# Why do LFS sell Pacus?



## Romble (Apr 11, 2007)

So I am in my LFS looking around and i see a tank with about 40 Pacus all about 2-3 inches in size for like 6$ each. A kid walks up and starts yapping..."Mom look piranha, can i get some?" Mom walks over and sees the sign on the tank saying Pacu with a green symbol for community fish. So she knows its not a piranha and she was about to buy 2 or 3 of them.

I couldn't just let it happen. I asked her how big was their tank and she said 30 gallons. I asked her to follow me. Just down the isle about 10 feet away was a 100 gal tank in which the store had 3 giant Pacus jammed in there with various CA cichlids(green terrors, red devils 6 inches each or so). The Pacus were about 2 feet long each and could barely turn around in this tank. This alone looked terrible how jammed the tank was but my point was just to show her what her little Pacus would turn into!

She was stunned.... could not believe her eyes. She thanked me and obviously did not get the Pacus and ended up getting a few gouramis instead :thumb:

I just dont get the motivation here to sell these fish when no one can really house them. Especially with them selling the adult ones there like that... Do they expect them just to die off by poor housing conditions? (which probably happens all the time)

Well i did my good deed that day but I am sure all 40 of those Pacus will sell to some other kids


----------



## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

Romble said:


> Why do LFS sell Pacus?


because people buy them.


----------



## BillD (May 17, 2005)

What would possess someone to buy an ugly fish like a pacu?


----------



## smellsfishy1 (May 29, 2008)

I don't think it is an ugly fish.
The only problem with them is that they aren't appropriate for aquaria.
They need a pond.


----------



## RyanR (Apr 29, 2008)

I talked to the ourner of our LFS about this. He won't carry pacu's... he said they just wind up in the river. Some places stock them because they're surprisingly resilient... or so I hear. Places like Walmart, I guess, have a hard time killing them?

Some places stock them because they sell.... I guess there's a demand for them. Lots of people just want a "bad a$$" fish... perhaps this encourages them to buy a "larger" aquarium... even though there's no tank big enough for these fish.

I guess the answer is the bottom line: money. Somehow it works for them?

-Ryan


----------



## dogofwar (Apr 5, 2004)

Exactly.



Fogelhund said:


> Romble said:
> 
> 
> > Why do LFS sell Pacus?
> ...


I would venture a guess that Wal-Mart is within the top 3 sources of all aquarium fish (and probably the #1 or 2 source of aquarium supplies) in America. What Wal-Mart stocks has nothing to do with appropriate or conscientious fishkeeping but what they get and sell cheaply.


----------



## xalow (May 10, 2007)

Nice work Romble. It is not always easy to convince people to do the right thing, sometimes they just say "oh it will die before it gets that big".

My guess is the demand comes from the reputation that piranha have and how similar these look to piranha when juveniles. Kind of how bala sharks are also vastly inappropriate for most tanks but sell well because they look very shark like. I think I might buy a pair of some rare blue eyed fish and then breed them a ton and start marketing them as Miley Cyris fish and become rich beyond all human measure.


----------



## morningsky (Apr 22, 2008)

> I think I might buy a pair of some rare blue eyed fish and then breed them a ton and start marketing them as Miley Cyris fish and become rich beyond all human measure.


 

Hey !!!! you can't raise Miley Cyris fish. I was already working on a Jonas Brothers Species !!! :lol:

Good work Romble on the Pacu diversion. =D>


----------



## BillD (May 17, 2005)

I would venture a guess that Wal-Mart is within the top 3 sources of all aquarium fish (and probably the #1 or 2 source of aquarium supplies) in America. What Wal-Mart stocks has nothing to do with appropriate or conscientious fishkeeping but what they get and sell cheaply.[/quote]

You would right. Not sure about right now because I read recently that Walmart was getting out of fish in a lot of their stores, but a few years ago they were number one in total gallonage of fish tanks in the US.


----------



## hey_wood1981 (Apr 7, 2004)

I remember going to walmart as a kid buying fish. They used to carry hamsters, mice, and even some common birds if memory serves me correct. The pet dept. always smelled bad back then. Interesting to hear they are getting out of fish in a lot of their stores.


----------



## afoctober2 (Apr 7, 2007)

iridescent shark shouldn't be sold either when I entered the hobby I was told I would be fine with 2 of them in a 29gallon tank. Well they were 12inches each and i had to give them away. Now I know better I don't listen to petco or petsmart salespeople


----------



## tmcbride67 (Jul 6, 2007)

The local Wal-Mart by me sells Pacus. I wasn't sure wether to laugh or cry when I saw the sign by the tank that said "Max size 10 inches". Although with the quality of Wal-Mart fish, getting one of those guys to survive long enough to reach 10 inches might be a feat in and of itself.


----------

