Stella

They keep changing the taxonomy. A lot of references say it is the only freshwater member of the blue cod family, but I think that is falling from favour now. It seems to be very much a one-off species! I was reading a bit today about what little they do know about the spawning. They seem to live to around three years, maturing when aged 1+. The females are found further inland, the males don't venture very far inland at all. It looks like they ripen over spring and early summer and spawn during summer. Possibly the females travel downstream to meet the males (this can be a very long way for some!). They are not sure if the eggs are demersal (sinking) or planktonic (floating). The juveniles have a marine stage so either the fry are washed out after hatching, or the eggs are washed out. There is absolutely no idea about actual spawning behaviour or egg development. Right now I can see four of my six torries They naturally hide a lot.

yeah, mostly mayfly and midge larvae in the wild. I feed them ox heart and bloodworms. It took them a little while to understand red-cubes = food, but they go nuts for it now! They can be a little inclined to fade away in the aquarium, and it is hard to keep an eye on how much food they are getting as those pectoral and pelvic fins hide their tummies. (Mine live with three ravenous shortjaw kokopu). Since they live in such fast flowing habitats, they give the best behaviours in similar aquarium setups. It also means they have a very high oxygen requirement and need it cold. Spectacular fish, but you do need to be paying attention to keep them healthy. Very very little is known about how they spawn. I am determined to find a gravid female this summer...

The ponga is not decomposing, it is browning off but they can stay structurally intact in a aquarium for months if not years if you treat it kindly. I think they are all looking a bit better since I added the salt last night. Might do an extra waterchange soon. (they usually get weekly 30% w/c)

Been playing with my camera tonight... The native torrentfish. Unsurprisingly it lives in really stupidly fast flowing, shallow water. All have the same banding in the same places with slight variation. They scoot about just skimming the rocks like plecos and algae eaters, only they eat critters. Super cute

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: cute

Cran's bullies are only found in the North Island. The southern counterpart is the upland bully (also found in the lower North Island). Uplands are easily identified by the orange speckles on their faces. Since they are also non-diadromous (non juvenile marine stage) they can also be raised in the aquarium. My uplands: http://picasaweb.google.com/nznativefish/UplandBully# If you are interested in learning what lives near you, have a look here: www.niwa.cri.nz/rc/freshwater/fishatlas ... eleotridae Each species link takes you to a page with an introduction to the species and a distribution map. (Note the maps are not always representative. Certain areas have been heavily surveyed and others not, but it is a good guide) It is interesting in your photos seeing the male in all sorts of shades. The literature mostly suggest that they go black and stay black while guarding, which is obviously inaccurate. They can also go dark (usually not that velvety black) at any time, and it can happen very quickly. I am also enjoying your updates! Cool seeing those little eyes coming along

pH is pretty stable in there and quite within their 'normal' zone (which is surprisingly vast though soft is more common) Spawning issues (or at least sexual maturation issues) are a definite possibility for the fighting. Though the most stroppy/injured fish was mostly picking on a fish well below sexual maturity and the one that inflicted the injuries was a different species of kokopu (but hey, if someone was biting without letting up I would sure bite back!). Maybe it was just having a bad day? :roll: As predicted, today there is little sign of the shreds of skin hanging off it, but a few teeth-marks remain. I poured a whole lot of salt in the tank last night (yes, yes I know, but they can deal with a lot more) and the stroppy fish is looking a little less cloudy. Haven't seen the other fish yet, they are still hiding in the rocks.

well most of the kokopu have been hiding today (normal) but one has been out a lot and been VERY stroppy. They do go through moods of this. Ironically the ones being picked on are only lightly bitten but the stroppy ones is a MESS with bits of skin hanging off and teeth marks all over the show! (the gold spots are the normal markings, the whitish bits are trailing skin and small cuts) Normally they get a lot of bite marks at feeding time. They have thick skin not scales, so the marks show up really well. They have never bit through, it is more like a delicate membrane that gets ripped and the marks are usually gone within one or two days. Amazingly no one has ever lost a piece of fin. But of course now I am more stressed about them that there is something not right and now there is potential entry points for infection. I think I might have to salt the tank. I hate this, I get so worried! :evil:

I can't work out what would be stressing them. The water quality is fine, the temps are fine, they have *never* had any disease in the nearly-two-years that I have had them. They are getting much bigger, but I don't think they are overstocked yet. There are no oxygen issues. They are getting quite stroppy at feeding time (partly it is simply more obvious because they are bigger and can chuck more water at me!) and always leave shallow teeth marks in each other, but they heal immediately (it is just their skin, scaled fish wouldn't show it). A few weeks ago the first cloudy one was put in a hospital tank with some malachite and formalin and he was fine after four days. Thing is I can't move all of them into a hospital tank as they are too big, and treating the 200lt tank they are in would take a huge amount of chemicals which may affect the filter and I would need to find a place to put the crayfish.... I am wondering about salting it.

