RB Pacu

[ZBT3091]

What is the minimum tank size for 2 Red Bellied Pacu?

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

I'm no expert, but, 500 gallons? 250 each? Something like that i think Pacus get GINORMOUS!


-Diana

[ChileRelleno]

My personal recommendations for absolute minimum tank size for a adult fish such as the Red Pacu is 4x its length long, 2x wide and 1.5x height, however this the absolute mininmum, the fish will not show normal behaviour, it will merely survive :( ..........
I would recommend instead 6x its length, 3x wide and 2x height, this would give the fish adequate room to move around, larger would be better but this is already a humongous tank.

Given that Red Pacus reach 2', we're talking the absolute minimum is,
8'Lx4'Wx3"H = 717 US gallons
or
12'Lx6'Wx4'H = 2151 US gallons

It is the difference between survive and thrive!

Haven't we already answered this question before???

[Dan YOC]

I currently have three Red Pacus each about 2-3 inches in length, inside my 10 gallon aquarium, I have just bought them today, what can I do to prevent them from outgrowing the tank? They are nice quick speedy little critters but what can I do now?

30 in long? gulp

[cneufeld]

My advice (and first post here at Aquaria Central)... take them back now, and exchange them for something more suitable.

Clint

[dave76]

I agree take them back, I have heard of them being caught in the lakes around here, so sad..........

Once they get really big LFS wont even take them as charity most times. If you think that you can keep them small by underfeeding them just check out
www.aquamojo.com and look at his full grown pacu swiming with his full grown oscars, its crazy........

[dave76]

http://www.aquamojo.com/pacu/Pacu.jpg

That Oscar is at least 12" long and you want to know how to keep them in a 30g? The best thing you could do is take him back and maybe get some dwarf cichlids for your 10g.

[mesatadpole]

http://www.aquamojo.com/pacu/Pacu.jpg

That Oscar is at least 12" long and you want to know how to keep them in a 30g? The best thing you could do is take him back and maybe get some dwarf cichlids for your 10g.

mojo has beautiful oscars. i have two pacus myself and they're only about 5 inches now and they're in my 50 gallon, by the time next summer roles around though i fully intend on having a little pond setup in my basement for them. take those poor fellas back to the store unless you want to be buying gargantuan living spaces for them.

[Harry Tolen]

Well, I have been keeping (4) Pacus in a 400g tank for about seven years now, and they have all topped out at around 20-24 inches and seem relatively happy. I will note that I "adopted" all of these fish because they had no other homes, and that I don't think Pacus should be sold for home aquaria at all. If I had to guess at a minimum size for a Pacu tank, I would go with a 240g tank. 8 feet long, 24" wide and deep. They will focus on the long dimension when they want to "run", and so will not feel terribly cramped. IMHO, of course.

[Debra Mark]

what can I do to prevent them from outgrowing the tank?


Sorry to say, you won't prevent 3 pacus from outgrowing a 10 gallon tank....
My advice....take them back to your LFS while they are still small and trade them for something more appropriate.
Our big pacu was in a 412 gallon tank for 17 years before we built the big tank, and it has made a tremendous difference in his quality of life. :)

[dave76]

Do you have any pics of the pacu tank by any chance?

[AikidoGuy]

I have seen Mojos pacu in person and even in his 2000gallon pond it looks BIG. No commercially available tank is large enough to house a pacu (.) You would need something like Debras tank at least.

When "Brutus" out grew his 72x24x24 tank Mo took it out and weighed it. I belive it tipped the scale at over 35lbs if i remember correctly.

[NatakuTseng]

Return them now while you can. Once they start getting larger, good luck getting the store to take them back. Also just on a side note...pacus aren't cichlids, lol.

[Debra Mark]

Do you have any pics of the pacu tank by any chance?


there are some pictures in the General Freshwater...'post pictures of your fish' thread....pages 14 and 15

[Tightdog1]

Ok on a personal note, i have kept 2 RB Pacus in a 55g, until they started to jump outa the tank, break my heaters, break the hood, break the light bulb, did i mention jump outta the tank and on my bed when i was sleepign 5 feet away. and they were only like 7", oh yea i bought them at like 2",a nd in 6 months they were 7" at least. So if u wann ahve 2 RB pacu in a tank, until full grown, go with a 1000g+ the longer the better, they are very fast swimmers too, thats how they get away from predators.

Also, in mexico, they are considered food.

Also, Walmart should not sell these fish, let alone petsmart, petco, etc, and any LFS also, because they get so big, IMO they should not be considered tropical fish for an aquarium.

[jagarundi]

What is the minimum tank size for 2 Red Bellied Pacu?


PLEASE read my sticky post about my Red Bellied Pacu's in the general freshwater forum. The post will put you in the correct frame of mind.

[tiger_oscar]

Take them back now while you have a chance. It's hard to find them homes I have one in a 230 gal and he will outgrow that. It's sad because the average aquarium owner don't have 700 gal tanks. They grow quick it won't even take a couple of month before he out grows your tank. Pet store lie and even websites about the size these fish reach. I thought he'd get up to 2 feet now more credible sources have told me more like 3 feet. Right now he's in love with the 230 gal tank. He swims hard back and forth over and over. All this is doing is making him bigger.

[ashdavid]

I have to agree with most people here and say you are probably looking at a 1000g + tank, if you can get a tank like that for them, go for it , all the more fun. You will then have room to put other fish in there as well. Look at Debra and Mark, they built a 3000g + just for their fish.