Puck fish … Agree that many of us have never even heard of such a creature from the underwater world. It’s a pity, because this inhabitant of the deep sea can attract attention not only because of his physical characteristics, but also due to the huge number of rumors related to his alleged bloodthirstiness and aggressiveness.
Amazing Paku fish: general description and lifestyle
It is interesting that scientists classify Paku fish as a piranha family. Did you immediately think that in front of us is another bloodthirsty monster that attacks everything and everyone? Not at all. In reality, the situation is completely different.
Piranha Paku is a very large, strong, but inactive and absolutely non-aggressive fish. Its color, although contrasting, does not shimmer with all the colors of the rainbow: silver-brown body is covered with silver scales. The older the pack, the darker its color becomes, as a result, it turns into a black fish.
Paku is completely harmless, despite the fact that its size is much larger than that of its closest relatives, and the teeth of this fish look very much like human. She is a true vegetarian and eats only plants.
Rumors about the emergence of a new population of bloodthirsty pacu have taken place. But it seems that they were not confirmed. And if this was true, then individual individuals were only an exception to the main rule.
Paku fish: habitat
Everyone knows that piranhas are found in the southern latitudes. The subject of our conversation is no exception. Where does paca fish live? Photos are mainly taken in South America, the Orinoco River, and in the Amazon. Although you can also meet these fish in Africa.
Power Features
As mentioned above, Paka tastes only vegetarian food. In captivity, they prefer to feast on fresh lettuce, nettle, spinach, like green peas (even in canned form). And they will never refuse ice cream spirulina and wolfia. For a change, the menu for pacu fish sometimes includes granular, sublimated and other elements of animal origin.
Fish paku. Aquarium Maintenance
An impressive size pack must be kept in huge demonstration aquariums. On average, their length ranges from 30 to 40 cm, but some specimens can sometimes reach 60 cm. A case is known when a fish weighing 25 kg has grown to 88 cm in length. Living in captivity, packs grow no more than 50 cm in length, and their weight does not exceed 2 kg. But still, such a large fish requires a fairly large aquarium, at least 200 liters, in which you need to regularly change the water. It is also necessary to install powerful air exchange and filtration systems of good quality.
If you are going to have several individuals at once, then make sure that they have where to turn around. Keep in mind that pacu grows fast. A 100 liter aquarium is quite enough for young fish, but this is for a very short time.
Fish breeders feed them with slices of bananas, figs and other exotic fruits. However, they will not refuse pumpkins, cabbage, tomatoes and cherries. The peculiarity of pacu is that it does not completely digest food, which entails a large amount of waste. That is why the ideal neighbors for Paku fish are herbivorous catfish, which feed on food debris and push undigested waste to the surface, thereby helping to keep the aquarium clean.
