NOOB MISTAKE!

[earthwing]

the pacus growth rate exceed that of the arowana and oscars! haha. i give the pacus the same amount of food (maybe even less) but they grow much faster. i try to give the oscars almost twice as much food so that they'll be able to catch up, haha. what veggies could i give the pacus? i tried feeding them lettuce but they just wont eat it

im enjoying them too much right now to give back. i thought about eating the pacus when theyve grown too big, but nah, i think ive already developed a bond with them. i'll probably be buying a bigger tank soon. worst comes to worst, ill just sell them when maintenance becomes too much of a hassle (not an issue right now)

one last thing, are baby arowanas really unaggressive when it comes to food? i have to drop the worm right in front of him or else she wont eat it, then the other fish come rushing in to steal her meal.

btw, the dude at the LFS (what does that stand for) didn't warn me at all about getting those fishes! i did tell him that all i had was a 35 gallon tank. oh well. my bad for not really doing research before purchasing (although i knew that the fishes that i bought would grow really big however i dint expect them to grow this fast!) well at least what started out as spontaneous fun is slowly becoming a hobby

 

[lovejonesx]

2 pacus (4"), 2 oscars (3") and 1 silver arowana (6").

I'm sorry ew, but you got some bad guidance on the fish that you purchased. Were I you I'd take every one of them back & start out with fish that won't get so large in the longrun ( AND BY "LONGRUN" I DON'T MEAN THAT LONG...)

Whomever it was that said that the arowana would need a 500 gallon tank is pretty much right. Heck they average around 3 feet in the common aquarium & it's suggested that they be housed in a 7 x 2 x 3 foot tank, so you see how your tank just is not right for all three of them.

I've seen Pacus (which are amazing in their growth rate) & Oscars grow sooo big , so fast that they had a hard time turning around in their tanks.

All three of these fish are very attractive & enticing as fry, but are just too large for your tank & I'd put the arowana in the same boat as the red bellied catfish, the Jaguar Cichlid, Sharks etc...MUCH too large for the average aquarium.

ljx

 

[chefjamesscott]

While I do agree employees really need to guide the customer, I think customers have just as much responsibility to research before they purchase. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't buy a car, or a TV, or a computer without doing research. I would want to make sure my purchase would meet all the requirements.

I totally agree with this, is it not the person who is purchasing anything who really needs to investigate a bit about what they are purchasing?

At least the person posting takes the onus to claim his mistake.

I have to disagree with the aro needing a 500g tank though a single aro can easily live a good existence in a 6 foot 180g-10 foot 300g. Now the pacu that is another story they do indeed need huge tanks, I rehomed 2 of them from a 33 and 55g tanks and am now up to a 300g that they live in soon to be moved to a 10 foot tank and eventually into a 5-7k g pond.

I would keep the oscars and try to return the others and get your self minimum 100g tank, with good filtration.

End result you now have a great reason to hunt down a 200+g set up you are set!

 

[hap3niz]

hmm.. yeah, what everybody else said..
and how much did you pay for them??

 

[moonstream]

im enjoying them too much right now to give back. i'll probably be buying a bigger tank soon. worst comes to worst, ill just sell them when maintenance becomes too much of a hassle (not an issue right now)

the problem with buying a bigger tanks and selling them later is that, well, very few people want giant oscars, pacus, and even less want arowanas. In fact, you'd be lucky to give away those oscars and pacus once they reach 6" each, and the arrowana, well, you'd be lucky to give it away period.

the best thing for you, your wallet, and the fish is to give them back to the LFS now before they get so big no one will touch them.

unless, that it, you have the room/money for that 750g tank. have you ever seen an adult pacu or arowana? picture the cute babies you have now at 2 and 3 feet long.

 

[laurenrocksth]

If you feel as though you have developed a bond with these fish, I'm sure you want to do right by them. None of those fish can live for long in a tank that small. I'm actually surprised that none of them have died yet. PLEASE take the other poster's advice and give these fish back to the LFS (local fish store) as soon as possible. You are not equipped to appropriately care for any of these fish!!!

 

[irmuddled]

im enjoying them too much right now to give back. i thought about eating the pacus when theyve grown too big, but nah, i think ive already developed a bond with them.

:crazy:.... :barf:

Um, there's so so so many things wrong with this thread. Neither of the fish are appropriate for a 35 gallon tank, unless you own a house with a huge room devoted for aquariums and a very fat wallet chances are you won't be able to keep all of these fish. Honestly, with so many people freaking out about this... get a hint. This is cruelty.

 

[excuzzzeme]

I would keep the oscars and try to return the others and get your self minimum 100g tank, with good filtration.

Bad advice - 1 Oscar needs 75 gallons alone. OP has a 35. Every additional Oscar needs another 50 gallons.

 

[Wycco]

Part of me wonders if this is someone having a laugh.

The original poster has made two posts- one saying he's put three of the largest species fish readily available out there into a small tank. Yet despite listing three of the largest fish in the hobby had no idea how big they would get. Bit of a coincidence for a new hobbyist to pick the three largest growing fish in the LFS and not know they grow big.

Then in the second and only other post he says:

i thought about eating the pacus when theyve grown too big

... and we haven't seen the poster since. Is there any chance at all- that this poster is someone from the forum who created an account just to get a laugh at people reacting horrified to this situation?

I'm a huge skeptic by nature... so it makes me wonder.





If this is legitimate I do hope the OP has listened to the advice given and not been scared off after hearing people's honest opinions.

Making a mistake is forgivable and understandable- especially for someone new to the hobby-

Knowing the mistake and not taking steps to correct it puts the fault on that person.

 

[zpromoter]

While I do agree employees really need to guide the customer, I think customers have just as much responsibility to research before they purchase. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't buy a car, or a TV, or a computer without doing research. I would want to make sure my purchase would meet all the requirements.

I work for Petco and I won't sell oscars and other large fish to people wanting to put them in smaller tanks. I agree with this quote because people do need to put some research into the fish that they are going to purchase. Nothing works out that great on impulse buying. I don't take advantage of people who come in, I guide them to the right purchase. I can't speak for every employee but not all of us are bad.