Anyone Keep Pacu's?

[SPANKYSREEF]

I have a 75 in my basement. Was thinking of a small group (4-6) Pacu's. Anyone have any experiances? I am most concerned about tank setup. Thanks.

[Twitterbait]

The guys eat a ton and grow big very fast. IMO 75gal is not big enough. for a small group you still need at least 500 gal and that will be to small when they get really big. they only feed on plant matter so stock up on the green if you get 'em.

[vanz]

Why get pacus when you can get piranhas???

[Stang69]

I agree with Twidder on this one a 75 is too small and will only last ya maybe 6 months with a group. In reality pacu's are vegitarian but will eat smaller fish and such if needed. The pacu get to be sometimes 2 feet give ot take and do require a large tank or display.

Jeff

[SPANKYSREEF]

Thanks for the info. everyone. I have located a few species of piranha that must be kept as single show specimens. Maybe I will go that route. Still undecided, maybe another reef!

[SPANKYSREEF]

Any good places that you all know of that carry Piranha?

[petlands'great]

pacus are pretty easy to keep, they eat lots of plants, especailly anacharis (its ceap) and insects and inverts (crawfish), a 300 gallon tank would be ideal for 1 pacu, if you do not have anything larger, i would not get one, or you could put them in a pond, but good luck catching him in the fall.

one of my friends has a school of piranha, hes got 4 red belly and 3 other ones with a black patch. cant remember the name. there about 5" -8" long and there fat. but hes looking to get rid of them, because they keep tearing up his plants. name a price if interested.

[Twitterbait]

Go for the standard red belly or black. if you have the cash then look at gold flake. Pirhana are cool but they can be skittish so make sure you have a good hood. best food for them is either table shrimp or a cheap fast way is buy a cow heart and chop it up and feed them.

[vanz]

Originally Posted by petlands'great

one of my friends has a school of piranha, hes got 4 red belly and 3 other ones with a black patch. cant remember the name. there about 5" -8" long and there fat. but hes looking to get rid of them, because they keep tearing up his plants. name a price if interested.

the ones with the black spot are caribes. They are very aggressive...very badass piranhas in schools.

Originally Posted by Twitterbait

Go for the standard red belly or black. if you have the cash then look at gold flake. Pirhana are cool but they can be skittish so make sure you have a good hood. best food for them is either table shrimp or a cheap fast way is buy a cow heart and chop it up and feed them.

The gold flakes are spilos and the black are rhoms. They are a lot of different species of piranhas out there as well. If you want a school or piranhas...go with the caribe. The rhom is a very very bad ass piranha, but you can only keep it by itself. Nothing will survive with it. People have tried to shoal the spilos and some with success. They are pretty though...especially the purple spilos.

Originally Posted by SPANKYSREEF

Any good places that you all know of that carry Piranha?

Piranha-fury.com is the best place to get piranha information. They have sponsors there as well and they are pretty decently priced. Before, I really wanted a Manuelli...but it was pricey...and was known to be skittish, but they are pretty though. But I got bored of piranhas...they were interesting for the first several months....but it's the same thing over and over again.
PM me if you have any questions on piranhas.

[petlands'great]

yeah, caribes, thats it. my friend go's to piranha fury.com all the time

[SPANKYSREEF]

Thanks for the input fella's!

[tabwyo]

pacu=big tank. I volunteer at the LFS as the resident fish geek and I sugest 100 gallons per Pacu at the least. These guys can grow quite large. But I have seen some wonderful pacu tanks. Heavily planted and stocke with various small fish as well.