I am having a few problems and trying to figure out what is going on. A couple of my kokopu have gone a little cloudy, like the mucus coating has got thicker. It is most obvious on the eyes. Generally the fish seem ok, maybe a bit more stationary than usual. No one has died and no one is looking horribly ill but I am not happy about it. I have been trying to control the black algae with Flourish Excel recently. This may or may not have anything to do with it, but is the only change. So far the algae is looking as happy and robust as ever :roll: But from everything I read the Flourish should have no effect on fish.

bullies are great! Keeps with the native theme too Just make sure the bullies are bigger than the cray or you can have issues. I find any sort of fish are quite at risk once the cray gets to 7+ cm in body length. I noticed that shrimp are waaaay more common up north. And mroe common closer to the coast. I want a few for my freshwater crab tank sometime.

ah! Yes that could be it! :lol: Yeah I do go there a lot, such a great place, a real community. The world is indeed miniscule.

it is also a particularly ancient lifeform that is virtually unchanged after billions of years and has no predators. Much though I hate the stuff in my tanks.... respect!

Aw newts are so cute! PeteS asked me to look after his while he was away. It took a lot of persuading! :lol: Really nice seeing the progression of photos, very interesting, thanks

:oops:

I thought it was the other way around. Carnivorous plants are often naturally found growing on spaghnum and CPs are definitely require *low* nutrient conditions. I am not quite sure what it needs to grow. I have some looking rather sad in a pot, but still alive and has been so for six months.

Beautiful necklace! I know I have seen that necklace on someone somewhere local.... Maybe a Forest and Bird thing or similar? Or have you been to a dentist recently?? Awesome spot, am guessing that is not local

If you don't have a polystyrene box on hand, try asking at a medical centre. We get vaccines etc sent in poly boxes regularly. Hand things to have spares of!

Um, seriously, you should see the state of my potatoes.... I would rather not. I haven't looked at them in months.... :lol:

you are kidding me?? Wow, that is different. I wonder how it works?

I have an aquarium that has water spots all over the outside, a bit like on a glass shower. Just like my glass shower, a rub with Mr Muscle doesn't do a thing I think it is from sitting outside in the weather for a long time (don't worry, I had it completely re-siliconed before using). What can I do to get these off? Bear in mind that it is full of fish.

Is it possible to mix the two materials in one tank? Like have acryllic for back, bottom and sides (so it is lighter) and glass for the front (less issue with scratches).

It is odd that. They can be found in very fast flowing streams, but in the aquarium are utterly pathetic at coping with current. Hell, these things can barely cope with *gravity* on a good day :roll: I wonder if it is more of a microhabitat they inhabit that has a much slower flow, or more protection from the flow (stones and things to hide under) that allows them to live in the fast bits. Maybe they don't actually spend a lot of time in the flow? I don't know. I just know they suck at holding on. (and these are much stronger flows than your cray could ever be subjected to by a filter)

Nice! Amazing all out in the open like that, very good of them to do it where you could watch them develop As for species, can't really go off colouring when black like that, but by the blunt profile it is definitely not a common or giant, by the stocky figure it is definitely not a bluegill. That leaves upland, Cran's or redfin. Your location excludes uplands. The fact that it is a male and you haven't noticed any red fins suggests it is not a redfin. So I think you are right, Cran's The cool thing with that is Cran's are non-diadromous (ie they don't go to the sea as fry) so you are potentially able to raise them full in the aquarium Now I have FINALLY got hold of a copy of an article by Bob McDowall entitled "Why Bluegill Bullies Have Blue Gills" or similar. I have only skimmed it but the gist is thus: All male bullies have a coloured stripe on the first dorsal, this is often quite prominent when the fish is in its breeding plumage (yours looks to be green). However bluegills have a clear or creamy stripe, pretty nondescript, but then they have a bright blue membrane on the edge of the gills. Now they were thinking that the bluegill lives WITHIN the substrate, under rocks etc, in very fast flowing water. If you spend your whole life hiding under a rock it is pretty useless signaling to others with your pretty dorsal fin, as it is going to be flat against a rock most of the time. SO they developed side indicators: bright blue gill stripes! Cunning huh? My bluegills had me a bit worried before I read the article. I thought maybe the current in the (now infamous) riffle tank was too strong, or they were scared of the bigger more boisterous fish, as I NEVER see them except about five minutes after feeding time, and only very briefly. I used to see them a lot more in a holding tank that had less current. This article has shown me that conditions are actually perfect and they are behaving just as they do in the wild! Pretty satisfying feeling Sorry for the total tangent..... Stella Verbose :roll:

Likewise! What other interests do you have lurking there that I don't know about?