Stella

Misc thoughts: Algae is pretty much a fact of life. Accept it. Your rocks will look nicely aged and don't clean the back glass to allow a nice natural background to grow (best if the back pane is painted black rather than commercial backdrop). If you limit nutrients then it cannot grow so fast. Are you planning on having algae eaters? (mine don't, so I have to clean the glass weekly, it isn't onerous) Remember there will be less sun in the summer as the sun is higher and rises ans sets closer to north. You could pull the curtains when you are out during the day.

check it isn't rotten scrub to get rid of dirt/sand put in tank

What fish can live with your koura depends a lot on what size the koura is, and slightly less importantly what size the fish are. I find koura around or larger than 7cm can become quite a threat. Really any fish in a tank with them is at risk of minor injuries at least. Ground-dwelling fish like bullies are much more at risk, especially the males when nesting. Inanga are a good one as they tend to stay in the water column. I tend to make sure that the bullies are larger than the cray. However I won't take a bully larger than maybe 6cm as they struggle to adjust to captivity. Are you sure that the goldfish are destroying the plants and not the cray? They are expert at pulling everything apart.

They probably will munch on those leaves - they are naturally detritivores. I am surprised the girl is not attacking the goldfish! I do find each cray has quite a distinct personality, so maybe she is not a murderous one These are the sites I recommend, but consider them a starting point, if they don't completely make sense keep reading (and asking): faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/cycling.htm fishkeepers.co.nz/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=355

NZ ones are mostly non-blood-sucking as far as I am aware.

eeep, may be too late.... Natives go fluffy really easily over summer - usually chronic stress from high temperatures. Fluffiness can be caused by a variety of things, fungal or bacterial, so I am just calling it 'fluffiness' these days and treating with what works for both. Assume it is contagious, just in case. What I would ideally do if it happens again: Isolate sick fish Treat sick fish with 1 tsp per salt per litre (or 1/2 tsp if it is very mild) Waterchange home tank Treat home tank with 1/2 tsp salt per litre Increase the number of waterchanges during this time (depending on your situation, I tend to go for weekly 20-50% then step up to bi-weekly if a fish gets sick). Good water quality is the first step in avoiding disease, and especially important for natives over summer.

Hi, sorry I missed this earlier. Steikheigel is right on all counts. What species are you interested in? They are all a bit different with their requirements. Ethically, please only take little ones. Maybe up to about 7cm long. Bigger than that has two problems: big ones don't adjust to captivity well, and it is more of an impact on the remaining local population to take an adult. Further, only take from healthy populations. And don't set up a natives tank over summer, it is just way too hot and too hard to keep the temps down (unless you have a goliath chiller!). I recommend people start out in native fish with bullies - they are totally awesome fish, very interesting behaviours and a lot of variety, and are also a lot more robust and less threatened than kokopu.

wow, some reading here! OK, sounds like your crays are being subjected to a LOT of changes continually, and their behaviour doesn't actually surprise me. When really stressed they can lie on their sides all stiff and non-responsive. I have seen it a couple of times. They come right if given a chance to relax, as you saw. Wafting the water to reoxygenate the cray was a stroke of pure genius - well done! Also crays are expert escape artists, as you found with the boy getting out. Flicking with the tail is an attempt to escape. Most animals are most likely to try to escape when put into a new situation. Nothing to really worry about. Now things I would worry about: Yes, having the small boys separate from the big girl is a good idea. Yes it is possible for them to mate and raise weeny crays incaptivity, but her eating her boyfriends is much more likely. Don't worry too much about the tap water, should be fine. They are sensitive to chemicals, so running the tap hard or letting it settle over night will remove most of the chlorine. DO NOT use chlorine removing chemicals or water conditioners etc as these can be toxic to crays. I think you need to do a whole lot of searching and reading about cycling a tank, and also how filters really work. Ideally the sponge should not need rinsing out regularly, that just destroys the good bacterial colonies that do the real filtration. It shouldn't be clogging up with gunge. Your crays will get used to coming out during the day as they learn there are no predators and day is when food happens. Peas, corn and cat biscuits sound fine for the crays, but lay off the roast. They probably will go nuts for it, but might be a bit fatty for them. They do need a lot of protein as well as their veggies, just not sure how they would go with the fat and cooked meat. Also it will be terrible for the water quality if any sits around. You said you put some green fejoa branches in. Avoid ALL green wood, can leach sap etc and generally make a mess of your water quality. Go for something long dead that you find by a stream or on the beach. Hope that helps

