Things You'll Need
- 200-gallon or larger aquarium or indoor pond
- Cascade 1500 Canister Filter (or similar filter that handles 350 gallons per hour)
- Aquarium or pond heater
- Large bogwood or rock decorations
- Pellet fish food
- Sandy substrate
- Optional aquarium lighting
- 5-gallon bucket
- Aquarium air tubing
Instructions
Set up your 200-gallon or larger tank (or indoor pond) before you purchase your pacu. Make sure you use distilled or chemically purified water that does not contain chlorine. Chlorine is highly poisonous to fish and will kill them within hours. Install all of the substrate, decorations, heater, filter and thermometer.
Install a proper filtration system. It is very important to have a filter that will process at least 350 gallons per hour for a 200 gallon tank. This will assure that the water is cleaned more than once an hour. Because ponds and large aquariums usually use the same filtration systems maintenance in similar. Clean and change the filter media on a monthly basis to ensure water quality is not compromised. Pacu are hardy fish (living in muddy river systems) so the filtration needs to be constant but there is no need for over-kill.
Heat the water in the tank to between 78 and 82 degrees F. This is the optimal temperature for Pacu to thrive. They can survive at lower temperatures but will become lethargic as their bodies go into a semi hibernation mode. Their growth will be stunted and they are more apt to develop sickness in these lower temperatures.
Introduce your pacu to the water conditions in the tank by placing the water from the bag it was bought in and the fish in a 5-gallon bucket at the base of the tank. Run a piece of air tubing from the tank to the bucket and use it as a siphon to pull tank water slowly into the bucket. This will acclimate your fish to the new water chemistry without sending it into shock. When the bucket is nearly full stop the siphon.
Pour the contents of the bucket back into the tank. Your pacu will look for a safe place to hide. It will spend the first few hours getting used to its new surroundings. Don't feed it until the next morning. A stressed fish won't eat and the food will likely rot at the bottom of the tank before the fish is interested.
Feed your fish a high quality pellet food once every day for the first 6 months. As the fish grows out of adolescence you will only need to feed it every couple of days. Once or twice a week add a vegetable to the tank. Pacu are vegetarians and enjoy a bit of variety in their diet.
Watch your fish closely. If it develops any sort of strange behavior or starts acting lethargic, check the water quality. You may need to adjust the chemical attributes of the tank. There are several chemical kits available to help you with this process. Pacu prefer a pH level of 6.5 to 7.5. These fish also are susceptible to Nitrite/Nitrate poisoning although it isn't common unless water changes are not preformed (10 percent to 15 percent bi-weekly). If your pacu is sitting just below the surface of the water and gulps for air then there may be high levels of nitrite or nitrate in your tank. If your nitrate levels are above 40 parts per million then it is time for a partial water change. Water changes are the only way (short of adding a wet dry filtration system) to remove these poisons from a closed tank system.
Add tankmates if your pacu begins hiding or excessively asking for attention by butting against the tank. Arowanas, Clown Knife, Oscars and other larger fish make good tankmates.