hello, I own a 9" pacu and a 8" oscar there in a 55 gallon tank and are fine for now. I also have a large koi pond. Been thinking about building another pond and stocking it with pacus and oscars and arowanas and red tailed catfish. But some pet stores say this will work fine but some say it wont. I live in north florida and the temperature can range from 90 in the summer to 20 in the winter think the cold weather could be a problem? Any help is greatly appreciated!
pacus and oscars in out door pond
- Thread starter redrider105
- Start date
redrider105;2429576; said:
I would bet the Winters are entirely too cold for most tropical fish.
I've lived the last 20 years in Central Florida and had a nice pond. I never put any Oscars in it but had a 3 1/2' RT and a MONSTER Pacu that had to weigh every bit of 20lbs. I also grew a Black Shark from about 3'' to around 2'.
I never had a problem with any of them but as I say that was S.C Florida and the climate is much nicer in comparison to Northern Florida. I should add that I dug my pond 15' at the deepest point so I'm sure that was a factor in them thriving as they did.
im not sure if the pond heater will be sufficient for that low of a temperature? but i guess it wont hurt to try just one pacu in there just to see and always can turn it into a koi pond.
honestly, a 9" pacu is not fine in a 55g tank. neither is an 8" oscar in my opinion. very, very soon that pacu WILL hit a growth spurt, and in a matter of a few months, will suddenly be 16-17". you need to find him a new home now, or build your pond. take this form someone who's raised several, and still owns 2 large pacu.redrider105;2429576; said:
a large outdoor pond, with temps that may dip that low in winter will require alot of heating. i would think you would need something like a decent propane swimming pool heater. not much else can keep up with the large ammount of water you would most likely have in a decently sized pond.
with wanting several pacu, and a red tail cat and arro's, i hope you realize your looking at a pond that will need to be measured in TENS OF THOUSANDS of gallons. pacu can and will reach 2-3 feet, same with a silver arro. a Red tail cat im pretty sure has the potential to reach the size of YOU. others may disagree, but i would say with that mix you want, you would need something like a 15x15x10. 3 foot long fish NEED room to swim and use their muscles, and to be able to swim up and down easily. granted this is an IDEAL size, and you MAY be able to get away with something smaller.
goodluck, and hope you decide to built that tropical pond. we can always use another monster fish keeper around here
i agree with the above poster. also, i dont know if you know or not but aro's are notorious jumpers in the wild. how would you keep them from jumping out of the pond and drying up on the dirt? lol..
rtc's get monsterous-your tank would have to be just absolutely MASSIVE. rtc's can get over 200 lbs and four feet long and live to be 20 yrs or more older.
i would ditch the rtc and stick to oscars, a few pacus and some other large amazon type fish.. i would not include an aro because i think it would be a waste of money if it jumps. there are some other pretty impressive large sa/ca's that would be compatible with your o and pacu.
rtc's get monsterous-your tank would have to be just absolutely MASSIVE. rtc's can get over 200 lbs and four feet long and live to be 20 yrs or more older.
i would ditch the rtc and stick to oscars, a few pacus and some other large amazon type fish.. i would not include an aro because i think it would be a waste of money if it jumps. there are some other pretty impressive large sa/ca's that would be compatible with your o and pacu.
