Stella

Just ring the local DOC area office, they will be able to tell you. Also maybe try the 'blue pages' in your phone book - govt listings. Good on you for doing this

I went spotlighting tonight with PeteS and Andrew in the Turitea Stream by Massey Uni. Got there just as it was getting dark and I thought we would have quite a wait before we would see anything, but the fish were out already! Saw HEAPS of redfin bullies, particularly males.... Such pretty fish! The biggest bullies were either commons or Cran's. Saw a number of eels. Probably at least four.... eels look much the same really... Pete caught a nice foot-long shortfin eel. Never seen any big ones in there, which is rather sad. A few crayfish (one quite big), a couple of inanga. The exotics included a large number of troutlets and one six-inch trout and a few perch. The BIGGEST EXCITEMENT was seeing and ALMOST catching a great big TORRENTFISH!! I have never seen one in there but have heard they are there. It was under a branch and we nearly got it, but it scooted away at the last minute. It had extremely prominent markings, and although we didn't see its whole body, we are 90% sure it was a torrie, and can't really think of anything else it could have been. :bounce: Oh, and I managed to catch not one but TWO gumboots full of water.... mmmmmmmmm! :roll:

I am not saying that there is not going to be a recession, I am saying that recessions are in part created and deepened by the belief that there is a recession. How does a recession end? By people starting to invest and spend again. Why do they do that? Because they believe it is safe or necessary. My economics teacher had her own theory: the way out of a recession is a war or large natural disaster. Both create the need for spending to fix the problem. Phoenix - No way is paying negligible interest on deposits going to make me spend it! My savings are my way be being responsible for myself, of not relying on someone else (govt etc) to look after me when I need it. Smidey - Weird. I hadn't heard about the Aussie govt doing that. I guess it could have some effect, but it only fuels this idea that INFINITE GROWTH is not only REQUIRED for for the economy to be healthy, it is POSSIBLE. It is not. Never will be. For one, there are only so many resources on the Earth. The other is that people start to go beyond what is real. Boom and bust. People are horrified because house prices are dropping. They were overinflated to begin with, they weren't really WORTH that much and the buyers finally stopped buying. Some people had over-invested and are now paying mortgages above what their house is actually worth. People think they NEED to have that fabulous brand-new house as their first home (also car, tv, etc etc). Ridiculous. And it leads to people borrowing more and more, so if anything changes in their earning power they have debts they can't possibly manage and everything falls over much faster. Renting a house is NOT a bad thing. Not being able to buy a house is NOT a bad thing. It is a hell of a lot cheaper to rent than buy, and if you are careful with those 'savings' and actually save them, people can come out as well off. You might own your own home, but you have to sell it in order to be able to live off the value of it.

That sucks I remain dubious about this recession though. Redundancies and liquidations have always happened, recession or boom. I was made redundant in October last year. I look like a statistic but it had nothing to do with it (employer leaving the country). There is a hell of a lot of self-fulfilling prophesy going on. If people believe it is a tough time and you shouldn't be investing or expanding, then people won't, and there will be a recession! (vice versa is equally true). Hopefully out of all this, all the people that lived at the end of their credit cards or worse, because spending is everything, will learn that saving is a hell of a lot better! I have been out of work for three months and, thanks to being sensible, I am fine and would still be fine in a couple of years if I don't find a job! (and I am 29 and have never earned the average income).

Yeah, it took me a few readings before I fully understood the implications. :lol: So what do you guys do if you need a tank in a hurry? Like.... you need to suddenly remove a fish or three into a quarantine or hospital tank, or just to stop them beating up/breeding with someone else?

There are SO many flawed articles about fish out there! :evil: :roll: :evil: :evil: :roll: Very annoying. And it takes a LOT of reading to try and sort of what has some actualy truth/science behind it and what is yet another myth. I have certainly been lead astray by, and sadly passed on, much inaccurate information in my time. The GOOD thing with the internet is you are not stuck with one source of info, you have BILLIONS. Read read read read on the one topic until you are sure. In my first week at uni a very wise lecturer told us not to believe a word he said until we had gone out and researched and made sure for ourselves that he was right or not, and understood why. Very very important lesson. Back to cycling, fishless cycling can be done, either hit-and-miss by putting something in to decompose to feed the bacteria, or using controlled amounts of the purest ammonia you can find. I often think fishless cycling articles are not written as thoroughly as is needed to follow them properly.

