red bellied pacu get over 3′ long and can weigh nearly as much as you or i. i know people that house them in 500 gallon ponds and feed them pasta. they do have teeth, nasty ones. just not precision-y like piranhas. i have 10 piranhas in my house, the species i have attain a much smaller size than pacus. i am baffled that stores still sell these animals. same with irridescent sharks that can get to 2+ feet and require ENORMOUS swimming space. you can trade in the pacu for betta supplies as opposed to letting him choke on filth. to keep a tank clean, use a gravel vacuum and change out water now and then. for someone whose website has provided me hours upon hours of entertainment, i’m a little surprised at the lack of compassion and filth of that fish tank and the neglect of an animal, regardless of where it is on the food or intelligence chain. i still enjoy your articles though, just not this one. p.s., i’m not a member of peta and i have stabbed various live animals on more than one occasion for various reasons. here’s an article i wrote at a predatory fish website that may help you if you decide to restart that larger fish tank. http://www.predatoryfish.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6147

Chestnuts roasted by nick @ 03/10/2003 3:21 PM

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Bettas ARE the best pet on the planet. I have a Blood-red one named Dante who has been alive for going on two years now. I put him in a 2 gallon aquarium with a little cave so he could hide when he wanted to.

Fun stuff to do: Hold up a mirror next to his tank. Little bastard should slowly and smoothly go ape-shit. It starts out slow and builds to an amazing crescendo of whipping about and gill-flaring. You can’t do it too much, though, because they will eventually lose interest if you do.

Chestnuts roasted by Ronnie Pruitt @ 03/10/2003 4:28 PM

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Well, I was just over at Fark, and they linked up the Skeletor article. So I figure, cool, more people can read the ongoing saga of Skeletor, thus making everybody’s day just a bit merrier.
Wrong.
I seriously think you struck a nerve with some of those simps. Oh, well. Fuck ‘em. I, along with the rest of the people here, thought it was brilliant, Matt.

Chestnuts roasted by Jeremy @ 03/10/2003 5:05 PM

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Good job on the betta article Matt. I had to read it since my damn girlfriend always makes me take her to get one.

Chestnuts roasted by The Toxic Avenger @ 03/10/2003 5:19 PM

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No worries Nick, I’m actually an animal nut. I spend more time hobbying with creatures than I do toys, believe me.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 03/10/2003 6:35 PM

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p.s., i (you) used to have chinchillas (grey and a black velvet) that got "free time". many books and bar stools and chairs eaten to shit by the giant furry termites. bastards. i also owned a massive mantis shrimp, which is one of the many things that makes this site creepy to read.

Chestnuts roasted by nick @ 03/10/2003 6:43 PM

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