# Newcomer needs help



## Mindy (May 22, 2006)

I was at a Meijer Department store and my 2 year old wanted a new fish. She picked the one she wanted which was a pretty (about maybe 5-6 inches long) red bellied fish (but I KNOW the sign didn't say piranha because I would have never bought it). We have had it a couple of months and one of our smaller fish have disappeared and this thing has doubled in size. I told the sales person what type of fish we have (tetras, couple of small sharks and some other pretty fish) and he said it would be fine. This thing eats everything I put in the tank and nips at the other fish, I cant really get a good look because it darts away everythime I try to look but it appears to have teeth! Can someone tell me if it sounds like I may have bought a piranha by mistake? Is it possible that the store may have mistaken it for something else when it was smaller?

Help!

Thanks in advance


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## RB 32 (Mar 2, 2005)

It's a pacu...not a piranha.


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## Mindy (May 22, 2006)

do those have teeht too? do you know if it will eat my smaller "pretty" fish


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## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

At a Wal-Mart store in Kentucky a few months ago they accidentally were selling baby red bellies as pacu. Here in Michigan we have Meijer stores. Where are you located?

Pacu look a lot like a red bellied piranha, and they are in the same family. They get huge! Up to 3' or more. They are omnivorous in the aquarium, but herbivorous in the wild. They do get some teeth, but not like piranha. Pacu have stubby blocky teeth and not sharp needles like the piranha have.

Can you take some pictures of the fish for us? Does it have grayish black bars on it's side or black spots? If it has bars it is indeed a pacu. Also, the mouth will give it away. Does it have a really noticeable underbite? It should be really easy to tell if it's a pacu or not, especially with some pictures.
~Taylor~



Mindy said:


> do those have teeht too? do you know if it will eat my smaller "pretty" fish


Yes. Pacu are pigs and eat and eat and eat and they grow even more! They are not aggressive, but neither are goldfish and goldfish will eat a smaller fish if it fits in their mouth.
~Taylor~


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## RB 32 (Mar 2, 2005)

Mindy said:


> do those have teeht too? do you know if it will eat my smaller "pretty" fish


I am 100% sure you got a pacu not a piranha...

yes it will eat your other fish and very soon it will out grow your current tank.


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## KrazieFishie (Feb 25, 2006)

can you post a pic? i would like to see it


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## rocker (Aug 12, 2005)

post a pic, it would efinantly help


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## Mindy (May 22, 2006)

I live in cincinnati ohio

It has Grayish silver spots on its body and tail, and a very fine line down the middle of it (I cant tell if the line is in the skin or a colored line, does that make sense?) I wont have my digital camera back until tomorrow morning (my husband left with it in the car). Any ways do you know where in Kentucky? close to Cincy? I really want to get this thing out of my tank if it's a piranha. Last time I buy a fish at meijers though none the less... I told them what size my tank was and if it is a pacu I sure as heck dont have room for it! my tank is only 25 gal!


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## rocker (Aug 12, 2005)

RB 32 said:


> It's a pacu...not a piranha.


i dont think pacus eat other fish.


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## Mindy (May 22, 2006)

by the way it was a walmart not meijers, I forgot it was walmarts grand opening lol


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## rocker (Aug 12, 2005)

Mindy said:


> I live in cincinnati ohio
> 
> It has Grayish silver spots on its body and tail, and a very fine line down the middle of it (I cant tell if the line is in the skin or a colored line, does that make sense?) I wont have my digital camera back until tomorrow morning (my husband left with it in the car). Any ways do you know where in Kentucky? close to Cincy? I really want to get this thing out of my tank if it's a piranha. Last time I buy a fish at meijers though none the less... I told them what size my tank was and if it is a pacu I sure as heck dont have room for it! my tank is only 25 gal!


 a crappy pic will do i can touch it up with PS to make it a bit better.

do u have a cellphone, webcam anyhting?


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## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

rocker said:


> It's a pacu...not a piranha.


i dont think pacus eat other fish.
[/quote]
Yes they do. When they get large enough, they eat what fits in their mouth.


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## the_w8 (Jul 28, 2003)

oh indeed they do eat other fish...when i had mine it ate all my dan guppies....