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planarian

Are you sure they are real leeches? Do bit of a google image search, planaria are often confused with leeches and are more commonly seen. I want to get a population of planaria going in my critter tank

Neon, am not a mountain biker, but Kahuterawa is popular and close.

Most of those simple solar things (fairylights and the like) had an AA battery or two to store the charge. If your device starts to get pathetic or brief after some time you can pull it apart and replace the batteries. Bunnings sells them really cheap. (ones designed for solar features, not the expensive ones for cameras etc)

think about how manky the current gravel is and how thoroughly you may or may not have been able to gravel-vac it recently. Stirring up all that muck may release clouds of toxic murk. You may be fine, but there is a risk if you gravel is old and particularly gross. I have killed fish just by doing an extra thorough gravel vac and swishing all the gravel around.

I love duckweed, it is green and provides surface cover for species that like that. (and it sucks nutrients out)

I have a 2004 Suzuki GN250 for sale.....

I have lights that sit directly on top of the lids, which traps hot air under them. I have them raised up on bits of polystyrene (for want of something neater) so the fans also help to blow away that hot air from the lights as well as being aimed at the water surface for the evaporative cooling.

aim a (well supported) desk fan at the water surface - cools through evaporation pull your curtains during the day if the room gets direct sun make sure the hood is open to let the heat out from the lights, but without the fish getting out. If your lights are on an electric timer reduce the hours they are on. Surface agitation is good as it increased the dissolved oxygen. As water gets hot it can hold less oxygen. Overheating deaths are mostly from asphyxia. Try keeping native fish, they need it under 18 degrees preferably :roll: My tanks seem to be circa 19 today, which is pretty good for this time of year, but is a cool day. I have put insulation over the windows in my office/fishroom to stop any heat from the sun coming in - has made a HUGE difference and now I have my own cave

It is not hard to establish glowworms (if conditions are right). My ex-in-laws dug a trench in their garden and roofed it over and they spread there naturally from a nearby population and over a few years gradually increased in numbers.

Sounds like the fish are healthy if they are eating fine and looking well. Maybe something went wrong during their development and it screwed up their swimbladders?

Really? Maybe it has changed since I was there... a wall with LEDs..... groan. I found the whole place pretty awful, but I guess I am beyond the petting-zoo age. I just wish it was labeled as such.

Marine ply is often recommended for fish-tank related stuff, but it is designed to be highly flexible, and then be thoroughly fibreglassed. It is not more water-resistant and long lasting like most people think. Diver, is it a commercial tank and stand arrangement, or a home job? If it is commercial it can probably withstand a lot, if not, I would definitely get something solid underneath before making your rockery.

how wide is the support around the edges? I have a tank 1200 long x 35 wide x 50 deep, 10mm glass supported around the edges by 7-8cm wood. Another tank is the same size but lying on its back supported by 2" wide wood around the edges and down the middle. Both have a LOT of rock and gravel. I do have undergravel filter plates under the gravel in both tanks, to reduce the point-impact if I drop a rock while moving things. If you are worried I would recommend putting some wood under. Personally I wouldn't go for ply as it is so bendy, but whatever works for the situation.

My tanks are all gravel out of the nearest river - can't look more natural than that!! All the rocks are gathered at the same time so it blends in well. The larger size gravel is a little annoying as you can't plunge the gravel vac in so easily, but the large spaces between the stones means gunge gets sucked through fairly easily.

The pump should be on the return hose, that way it draws the water through, rather than pushes it through, which is less pressure (and thus wear) on the motor.

Interesting system - good idea! (There are actually a great many species of Daphnia in NZ, and no doubt there are a bunch of native ones )