Archived message board.

Two pacus or not two pacus

I know this may seem out off the question but in my tanks it works. I have found that even fish that grow hecka big will not grow to full size and still live a long happy life(actually I can't say they live happily cause I'm not the fish but what organism lives a long time unhappily and doesn't die?) so to get to the point, I have 2 ten gallon tanks, one with 2 keyhole Cichlids,2 dwarf gouramis and a paradise fish. the other has a 5 in. oscar (5 inches for the past 2 years with beautiful fins) a blood parrot and a convict. I wanted to get two pacus at around 2-3 inches( hoping to stay that size like the oscar). which tank would it go along the best with? if the Oscar tank, will the Oscars fins get nipped?

• The first "Aggressive" fish I got was a pacu. I had it in a 15gal show tank. That worked well for about 2 months. Then I had to get him a 29gal. About a year after that he couldn't turn around in the tank and was miserable. I got him a 55 gal and that didn't last to long either. I finally got him a 80 gal and that worked pretty well. And that was him by himself!. I have heard of pacu's getting about the size of garbage can lids. The are the tropical fish equivalent to a garbage disposal. Mine ate everything (including plastic plants). I would seriously reconsider putting 2 pacu's in a tank with other fish. Even if they don't eat them they will probably grow much faster then the others and hurt the natural territory nature of the other fish.

• Just because your Oscar has stopped growing does not mean the pacu would. I have one 8" festivum and one 3" festivum that I got at the same time...so anything can happen. My festivum are in a 55gal tank. I have read many accounts of people having them where they could not even turn around in the tank. I believe they also eat other fish on occasion if opportunity presents itself and they are hungry enough. So you may be giving one an expensive snack. Anyways what do you plan on doing if it gets too big? Save some money in case and buy a 125plus gallon aquarium or flush your poor fish?

• I echo joyce...not exactly an ideal situation even if you can get it to work...how many times in nature would you find 2 Oscars and 1 or 2 pacus less than 1 foot away from each other...it's like sticking you and 3 other guys in a 12 x 12 room and saying live there for the rest of your life...not very pleasant. Believe me, it is much more fun to try to mimic the natural habitat of fish that you can come close to their habitats...like small schooling fish....:) curt