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## Mindy (May 22, 2006)

I will be able to post a pic tomorrow, my husband has my camera... from what I can tell (which is hard because the thing darts away from me every time I go up to the tank but the teeth don't look blocky, they look sharp but they don't look as big as some of the ones I've seen in pictures... does it take time for them to grow in?


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## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

I don't know the exact location in Kentucky that this happened at Wal-Mart, but I know that they were facing some fines because piranha are illegal in that state.


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## RB 32 (Mar 2, 2005)

rocker said:


> It's a pacu...not a piranha.


i dont think pacus eat other fish.
[/quote]
Yes they do eat fish...for sure


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## Mindy (May 22, 2006)

husband took the cell too! lol He works 3rds and I'm expecting... I will either post a pic tomorrow or just take him to a pet store that accepts fish and give him to them because either way I cant keep it, a piranha will eat my other fish and a pacu apparently will get huge! Any good ideas on how to transport it? will a small bucket work? it wont jump out right? lol im a little afraid of it!


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## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

Red Bellied Pacu:









Red Bellied Piranha:









If that thing is more than 6", it should be really easy to tell. It would be a HUGE mistake for a Wal-Mart to sell a 6" Red Belly as a Pacu.
~Taylor~


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## rocker (Aug 12, 2005)

Mindy said:


> I will be able to post a pic tomorrow, my husband has my camera... from what I can tell (which is hard because the thing darts away from me every time I go up to the tank but the teeth don't look blocky, they look sharp but they don't look as big as some of the ones I've seen in pictures... does it take time for them to grow in?


which does ur fish look like?

Pic 1









or

Pic 2









pic 1 is a piranha pic 2 is a pacu

damn tyler we have to sotp posting at the same time lol


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## kelrx8 (Apr 1, 2006)

my walmart sells pacu as red bellied 
they eat alot and look very similar to a red belly piranha


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## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

Mindy said:


> husband took the cell too! lol He works 3rds and I'm expecting... I will either post a pic tomorrow or just take him to a pet store that accepts fish and give him to them because either way I cant keep it, a piranha will eat my other fish and a pacu apparently will get huge! Any good ideas on how to transport it? will a small bucket work? it wont jump out right? lol im a little afraid of it!


Just net him and stick him in a bucket of the tank water. You are right, even if it is not a piranha, you probably will not want it and cannot house it long term. It shouldn't try and jump out. They need a lot of water to build speed and jump out. Just make sure there is enough water so he doesn't try and splash himself out though.

Keep in mind that not all pet stores will want a big pacu. They get too big and are pretty common. Make some calls around town.
~Taylor~


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## KrazieFishie (Feb 25, 2006)

yeah pacu eat fish and have teeth here are some pics of a pacu and there teeth


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## Mindy (May 22, 2006)

ok i was able to get some stills off my video camera of it... if I can find the cable I'll upload them now give me a few minutes, and thanks for everyones help by the way!


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## Mindy (May 22, 2006)

my appologies, the batter needs to charge a couple minutes before I can get them off the camera. It looks like I got really good close ups though I think you will be able to tell really easily. But what I see in the fish's mouth looks nothing like the ones above...


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## mashunter18 (Jan 2, 2004)

Mindy said:


> ok i was able to get some stills off my video camera of it... if I can find the cable I'll upload them now give me a few minutes, and thanks for everyones help by the way!


If it doesnt work out, you should be able to tell the two apart by the pictures Taylor posted.

It does sound more like pacu based on the rabid growth you describe, but who knows. You should defenitely be able to tell the two species apart from those pictures, primarely by the mouth, thats the giveaway....

I dont think either fish would be good for the community set up you have. But I think you already figured that out....


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## rocker (Aug 12, 2005)

lets get our bets in on the fish.

10 bux its a p


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## quickdeath (Jan 15, 2006)

Can't tell without a picture. Anything is possible... 
If the bottom jaw has an underbite, then it's a piranha! If the bottom jaw is equal, it's a Pacu. Either way, for proper I.D. we will need a picture, at which point someone can tell you for sure what it is. But saying that Walmart couldn't have gotten a piranha by mistake is insane. SH!T HAPPENS


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## Mindy (May 22, 2006)

how do I post a darn picture?!?!

here is nemo


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## rocker (Aug 12, 2005)

Mindy said:


> how do I post a darn picture?!?!
> 
> here is nemo


when ur posting look near thje bottom ull see broswe.

