Pacu - submitted by pacu man

[fishfreek]

[center:f1622188f5]PACU[/center:f1622188f5]

Written by Pacu Man

Scientific Name: Colossoma bidens

Common Names: Pacu, Red Pacu, Black Pacu

Region: South America

Maximum Size: 25” and higher

[acronym:f1622188f5="PH"]PH[/acronym:f1622188f5] Range: 6.0-7.5

Temperature: 78-82ºF (25-28ºC)

Environment: Driftwood, rocks and plastic plants are your best bet, any live plants will be eaten. It's natural settings are that of the Amazon river so water conditions should be a little on the acidic side. Natural gravel is a plus too.

Feeding Habits: Will eat just about everything, especially likes veggies. In it's native setting it eats things that fall from trees such as nuts or fruit.

Distinguishing Sex: None Known

Behavior: A very timid fish not near aggressive as it's piranha cousins but more like it's other family member the Silver Dollar.

Breeding: Their egglayers, but they are not bred within aquariums.

Lifespan: Can live for several years.

Often mistaken for piranhas, Pacus can be distingushed by the overbite as opposed to the underbite of a piranha. Also
if the fish is large enough you can tell by their teeth, a Pacus teeth are flat like a humans front teeth whereas a Piranhas teeth are seraded.
like a knife Perhaps the most unfortunite thing about Pacus is the their massive size makes them almost inadiqute to keep in an aquarium. Some sites will tell you, you need it least 125 gallons for
1 pacu. This space will allow a large pacu to move a few feet with turning space, doesn't sound to fun for the Pacu does it? However Pacus are great
dithering fish as there "peace keeping" skills are very good and they are also inexpensive. If you a Red Bellied Pacu it means it is in a younger stage
it does this in the wild to blend in with it's Piranha bretheren, however as they get older and much larger then piranhas they turn black. These fish are easy
to keep, but just make sure you have AMPLE tankspace for these fish they will grow to like you and will eat out of your hand and even allow you to pet them!(be careful about the protective layer though!).

My Rankings:
Price: 10
Value: 8
Hardiness: 10
Community: 9
Activeness: 7
Appearance: 6.5
Overall: 8

http://www.aspeninnovations.com/pacu/default.htm

http://www.aquariumfish.net/catalog_pages/wild/pacu.htm

Personal Experince

[Terry]

That was great, very informative. when i first opened my store, i had a pacu which was donated to me by a customer. he was a good 24" long and my customers loved him and used to bring him banana's. i had him for about two years and i then passed him on to the local childrens zoo.
He has now since passed away, and he is missed by everybody. Oh by the way is name was quasimodo.

[Bioworldmaker]

We eat pacus in South America all the time and I must say they are one of the best fish ever to reach the grill. Yummy!

[FishLover14]

Good Profile!

Dan

[rhetor]

I think it would be nice to ad:

my Pacu at about 20" will eat crayfish occasionaly and small minnows. He tends to leave other things alone. He doesn't really chase feeder fish but if they are infront of his face at any point, they're going in it.

[iamchris]

I greatly appreciate the thought and time that went into creating this article, but one suggestion. Please at least spell check before posting. It doesn't take much time at all, and greatly improves readability. Thanks again!

[Toirtis]

Originally Posted by fishfreek

[center:c88262ef44]PACU[/center:c88262ef44]

Written by Pacu Man

Maximum Size: 25? and higher

Should be: Maximum verified: 90cm/35.5" 25kg/55lbs.

...and do not forget Colossoma macropomum, a much larger species (110cm/43", 31kg/69lbs.), very often sold in the trade as 'black pacu'.

[flamingonhot]

i would say that they would need a bigger tank than 125 gallons....most people have them in 250 gallon tanks and they still dont have ample swimming space.

I've heard them getting up to 37 inches and living about 30 years.