Photo: Gothamist
Gothamist reports that the pacu was sold to a man named Kurt Emerick in 1968. At the time, the fish was only about two inches long but soon grew to be much bigger and became very aggressive. Emerick wasn't so psyched when the pacu started knocking things over in his fish tank, so he returned him to the pet shop, where Gruebel named him after linebacker Dick Butkus. (Gruebel likes to spell it Buttkiss.)
Gruebel has been working at the Cameo Pet Shop in Queens, New York for 47 years. He now owns the shop that originally belonged to his wife's father, and Buttkiss has been there pretty much since the beginning. "He's my mascot," Gruebel tells Paw Nation.
Buttkiss even does tricks. He comes to Gruebel's hand because he knows that's where the grub comes from. (Okay, so maybe it's not the most impressive trick, but the fish is elderly! Cut him a break!) When asked if Butkiss bites, Gruebel laughs, "Well, I stick my hand in there all the time to clean the cage and he just goes and lays in the corner."
Asked if Gruebel has done anything special to keep Buttkiss around so long, Gruebel says, "No, just feed him 20 goldfish every day, every other day depending." So why has Buttkiss lived so long? Gruebel shrugs, "I don't know." And the mysteries of longevity continue...
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I'm glad to see this type of story appear. Interesting. Nice break from the pathological-liar-killer-what-is-wrong-with-society ariticles common to news. Hope to see more.
I agree....refreshing :) finally a happy story
buttkiss... awsome i had someone recently give me a 60 gal tank including an oscar at first i thought how mean killl them poor little fish to such a big thing... ive grown to thinks its pretty cool i have a large kissing fish and a graumi ....oscar smooch and charlie there a heck of a team i think butkus would love us and btw feed buttkiss a few for me tc wtg
very pretty fish ..
That is GREAT! My son won a goldfish at a fair. We have had him for 5 or 6 years now. He has moved from a bowl to a 10 gal tank and is now swimming around in a 30 gal tank. He has grown from about 1 inch to at least 10 inches. Whiter has a TON of personality! We have to keep him by our front door because he likes to greet everyone. When everything is quiet and the pump isn't pumping he likes to make funny noises at the top of the tank. When he wants to eat he just sits there and stares at you while you watch tv until you feel unconfortable enough to do something about it. Then, once he is fed, he swims and swims or he might do a flip underwater.
This is so much cooler than reading about the Kardashians. Fish are awesome. I might even go to queens to see this fish in person. I'm a dork. It's cool tho.
No so uncommon. I have been mantaining two 55 gallon tanks in my restaurant for over 30ty years.One community and the other tank has only two fish. One is a Tiger Oscar about 5 years old and the other is a pacastomus -which I bought 19 1/2 years ago as a baby. Average age is about 7 - 12 years. Consistancy, in food, water temp. feeding time and amount of light is the secret!
awesome he is living this long, they grow really fast but this has to be just a freak accident, pacu's are herbavores and if he has been living on goldfish all of his life he isnt getting the right nutrients
i think ur right it gives every one a break from all the dissapointing news
Fabulous! I once raised an Aruana from around 5 inches to two feet. He recognized me when I approached the tank. I had always wanted one since I first saw one in my local aquarium shop. At that time (1956) it was one of two known in the US. He was beautiful, mother of pearl scales and swam so gracefully. I donated him to the New England aquarium. He jumped out of their tank that night, even after I warned them he was a jumper.
Awww! That is the saddest thing! That had to break your heart! I know it would have broken mine!
Mmm. That's a lot of sushi.
(I couldn't resist)
But wow. This is a really awesome story to read before class in the morning and I'm definately with T. goose on this.
Dude, get that fish a bigger tank!
You're right I was thinking the same thing when I first saw him. He
definetley needs a bigger tank. It's got to be a pain in the ass for
him to turn around. That is awsome that he's lived so long. It's alot better than hearing about these movie stars problems!
Yes...I agree. Why not get him a nice big tank to swim in, with a gravel bottom.... after all he most likely brings in business!
That fish looks like it needs a girlfriend.
Amen, he needs a bigger tank. He probably has to do a three-point turn to get to the other side. Or he only swims foreward and backwards.
I had one gold fish in a 10 gallon tank, after being alone for about two or three years I decided to get another fish because he seemed to
be lonely and to my surprise he was scared of the other fish so I figured I would let it stay in the tank for about fifteen minutes to see
If he would calm down but that didn't happen so I had to remove the
new fish so my original fish wouldn't kill him self swimming into the glass to get away.
P.R
Pacus are a fantastic fish pet for someone with a larger size aquarium. During college in the 90's, I had a red belly pacu reach over 20lbs in a 150 gallon tank. He would eat a hot dog end to end in seconds. Lived for years until my electricity went off during a storm. We fed him large fish pellets. Goldfish were a to high maintenance food. I always said Pacus are the fastest growing fish around in an aquarium. If you want a big fish pet, this is it!
I actually know this guy and the fish. Buttkiss is in a relatively small tank believe it or not.