Personality of our Pacu - I can only speak from my experience with our Pacu over the last 2yrs.
This Pacu is a what I call a �Gentle Giant�. He is in a 180 Gallon tank with a variety of Cichlids. He�s the least aggressive of them all. Yet he won�t be bullied by any fish. When a cichlid tries to nip him (from the back end ) I�ve seen the Pacu turn around and chase the fish away. He sometimes seems to make a game of this, it�s very hard to explain but I�ve seen him chasing a fish in circles but only to end up turning his back on the fish and waiting to be nipped at again. Here is another example of his personality. When I clean his tank, he loves me to rub his sides as he swims around my hand over and over again. He has personality, likes and dislikes and shows his vulnerable dependancy upon us for companionship, food and care.
He is as most Pacu�s are known for, skittish. Any fast movement or vibration will cause a panic like reaction from the Pacu, sometimes resulting into banging into the glass, heater or decor. Pacu�s are known also as �tank busters�. I can relate to that, and even though my Pacu hasn�t busted a tank yet, I know with his massive strength, bulk, and panic attacks he can easily break glass.
My Pacu is 17" and I believe almost 3yrs. old. When we first received this fish from a friend at approx. 7", he was mistakenly ID�d as a Pirana. He sure looked like one! At a young age, Pacu�s look almost identical to their cousin, the Pirana. The easiest way to tell the difference is that a pirana�s lower jaw will jut out much more then that of a pacu�s. As the Pacu grows, the differences will become much more obvious. He will become deep bellied and wider.
Lastly I�d like to warn people, hobbyist, fishkeepers. Do NOT buy this fish if you are not planning on keeping him full term. He will require a 300 gallon tank within a few years. This is a fish that is easy to keep in the right conditions, BUT, he also is a fish that needs room to grow, and grow and grow. I�m very upset that this fish is sold to the public without a warning of the max growth size. In one store I had seen them state his max. size to be 12". I wrote them telling them the stats of this fish and was thrown off by an ignorant reply �we sell according to consumer command.� Well the majority of consumers would not wish to have a fish that grows to 3' if they knew about it, unless they were heartless people. That�s my reply, and that�s why I�m putting this on this board. If you�ve a heart, you�d not buy this fish unless you plan on a 300+ gallon for him to live a full, healthy life. |
