Sick Pacu

Question
I have a pacu that up to about a week ago was doing fine.The
other day I had seen that the water temp had dropped and he
or she I can`t tell the difference has white spots or maybe
lumps on both sides of its tail.Also on it`s head area the
skins is like peeling.It was eating feeders and does not seem
to want to eat now.It has been staying on the top of the tank where in the past it would chase all of the other fish
and run the tank.I had bought the feeders from a different place so I took the feeders out and cleaned the tank.I`am at a loss.Not sure what is wrong.Can you help.

                       Jason

Answer
Hi Jason,
Sorry to hear your Pacu is not feeling well. I really love Pacus. I just have never had a large enough tank to keep them for many years. Anyway, could he possibly have ich? I don't know if you are familiar with how it looks---sort of like little grains of sand or salt on various parts of the body. With the skin peeling on his head--could he have possibly rammed into the tank or a decoration or rock in the tank? I have seen so many fish really "freak out" and ram into the side or an object in the tank and look really rough afterwards. They would have flesh hanging and peeled up too. My Oscar does this constantly and I know Pacus can get spooked really easy and ram into things. You could try doing more frequent water changes and adding water conditioner like Amquel Plus or Prime that helps with ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. It just might help him feel better. Sometimes , that's all it takes to really change how a fish acts. I don't know how often you do water changes or how large your tank is, but usually the rule is that if you have alot of fish or large messy fish you have to do alot of frequent water changes. Maybe, even twice a week and change about 1/3 of the water. Be sure to watch that temperature--I lost several fish one year and had severe cases of ich from a heater that stopped working. Make sure too that you check the temperature of any replacement water when you do a water change and be sure it is the same as the tank water.  If it has been awhile since you did  a water change, gradually change a small amount of the water each day so you don't shock the fish with too much of a ph rise.  The longer you don't change the water the lower the ph drops and they adjust to that level so if you suddenly decide to do a large water change it raises the ph and it can really make them sick.
Also, another thing that might be causing a problem for your Pacu is that sometimes feeder fish can carry diseases and get your healthy fish sick. The feeders are not always kept as healthy as they should be and you don't realize it if you are purchasing them from a fish store and then when your fish eats them he gets sick. I would be careful about feeding any fish feeder fish unless I was raising the feeders myself, but that is up to you.
Here is one website with a picture and a treatment suggestion to treat ich, if that't what it looks like to you. I have used this medication before but there are others that you might want to check out at your local fish store. He may not have ich so look at the picture and be sure before you decide to treat him. Best of luck!
http://www.fishdeals.com/fish_diseases/ich/
Hope this helps,
Karen