from me!

OFR is a wonderful rescue. BigRich Price is the main Administrator of the pacu forum on FB. Unfortunately, pacu plus anything just won't work. Pacu are inquisitive, curious fish who check out their world inside and outside of their tank. (Sometimes I feel like I'm the one in the fish bowl the way they stare and follow me around). Any plant would last a few minutes. too bad they have to be such knuckleheads...nothing is safe - air lines, bubble wands, suction cups...nothing. The wet/dry filter is too small for plants.

Very good thought, though. I've thought of nitrate reactors and algae scrubbers. The problem is the small 300 g tank and two massive fish. By tomorrow the nitrates could be around 12 ppm from the 0 ppm reading this afternoon. My point was that big fish in small tanks are problematic in terms of keeping nitrate down. I don't think it would be a problem in a system 7 times larger.

After my last hand surgery last September, it was several months before I could deal with the fish again. (husband did minimal water changes once a week) One pacu managed to slice off 1/3 of his tail slamming into a tank lid (they really need a padded cell) which was in the tank several days. By the time the tail was removed, the poor pacu looked really bad. His sides had white patches most likely from scraping. After one water change, the nitrates were at 70.2. The fish looked really bad, and I thought we were going to lose him. Even though he looked terrible, he acted his normal jovial self. I felt so guilty for being negligent, even though I was incapable of dealing with the fish. Cannot deal with fish with a device like this




Within a week of diligent water changes keeping nitrates low, all the white areas were again dark. I learned that my pacu thrive when nitrates are 5ppm or lower, so I do whatever I need to get the nitrates down.