Thank you for all the help. I heard red belly pacu can lose the red on their bellies. But also when I did a search on red belly pacu they more than not are always a lighter color than mine, and actually look like a red belly piranha. My pacu actually seems as dark as a black pacu. Why I wasn’t sure what I had. Also on my search it said red belly pacu get from 12”-24”. So to hear from you to say they can still get to 3 feet long was a little surprise. He is currently in a 125, he will be in a 220 in about 5months. I’m hoping that will be sufficient for him for two years till I can build a huge aquarium for him and his tank mates.
Is this a black pacu?
- Thread starter Mfkjr75
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There's a lot of misinformation out there. I'm sure that my pacu came out of this Walmart tank years ago.
It is a true statement. They just failed to mention that after 10" they grow to 15"-20"-25"-30".... Many pacu make 18" their first year.
Here's the black pacu I had a few years ago. Good luck with your red belly
Nice Rb pacu you have there. Also welcome to mfk, this is also how I ended up here at mfk after researching pacu( after purchase??
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pacu mom
isn’t it with the blacks that the adipose fin is almost like a separate movable entity, whereas with rb it just kind of sits there not movable? if I remember correctly that is another way to differentiate when they are bigger and don’t have any red left?
I only had this guy about 5 months at the time of this pic
This was just before I took him to a pond with a bunch of adults. Tank depth 2’
The little guy next to some adults that were about 10y old almost 3x the size. The adults were roughly 6” thick.
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pacu mom
isn’t it with the blacks that the adipose fin is almost like a separate movable entity, whereas with rb it just kind of sits there not movable? if I remember correctly that is another way to differentiate when they are bigger and don’t have any red left?I only had this guy about 5 months at the time of this pic
This was just before I took him to a pond with a bunch of adults. Tank depth 2’
The little guy next to some adults that were about 10y old almost 3x the size. The adults were roughly 6” thick.
I had the same idea, but it’s hard to keep up with 2” a month on a typical diet. And if you don’t feed it much be prepared for a fuss, and possible diet supplements at the cost of tank mates fins, decorations etc.
if I walked in the room and didn’t throw something in there for him to eat, he would splash water out of the small opening at the front. Such a character
Nice Rb pacu you have there. Also welcome to mfk, this is also how I ended up here at mfk after researching pacu( after purchase??
That is correct. Blacks have rayed adipose fins that move like dorsal fins, while RBs have adipose fins that just flop from side to side depending on which way the fish is turning.
Matteus you are right about the tank mates fins. I just recently got rid of my Florida gar because the pacu would just swim up to him and nip at his fins. One day I noticed all my gars fins were almost gone and he had a hard time swimming. After getting him healed up the pacu went at his fins again. I do feed them well. Shrimp, tilapia, clams, pellets ect. I have also feed them feeders. Due to my peacock bass won’t eat nothing else. So I feed them feeders that have been frozen( I seen that it kills parasites). So I’m hoping I can transition the peacock easier with dead feeders to things like shrimp ect.
Not sure if you know this but pacu are highly vegetarian diet in wild. Try some zucchini, carrots, broccoli stems (avoid flowerets), nuts like Brazil nut, almond, cashew, walnut. Just be aware with most of these natural foods it will contaminate your water fairly fast especially it it leaves chunks of them behind. If you aren’t already doing this I would also suggest a good veggie pellet like nls algaemax to get some veg in the pacus diet. Often when you feed a veg eating fish an all or high protein (meaty) diet it can cause constipation and can shorten lifespan of the fish.
whatever you put in the tank, the pacu will eat it. Doesn’t mean it will be good for it. It’s up to us to know what they would typically eat in the wild to (hopefully) simulate that as much as we can.
as for the bass there is a whole other section of threads, and some stickies that are helpful as to how to wean them onto pellets. They can be super fussy, but it is usually easier with a teacher fish like the pacu that eats everything. My first batch took a long time to get off of brine shrimp, they wouldn’t eat anything else not even blood worms. So eventually I had to thaw out brine shrimp, crush up pellets, mix it all together and refreeze it and feed chunks of that before they would take pellets. Just be patient and don’t give up, and you will get them there.
whatever you put in the tank, the pacu will eat it. Doesn’t mean it will be good for it. It’s up to us to know what they would typically eat in the wild to (hopefully) simulate that as much as we can.
as for the bass there is a whole other section of threads, and some stickies that are helpful as to how to wean them onto pellets. They can be super fussy, but it is usually easier with a teacher fish like the pacu that eats everything. My first batch took a long time to get off of brine shrimp, they wouldn’t eat anything else not even blood worms. So eventually I had to thaw out brine shrimp, crush up pellets, mix it all together and refreeze it and feed chunks of that before they would take pellets. Just be patient and don’t give up, and you will get them there.
Pacu are extremely curious fish and very interested in the world inside and outside of their tank. With no hands and fingers to investigate things, they only have their mouths and teeth to check out their world. They can consume and/or destroy anything in their tank either with their teeth or by ramming into stuff during one of their violent freak outs. The bigger they are, the more damage they can do to themselves and objects in the tank during their characin freak outs. Here are some injuries my pacu sustained just slamming into tank lids.
Fortunately, lower lip and tail did regenerate.
Being omnivores, pacu will eat anything (including suction cups and other items in their tank). Some owners feed their pacu an exclusive diet of fruit and vegetables. Others get a kick out of feeding live food to their pacu, essentially training their pacu to be killers. They then lament the fact that their pacu kills everything that moves in the tank including all their tank mates.
All said, pacu are just curious charming rascals.
Fortunately, lower lip and tail did regenerate.
Being omnivores, pacu will eat anything (including suction cups and other items in their tank). Some owners feed their pacu an exclusive diet of fruit and vegetables. Others get a kick out of feeding live food to their pacu, essentially training their pacu to be killers. They then lament the fact that their pacu kills everything that moves in the tank including all their tank mates.
All said, pacu are just curious charming rascals.
Matteus, I have tried lettuce, apples, carrots the pacu would pick at it but never ate it. Maybe he got use to meatier stuff? That would be my fault then. I would always throw in the meaty stuff first then pellets and fruit/veggies. As far as what you said pacu mom, yes they are curious fish and I always find pieces of my plants floating at the top of the tank. I see him picking at them. They are fake plants, but I have them in there to lower the aggression of my Oscar towards the pacu. I always was afraid of exactly what you said about feeding them feeders. In the beginning I fed live feeders due to my peacock bass. I know that can make fish become more aggressive and not to mention costs a lot. So I’m hoping feeding them dead feeders I can slowly get the peacock off of feeders and lower any aggression. It has worked so far for my clown knife. He is now eating whatever I put in there.
