Greengables. Stafford Road. Great Wyrley. Walsall, WS6 6AX

I am quite proud of my home, and welcome visits from my mining friends. I live very close to M6 Junction 11 and M54 Junction 1.This page is here to help you to find me, and to illustrate my other hobby which is keeping exotic fish, mainly koi carp and piranha. I have 2 koi pools or ponds, one is outside, the other indoors in a pool house/garage. The large one is like a swimming pool but now 8 feet deep in the middle to encourage growth in the fish. I have another smaller pond in the rear of the building, this is of 1500 gallons heated with a gas boiler.

It houses a shoal of piraya piranha arguably the most dangerous predatory fish in the world. They can grow to 2 feet in length and there are rumours of then attacking cayman crocodiles.

There is a decent car park at the rear accessed by the red surfaced drive shown in the picture.

Koi carp are beautiful creatures, described as "natures living jewels" They have been known to live to an age of 40 years, but in Japan rumours of fish 100 years old persist. My outside pond was designed and built by myself with a nice bridge and waterfall at the back.

The pond requires a complex control system, far left.

It is a fact that there is no factual recorded instance of a human being killed by piranha, however many piranha are killed by humans. To dismiss the fish as being not really dangerous, is a great foolishness. In the 19th Century there was a war between Brazil and Paraguay and many wounded soldiers had to make it back to their villages on foot. This meant crossing rivers while trailing blood soaked bandages, many were never seen again. So how harmless is a single fish in a fish tank? Well the answer is that it is not, as an increasing number of people find out to their cost.

Here is a bite from a single fish, all that the owner was trying to do was remove a piece of uneaten food from the bottom of the tank. I consider him lucky that the fish did not get a purchase on his fingers or side of his hand. (British Piranha Society)

Typical of the piranha attack is a phenomena known as the "death roll". After bobbing about in the water like a cork, the victim starts to roll over and over like a barrel, when this happens death is never far away. Eventually, they will disappear under the water, never to be seen again. A common piranha will usually grow to about 8 to 10 inches, a piraya is reputed to grow to 2 feet, but in common with the ordinary piranha, it has the unique feature of attacking as a shoal, while other predatory fish hunt singly or in pairs.

Sleep well!

I have a personal pet fish named "Pug" in a fish tank in my kitchen. One day I was outside and returning to the house I discovered that I had left the back door open. At that point a cat came streaking past me. My first thought was Pug, so rushing into the house, I went straight to his tank where he appeared unperturbed., regardless of the fact that the tank cover was on the floor.

Turning away I notices a trail of wet spots on the floor leading to the back door. Reaching down I soon discovered that it was in fact a blood trail.

What had obviously happened was that the cat had been on top of the tank in an attempt to get at Pug, and Pug, feeling threatened at come up out of the water and attacked. To the cat, one fish would be the same as another, he now probably knows different. Pug is in fact a red piranha.

These fish know no fear and if threatened they will attack another creature many times their own size. I have nothing but shear admiration for any person or creature that shows "fighting spirit". If you are ever threatened by person or persons out to do you harm, no matter how unbeatable the odds may appear, remember the little fish!

(The tank now has a heavy cover of thick ply)