| Pacu: |
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Pacu |
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Red Pacu |
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Black-Finned Pacu |
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Black Pacu or Black Belly Pacu |
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Colossoma bidens (RED PACU) |
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Colossoma macropomum (BLACK-FINNED PACU) |
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Piaractus brachypomum (BLACK PACU ) |
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6.8 ( but will take as low as 6.0 to as high as 7.5 ) |
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74-80 deg. F. |
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20" for the Red Pacu |
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35" for the Black-Finned Pacu |
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40"+ Black Pacu. |
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Red Pacu Minimum Tank is 90 gallons |
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Black-Finned Pacu Minimum Tank is 300 gallons |
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Black Pacu Minimum Tank is 750 gallons |
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Egg-layers |
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Omnivore, will try nearly anything from vegetables, fruits, pellets, meats and smaller tank mates. |
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I do not recommend keeping this species in general as a whole due to the extremely large volume water requirements, but if you really enjoy this very personable species I encourage you to only keep the Red Pacu. |
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Bright, but not direct sunlight. |
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Peaceful, but can be territorial and eat smaller tank mates. |
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The Red Pacu is the most commonly found Pacu in retail stores. I highly recommend you consider tank requirements and related costs prior to the purchase of this species. If you like the look, but something a bit smaller, consider the Silver Dollar. |
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When Pacu's get frightened, they dart away from danger with extremely powerful speed. In the home aquarium, this can leave gallons of water on the floor, heaters broken, and tank decorations destroyed. It is advised that you plan ahead and don't buy a Pacu unless you have at least a five foot long, two feet wide tank Single species are often kept, but they do like the company of their own kind, especially when they are younger. Red Pacu's require big aquariums of 90 gallons or more to keep them healthy and they can even outgrow tanks of this size. Provide them with plants and lots of places to hide. Plastic plants are recommended, as they may eat most live plants. |
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As you see the Pacu in the top photo, this particular Pacu, like so many others was purchased at a very small size by an unknowing keeper. Within a short time the owner "donated" the Pacu to a local store in hopes to find it a suitable home. Many Pacu's and other large species are often discarded irresponsibly by owners as they outgrow their homes. I can not stress enough that if you are not fully prepared for this species, please avoid it. Never count on a store being able to accept your large fish, many are simple not equipped to do so, and it can be near impossible to find adequate homes for them. |
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The closely related Silver Dollar
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The closely related Piranha
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