Very nice!!

hehehe everyone knows I am a purist! Garden centres actually sell a LOT of native wetland plants for pond use. Navarre, that is a good idea, containing the plant. Would be easier to trim back the escaping bits too. Am thinking of some kind of plastic pot full of holes. There are probably things made for waterlillies like that.

Is it SAFE in the tank? Won't it rust?

Thanks, some good things to search. I think raupo may be a weeee bit big! I learned something interesting about wetlands and raupo. Wetlands tend to come and go a bit. Naturally one would wind up filling with organic matter and eventually be taken over by raupo, and then back into forest. Meanwhile the watertable means a new area turns into wetland. So in a naturally functional system they are quite movable. However we have buggered up all that. We are left with tiny isolated degraded wetlands for the most part. We can't allow them to naturally move around, because the wider habitat for plant and animal species movement is not there (and the next site is probably a bare paddock). So although raupo is a native wetland plant, it actually often needs to be controlled so it DOESN'T do its job of filling in wetlands, because we need to make the wetlands we have as permanent as possible.

I am with Alan, they will be fine. I have had plenty of tanks with no filtration or aeration, just weekly waterchanges.

Will do. That is a long time, I can see why you are worried. Yay for microchipping! You must be pleased you did that.

Wonderful! Thanks so much for that. Really clears up something I have puzzled over for a while. (so you are some sort of vet pathologist??)

Thanks for the reminder, HaNs, I will add that. Jude, I am actually after freshwater displays, but that sounds INCREDIBLY AWESOME!!! Is it lit somehow? Just wondering as it is supposed to be very dark in there, IIRC. Caryl, I have seen photos of the tank but it would be good to hear an update. Just one simple tank, but looked good. Museeumchick, good point, it is supposed to be up for a few years is it not? The eels one does sound absurd... Supasi, I just did a quick check on the zoo websites and they don't appear to have anything. I know the FNZAS Hamilton club was looking at putting in a native aquarium, anyone know if this is actually going to happen?

I have been contemplating growing some kind of emergent NATIVE rush or reed plant in my mudfish aquarium. It has a peat and leaf litter substrate, about 20cm water on top of that, then another 20cm of empty tank above that (the fish like shallow water). The fish can't jump out, so I could leave the lids off if a plant was to grow too tall. I am thinking of something stiff and erect, just plant it along the back wall of the tank. The only name I know is oioi or jointed rush but I have no idea if this is suitable. Has anyone tried growing any sort of rush or reed in their tank?

Can you please recommend you favourite article on cycling for explaining to someone who doesn't know anything about it? (I thought we used to have a cycling 'sticky' thread, but either it is gone or I am blind) Thanks

Interesting, thank you Based on the way some fish died, they were definitely not in hypoxic water, but I wonder if the manner of death (body shutting down and very slow breathing) lead to hypoxia within the body but not as an actual primary cause of death? Good to find someone who knows a bit about this subject, as I couldn't find much myself.

I am wanting to update my list of public native fish displays around the country. This is my current list, does anyone know of any others? Or are any details wrong? Thanks Auckland Museum There are several displays of freshwater and marine native fish, particularly in the Natural History section but displays are spread around. Ask at the enquiries desk for what is on display and where. Auckland Regional Council The council is planning a large permanent display of native fish. Please call first to enquire. Otorohonga Kiwi House and Native Bird Park An aquarium display in the wetlands area of bluegill bullies and inanga. Banded kokopu and eels may be seen in ponds around the park. National Aquarium of New Zealand - Napier Largely inanga, but also kokopu, crayfish and bullies. A separate display has some truly enormous native long and short finned eels. Taranaki Regional Council's Biology Laboratory - Stratford This is a fascinating display with many aquaria and preserved specimens. It is set up mainly as an educational facility for school visits but is equally interesting to the adult native fish enthusiast. There are many live examples of various species, and the preserved ones are fascinating. The staff are very friendly and knowledgeable. Phone to arrange a time to visit, bearing in mind the Bio Lab is not open on weekends. Karori Wildlife Sanctuary – Wellington Look at the sanctuary maps to avoid missing it. In the lower wetland area is an innocuous-looking information board and the aquarium is built into the back of this, facing the bush. The selection includes inanga, koaro, banded kokopu and bullies. Various native fish also live in the adjacent restored wetland and sometimes banded kokopu may be seen out in the open during the day. The shallow streams throughout the sanctuary are teeming with galaxiids. Eco World Aquarium and Terrarium – Picton Short and long finned eels, inanga and banded kokopu. Marlborough District Council - Blenheim An aquarium in the main council reception with banded kokopu, redfin and upland bullies, torrrentfish, inanga and crayfish. Southern Encounter Aquarium and Kiwi House – Christchurch A wide variety of natives, including various bullies, banded kokopu, koaro, torrentfish, both species of eel and rare local Galaxias species.