Click it, find ur pic then open it.

then click 'Add this attatchment'

when its done just submit ur post


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## Mindy (May 22, 2006)

can anyone else see that picture I put on? I think I got a body shot will that be better?


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## RB 32 (Mar 2, 2005)

Mindy said:


> how do I post a darn picture?!?!
> 
> here is nemo


I told you it was a pacu...


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## mashunter18 (Jan 2, 2004)

picture is working, and id say its a red belly pacu. May want to get rid of him asap, before he eats you out of house and home....


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## Mindy (May 22, 2006)

actually, now that I look at these against what has been posted, it does look like the pacu


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## blazednosferatu (Feb 27, 2006)

deff a pacu


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## rocker (Aug 12, 2005)

im down 10 bux


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## RB 32 (Mar 2, 2005)

rocker said:


> lets get our bets in on the fish.
> 
> 10 bux its a p


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## KrazieFishie (Feb 25, 2006)

yep itsa a pacu there nice fish and get real big have fun with the little bugger


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## mashunter18 (Jan 2, 2004)

I guess I shouldnt say get rid of the fish, your daughter picked it out. What size aquarium do you have????

These pacu will grow very quickly and get very large. Will take a large aquarium to house one and keep it...


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## Mindy (May 22, 2006)

well thats good, the petstore up the street said they would take it, just didn't want a piranha.

My daughters going to be upset, she likes "her Nemo" she looks at him all the time lol but if he's growing to as big as you all say... hes got to go! Maybe they will trade with me, give me something smaller for him? do petshops do that? we haven't had our fish long, I had an oscar for a long time, he was my buddy but he died. My husband got tired of watching him eat small fish and decided to fill our tank with "pretty fish"... Any ways thank you all for your help!

Heres another pic for the heck of it... hes a pretty fish though...

only a 25 or 30 gallon


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## Mindy (May 22, 2006)

lol I called my husband to tell him what it was... his co-workers are laughing at us!

how were we supposed to know it would grow to the size of our condo?!?!?! hehe

Thanks everyone, nice to meet you all!


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## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

This is considered "small" in SA.


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## piranha_guy_dan (Oct 4, 2004)

10000000000000000000000000% pacu.

how come its only that size after having it for a couple months? do you not feed it? i bought mine at about the size yours looks and its pushing 8-10 inches now. and thats only a couple months of being in my tank

by the way mindy be prepared for this fish to grow well over a foot 6 months from now. they reach 2 feet in the wild.

they look like they look like red belly piranha's with down syndrome


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## Mindy (May 22, 2006)

if you didn't read back, this was a fish the store said would live happily in a 29 gallon tank ("plenty of room to swim" he said) and my daughter picked it out it was 6 bucks they told me it wouldn't get much bigger it was pretty so I bought it... they also told me it at flake food, perhaps that is why it is so small? I feel terrible after reading up tonight I went down and fed him some fruits, Jacks Aquarium said they would take him for me but I'm going to call the Newport Aquarium first I'm afraid the pet store wont treat him well...


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## piranha_guy_dan (Oct 4, 2004)

its a real shame most lfs employees dont know their ass from a hole in the ground when it comes to most species of fish.


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## TheTyeMan (Aug 9, 2004)

Pacu


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## Mindy (May 22, 2006)

do you think an aquarium would take a fish like that? I'd much rather take him there then a pet store that doesn't know what they are talking about, they would probably just sell him to someone just like me... Only the next person might not care what happens to it.


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## piranha_guy_dan (Oct 4, 2004)

they might or maybe also a zoo


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## mashunter18 (Jan 2, 2004)

Mindy said:


> do you think an aquarium would take a fish like that? I'd much rather take him there then a pet store that doesn't know what they are talking about, they would probably just sell him to someone just like me... Only the next person might not care what happens to it.


Its worth a try. I bet they get lots of calls like this with larger pacu, and there is a good chance they dont have room. Best bet maybe jacks aquarium. Jacks always stocks pacu anyway. They would have more knowledable employees then meijer. Plus they have that whole wall of small community fish, to pick out a new nemo............


