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Hello Friends!

I have a 80 gallons i.e. 303 liters of Acrylic tank (SOBO Imported 5 feet tank). I have 2 Red Belly Pacu's with Parrot and Oscars. One day i noticed that the small Pacu have got some serious fin rot, possibly of bullying. I removed the Pacu and kept it into a hospital tank and treated my Pacu. My Pacu recovered well and all fins are back. But while in hospital tank he hardly eats anything and he kept on swimming in one corner of the tank.. I tried to put my recovered pacu back in the main tank. But the moment i put her back other fish attacked on him.. I tried to keep for some more time but other fishes were trying to eat him.. I immediately took him out and put him back into the hospital tank.. He seems very much afraid and don't eat anything..

Please help what to do....???

Thanks,
Bhupesh

Who is attacking the sick Pacu ? The other Pacu or the parrots and the oscars ?

You have to get the sick fish to start eating in the hospital tank. Give it live food. Pacus are voracious vegetarians and should accept a variety of food.

Almost all the fishes are attacking the sick but now recovered Pacu.. She just stays at one corner of aquarium and tends to bash his heads on the aquarium walls.. I tried feeding FD bloodworms but with no success.. What do you recommend i should try to feed him..??

Pacus are very large fish, and need a lot of care, especially in terms of space that you give them. They do not stop growing simply because you do not have a tank large enough for them. The bigger Pacu will naturally bully the smaller one when space is too little. Having a 5-foot tank does not mean you can hope to keep more than one Pacu in peace indefinitely. It is a struggle for survival for all those big fish, so the weakest link (smaller, or least aggressive fish here) in the chain will start to break first. It does not matter which one...

If the fish are attacking the Pacu you should give it a separate tank, whatever the reason for the behavior. Give it a space where it does not feel threatened and fearful for its life. once it calms down, remember Pacus are vegetarians so you should tempt it with different foods like bananas, grapes, and carrots also, when it has not eaten for a while. It will be cheaper than feeding cichlid pellets all the time .... if it is too spoilt it might take time to learn. It can live on a diet of broccoli, squash, cucumbers, nuts (yes, just google it!) and similar stuff... Basically anything vegetarian that is uncooked and available to you. The fish can have its own preferences, some like lettuce some don't. But even these good quality cichlid pellets are not bad. But variety is good. Feed it and make it stronger and able to take a stand! Then watch the next weakest fish start to ....

I have already ordered a 8 feet (300 gallon / 1200 liter tank). I hope to get it in 45 days but till then should i keep it in the hospital tank only or should i try to put it back into the main tank once she is fit and starts eating...?? Would it be okay to not feed him for 2 days and then feed so he gets hungry and eat then??

The fish is lucky you got it a new tank. By all means keep it where it is until then. I don't think it will feel hungry in a tank where everything wants to EAT it.

You might want to consider potential sizes of your fish before you buy. I think I can see tinfoil barbs in your tank, the Oscars also grow large. So you are going to need a lot of space in the future also.

@Romi

I understand and i appreciate your advise... I will make sure to research well before i buy a fish now.. Actually my local pet shop misguided me by selling pacus saying it does not grow large and is a good fit for a 5 feet tank....

Thanks
Bhupesh

LFS tell from their experience, and it must be TRUE as they keep for small time before selling off.
So what do you plan to do when they outgrow 300gallon?

I was hoping after above advices you ll change fish instead of aquarium.

saikumar wrote:LFS tell from their experience, and it must be TRUE as they keep for small time before selling off.
So what do you plan to do when they outgrow 300gallon?

I was hoping after above advices you ll change fish instead of aquarium.

Having extra aquariums is better, Sai. If one can afford the price and space The fish can be returned yes, but its chances of finding a home where the owner will care so much as to get it a new tank everytime it increases substantially in size is low.

Pacus are not sold now in the UK because everyone knows that they are large fish and need a lot of money for housing, long-term. Sadly, too many people still continue to sell them here in India, not caring that these unfortunate fish have a clock ticking against them right from the start.

Nobody should believe shopkeepers, Delhi has no culture remaining of truthfulness in such matters. They tell lies freely knowing that people will not come back one day and fight with them because everyone (to their mind) tell lies in their profession to make money. The tragedy is the fish suffer in the end. '

When I see how common the Red Tail Catfish are in Anand Parbat, I don't see fish, I see tragedies racing against the clock. Sometimes, I wonder if my hobby is a cruel hobby where fish are toys for grown men to get tired of, one fine day ....

Actually the Red Bellied Pacu is an edible fish which is bred in large quantities across most of Latin America. Thats the one main reason why it also lands up in people's tanks.

Frankly, I think you should keep only one Pacu in the entire 5 feeter and enjoy the fish as it grows. I have not really seen these fish grow to their full potential in tanks but even then they do grow very large. If you so wish, you can probably donate the fish to a public aquarium once it outgrows your tank. There is one at India Gate.