How big do red Pacus get?
35 inches
Red-bellied pacu, which can get as long as 35 inches (88 centimeters) and weigh as much as 55 pounds (25 kilograms), live in Papua New Guinea, but their ancestors didn’t originate there.
Is Red Belly pacu a piranha?
Sometimes known as the “vegetarian piranha,” the red-bellied pacu has square, straighter teeth like those of humans, which are primarily used to cut through vegetation in the water.
How big do Pacus get?
3 feet
Pacu can reach 3 feet in length and weigh over 65 pounds. Red hook pacu live in the upper Amazon River basin in South America.
Is Red Belly pacu a school fish?
As juveniles, Pacu are schooling fish, and should be kept in groups.
What fish can live with red belly piranha?
Well fed Red Belly Piranhas are fairly tame towards their tank mates and can be kept alongside other fish their size. Large Cichlids, armored Catfish, and related fish like Pacus and Silver Dollars are your safest choices. However you can also try keeping them with tiny fish that are beneath their notice.
What do red belly pacu eat?
Red-bellied pacus originate from the river basin of both the Rio Orinoco and the Amazon. In the wild, they’re primarily herbivores, which means they eat plants and vegetation. They’ll eat any fruits, nuts and seeds they can find.
What does red belly pacu eat?
How fast do red belly pacu grow?
The red belly pacu will grow rather quickly and may reach 12 – 24 inches (30 – 61 cm) if properly taken care of. Given their potential adult size you will need an enormous tank to keep one at home, at least 250 gallons (940 liters). You will also need an extremely efficient aquarium filter to filter the tank water.
Are pacus piranhas?
Pacu (Portuguese pronunciation: [paˈku]) is a common name used to refer to several species of omnivorous South American freshwater serrasalmid fish that are related to the piranha. Pacu, unlike piranha, mainly feed on plant material and not flesh or scales.
What kind of animal is a red bellied pacu?
Identification: Machado-Allison (1982) revised the pacus and provided distinguishing characteristics for Piaractus brachypomus. Many Piaractus taken in U.S. waters have been misidentified and reported as the red piranha Pygocentrus nattereri or as other common pacu species: tambaqui Colossoma macropomum or small-scaled pacu P. mesopotamicus.
Where can you find pacus in the Amazon?
In their native range, pacus are widely fished and farmed. Based on a study by IBAMA, Colossoma macropomum, Piaractus brachypomus and Mylossoma spp. are all in the top-15 of the most caught fish (by weight) in the Brazilian Amazon.
How are red bellied pacus different from Piranhas?
Red-bellied pacu can be distinguished from piranhas primarily by dentition (single row of serrated incisor-like teeth in piranhas vs. two rows of molariform teeth in pacus).
What to do with a red bellied pacu?
Even though they are herbivores, they may go after smaller fish in their tank. They can potentially be kept with arowanas and plecos . The Red Bellied Pacu one of those fish that is best left to the advanced freshwater aquarist with a very large tank.