I have been wondering about this open mouth thing. Particularly with the mouth wide open and head thrown back. I have seen a few dead fish like that and kept puzzling. Until the latest one. Definitely died with its mouth closed. A little while later, as rigor mortis stuck in, it opened and the head pulled back. I think it is a shrinking of muscles/tendons thing, rather than hypoxia. Mel and Caryl, I used to do similar things, scrubbing out the tank. I had no idea. I feel so guilty about it now :oops:

18 degrees this time of year sounds perfect! (in fact I am jealous) Exactly what is it about the giants that you like about them? (just helps with understanding your motivation and what advice to give) The kokopu can all be told apart within their first year. As always it gets easier the more you see. Small giants actually have vertical stripes like the bandeds, but giants had markings with clearly defined edges all the way around, whereas banded's 'bands' peter out at the top and bottom. Shortjaws have really indistinct mottles and the whole profile is different. Please bear in mind that you don't just want to find the fish you want and yoik it out of the wild. You need to think about the whole local population. For example bandeds are a bit rare in the Manawatu and I would NOT take one from here, but around Auckland the populations are much bigger, therefore it has less impact on the population to take one. Also it is illegal to take anything from DOC lands. Correct spelling and punctuation makes a big difference with not sounding dumb ;P

My lights sit directly on the glass lids. To help not have so much heat trapped and going into the aquarium I have them propped up on blocks. The fans then also help carry away a bit of the heat.

Hello, As HaNs says, COLD water is the key. Below 20 degrees preferably, which is difficult right now. Though a 900lt tank sounds enormous and would be more stable. There are a lot of threads on keeping various natives here, it might be helpful for you to go through the archives. Firstly, kokopu are threatened and rather sensitive. I would not recommend jumping right in with them unless you know what you are doing. That is not to say only the 'Expert Keeper' should be allowed them, but you need to understand and be able to honestly and constantly provide for their needs. It is one thing killing a goldfish, but a bit different killing something on the threatened species list. (believe me :oops: ) Ethically it is best to take SMALLER fish and grow them up. Big fish are REALLY good at getting sick and dying during the adjustment phase. It is also much less of an impact to take juveniles from the wild. Unfortunately bullies are also slow growing, but satisfying. I am not comfortable taking bullies longer than my finger. (Bullies do utterly ROCK as aquarium fish, fabulous behaviours) Kokopu are also rather stroppy. Especially at the 2-3 year mark as they get into sexual maturity, they start having a lot of fights. You do not want to be crowding kokopu. No sure what you mean by 'the smaller native trout'. Banded and shortjaw kokopu are both smaller and equally erroneously labeled 'native trout'. Bandeds are possibly more stroppy than giants. Inanga are best caught as whitebait or post-whitebait juveniles. In the aquarium they will not breed which means they live much longer, but the females can get eggbound and die. They are naturally schooling fish. Koura rock, they also eat each other. Best to have just one. And smaller the better - they also have a go at fish. All native fish and koura need (in no particular order): LOTS of hiding places really secure lids COLD water High protein food, preferably live but ox heart is good Really good water quality (check out my native links below too )

hehe, nah, just chucking here So what fish ARE you thinking of having?

yes well, everyone does :roll: I am like you, don't sleep well with noise. Oxygen exchange happens at the surface of water, moving or not. If the water is moving it means more exchange happens. The waterchanges are only partly to clean out muck. Even if there is no muck the waterchanges are needed to dilute the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate (or just nitrate in a cycled tank). I have an unfiltered 3ft tank. It gets 50% waterchanges weekly, and the water quality is great.

ear plugs rock