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## werdna (Mar 15, 2005)

yeah u guys called it pacu


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## Darkwolf2790 (Nov 22, 2005)

Mindy,

If your refering to the newpot aqauarium here in cincy/ky I dont think they will take the pacu. I talked to them about taking a Red Tailed Catfish that I wanted to grow out and they didnt seem to interested. So not to sure there gonna want a pacu but ya never know


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## Pnewb (Apr 10, 2006)

its a pacu
... lol didnt c the secound page of posts


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## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

Most public aquariums will not take pacus or red-tailed catfishes or some of the other huge species unless they are unique (ie; Arapaima gigas for example).


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## Tony P (May 15, 2006)

Hi Mindy,

Stick it in your classifieds over there locally, you,ll get some 1 whose interested in Pacu
who will take it off your hands

tony


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## Coldfire (Aug 20, 2003)

rocker said:


> It's a pacu...not a piranha.


i dont think pacus eat other fish.
[/quote]

First, Pacus do eat other fish

Second, the picture you just posted is a Pacu

When pacus are small, they look very similar to piranhas. I made a similar mistake at the lfs years ago hoping they had mislabeled the tank.

oh well, better luck next time!!


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## Mindy (May 22, 2006)

To anyone who is interested, the Newport Aquarium indeed rejected my Pacu as someone here said they would... apparently they get 2-3 calls a week (sad those stores are allowed to con people into buying them by telling them they will remain small) any ways they have their max of Pacus. My local Jack's Aquarium graciously accepted Nemo and let my 2 1/2 year old daughter pick out not one but a few fish! We ended up with 3 Marble Mollies and replaced one of our long tailed umm I forget, pretty little black and silver thing (Nemo ate it so we got another so the one we had didn't get lonely). They were great, took the time to show us all of the tanks we could choose from, they let Breanne watch them put Nemo into his new home, they even let her feed him! After finding out what I was feeding him they figured he was probably starved! (Walmart said they just eat a few fish flakes)... Any ways it all worked out and my daughter is very happy with her little mollies that chase her finger as she drags it across the tank, she says they are playing with her =o).

Thanks to everyone! It ended up a happy story... 
Too bad this sort of thing happens so much, anyone think if I went and pitched a b*tch at wal-mart it would make any kind of difference? Probably not, they are only worried about the money.


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## piranha_guy_dan (Oct 4, 2004)

glad u got something for it


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## b_ack51 (Feb 11, 2003)

Mindy said:


> Thanks to everyone! It ended up a happy story...
> Too bad this sort of thing happens so much, anyone think if I went and pitched a b*tch at wal-mart it would make any kind of difference? Probably not, they are only worried about the money.


Wal-mart probably won't care cause so far they haven't. They've been carrying red belly pacus for the longest time and still sell them to people who have tanks that are way too small for the fish. Honestly I would just be happy you got rid of the pacu and got some mollies for it. It's almost impossible to get rid of pacus.


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## nswhite (Mar 23, 2005)

I would bet its a pacu. most of the time listen to nothing a Local fish store says to you.


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## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

When I operated the live exhibit OPEFE, I would get an average of 5 to 6 calls a week on pacus. Most were in the 16 to 18 inch size. I explained to the donater that fish would be kept alive for a short time and then either euthanized or sent to OSU (they euthanize them there too) for examination and studies.

A few there were tank raised by me w/o medication were actually BBQ and eaten. While this might sound gross to readers, it wasn't bad at all in taste. These fish are a big market as food where they are found. Unfortunately, pet stores just wish to dispose of them quickly and always use the explanation that these are "fake piranhas" and only grow a few inches. Good luck with Wal-Mart, I tried for years to get them to quit ordering pacus and selling them. They are routinely dumped in our Oregon waters.


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## RAZORTEETH (Feb 6, 2003)

that is why i always look at fish and study them b4 purchasing studied p's for over a yr and a half b4 buying them the only sad thing about this story is i wish i would have bought them sooner







but yeah the lfs employees are sorry. good lookin pacu though


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## Mr. Hannibal (Feb 21, 2003)

Hope you get another nice fish for that Pacu...







!


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## moron (May 26, 2006)

I dont think that they will sell piranhas in wal mart. I think that you have gotin a pacu. how does it look


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## Rick james (May 2, 2006)

you guys should read before you post instead of looking like idiots.


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## oscar119 (Nov 26, 2005)

Glad there was a happy ending. Most pacus are euthenized by owners who were mis-informed.


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