Craig,

You talk about severums eating all your plants.

I had a 55g tank in the bedroom - with a timer on the light. It had one
of Eugene Danner's "Aqua-Master" power filters on it. The sound of the
rippling water was a great way to fall asleep.

Had about 6-7 "Silver Dollars" in it for over 5 years. They had grown to
about 5". Also had a couple of plecos and a few armored cats.

While browsing my favorite local aquarium, I noticed some 1=BD" fish
that I assumed were piranhas. The owner said "No"... that they were a
strictly vegetarian relative called "Pacu".
I thought that a couple of them would make a nice addition to the
bedroom tank, so I purchased a pair of them... also the vegetarian
"pellet food" that the owner recommended.

As juveniles, they only "pecked" a little at the plants. Long story
short - they are the fastest growing fish I have ever had! Six months
later they were "powerful" 5in.+ fish...barely longer than the Silver
Dollars, but easily three times as heavy. There wasn't a hint of a plant
left in the tank. I moved all the rocks to the back to give them
swimming room.

The "Large" veg. pellet food, in the biggest containers that I could
find, was starting to become a real expense as they continued to grow. I
started buying bags of spinach at the grocery store, just rinsing off
the insecticides, and shovelling it in. By the time they were a year
old, they were 10 in. long (I had put the Silver Dollars into another
tank) and they were eating up (and "processing") a 12 oz. bag of spinach
every day.

The filter would need cleaning once a week - instead of every couple of
months! When it was dark, in the middle of the night, one or both would
charge! from one end of the tank to the other. They made such a loud
noise as they hit the glass "full speed" with their heads that 1.) It
would wake you up, and 2.) I was afraid that one of them was going to
crack the glass.

That was it for me. I gave them to a friend for his own 55g tank. His
tank was downstairs. He liked them... especially because he could
casually tell people that they were piranhas. They were just about a
foot long, last time I saw them. And they do "look" ferocious. Any "Pacu
Stories" out there?

Jeff