Ianab

I would say "it will probably work" There is no 100% guarantee that an Oscar will live with anything, but a small Oscar, big Angels, in big tank, probably 90% chance of it working out. I would still have a plan B, just in case. But as long as your Oscar will tollerate the Angels then it will work. The feeding isn't a big issue as big Oscar just look down their nose at flake food, and leave it to the smaller fish. Mine only eats floating cichlid pellets if it's starving, (not fed for 8 hours) and otherwise leaves them for the pleco to swim upside down and vacum off the surface. :roll: Ian

Or be prepared to line your basement with pond liner and make an indoor pond. Like the guys say, they are available in NZ, I have seen them, know someone that has (had?) a couple. But their adult size is almost a metre, 20kgs... Not saying you cant keep them, but it's above and beyond the normal realms of fish keeping, and into the twilight zone of Monster Fish. Ian

This is one of our 'Pet' Eels. A few bits of old Bacon and it's all go. Ran out of memory stick before the big Eel fight when the big guy arrived. Ian

Yeah.. sorry I'm in the "keen, but just dont have the time to commit" group I suggest we keep in touch via the forum as in the future things may change. But it takes 5 or 6 good keen people, with the time, to get a club started. We just dont have that right now unfortunately. Ian

If they take out those poplar and willows(?) you could plant some native kahikatea trees in the area. Kahikatea is very tolerant of wet condtions, and some flaxes around the wetter parts. That will help attract native birds if nothing else. Other natives will grow higher up away from the water. The leaves with the bug look like Kawakawa which is a small native tree that commonly grows on waste land in town, so you want to encourage that. The councils concern is that willows tend to droop and fall over, blocking natural water channels. Then they back up in heavy rain, flood peoples basements etc. The the council guys get it in the neck for not doing anything. If you can keep a permanant pool in there I'm sure some Eels will make a home there. But good on you for seeing the potential in a little spot like that. Ian

I agree with Whetu. the worst thing that water changes will do is slow down the cycle process, by removing too much ammonia. This wont harm the fish at all. Cycling with fish is a balancing act, you want enough ammonia to start some cycle, but not so much that it harms your fish. So if in doubt, change some water, the tank will still cycle in it's own good time. Ian

Sorry guys, just got home from work so not going to get there tonight. Hope you have a better turn out though, and I am still interested, just not sure how much I can commit to right now. Cheers Ian

Sorry - Guilty as charged for both reasons :oops: It IS marked on the calender now. Billaney, allow about a 4 hour drive from Wellington to New Plymouth, depends on the time of day (Wellington traffic which you will know about) Ian

Sure is. Not what you would normally pick as a haven for rare native fish is it? But as you get upstream further it's pretty much shaded by trees all the way up through the city. Thats where the fish will be hanging out. Also has no trout which is probably a big thing as well. Ian

http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/2291999/Rare-native-fish-teeming-stream/ If you know New PLymouth the Houtoki is a is a small stream that flows under the middle of town and into the sea near the Museum. It seems it has a large popuation of Kokopu, both short jawed and giant. The council is redeveloping the stream area near the main street, and is putting in a fish ladder, so that should help maintain the population. I think it's pretty neat that these fish are still living in basiclaly an urban enviroment. Ian

Eels will certainly climb, and the smaller ones seem to just keep going untill they run out of water. Where I grew up was in on the border of Egmont Nat. Park, also about 300m. The small streams there were full of young eels, 15-30cm long. Very shy, you would only find them by flipping over rocks and poking under logs. Water falls are no obstacle to them, give them a nice wet night and they just go overland. We found them above a 10m waterfall at my old farm. Maybe they did overland, but that would be 500m down the road. I live in Stratford, also 300m asl. We have 3 semi-tame eels in the back yard, around 1m long, in a stream that you could jump across with a good run-up. Try feeding your one at dusk. They can get very tame over time and will hand feed once they get used to you. Some raw chicken or beef offcuts will get their attention. Eels are very long lived and you may have the same ones coming to feed for 20-30 years. Ian

Oakura Marae would have been a nice spot, buy the river and beach. I grew up around there, went to the primary school Glad you had a good time. Ian

Over Engineered? .... Possibly :oops: Going to fall down? ... Not in my Lifetime :lol:

Almost.... :oops: Work and young daughter is taking up a lot of time :roll:

Well there is a honking great big mountain to see. It's like 8,000 ft high, you cant miss it, unless it's raining - which is likely. If you want something smaller go and climb Paritutu Rock down by the port. It's only 550ft, but well worth the effort if you aren't afraid of climbing 550 ft rocks. Otherwise go for a drive out the Coast Road (SH45) and check out the beaches and surf breaks. If Drink is your thing - Whitecliffs Brewery, you will pass it on the way in, just Nth of Urenui. Stop there for some supplies. Sentry Hill Winery is another option, their Boysenberry wine goes great with Icecream. Last resort - find someone to take you native fish hunting Ian

I think it was generally decided that we had enough interest to have another meeting next month and actually discuss the details of re-starting the club. So if there is any other locals that are interested, watch this thread. Ian

Probably OK. Would you put a 70s waterbed in the room? Same sort of weight. But to be sure you need to know whats under the floor. If the tank runs 90deg to the floor joists and is close to supporting piles, then no worries. If you can jump on the spot and it bounces.... then it's probably not up to building regs anyway and you need to do some repairs to stop the house falling down. Ian

Got to watch those wild rocks... I dropped one on my fingers once... messy I'm sure a domestic rock would have been more gentle. :-? Ian

Yup.. I can make it. See you guys there tomorrow Ian

Doing it's job? It's probably read it's employment contract and found it's job description actually includes eating, pooping and lazing about. Thats all that big plecos ever do. :roll: Expecting a larger pleco to clean a tank is pretty pointless, they aren't cleaners, they are mess makers. I love em anyway 8) Ian

Coldwater fish are ones that can live without a heater, through a NZ winter. In my old house the kitchen taps would sometimes ice up in Winter, with a room temp down around 6 untill we got the fire going. Sell some newbie a 'coldwater' guppy and it wont make it through the winter. A goldfish, white cloud minnow or native fish (True coldwater) just laugh at a cool morning like that. Ian

Hopefully I can make it. I'm a bit limited in time I can put into something, (work and family commitments) but it would be good to get the club re-started. I will confirm closer to the time Ian

You wont have to drive to find native fish. The river behind the High School would be a good place to look in Inglewood. Should be able to find some Bullies and a Koura (Native crayfish), that will get you started with a Native tank. A net, a torch and not being scared to get your feet wet and you can find some fish. There is another post today about restarting the Taranaki club, a native fish expedition is something that could be arranged as a club 'day' out, even if people dont want to keep them, catch and release is still fun. Exotic coldwater fish are not common in NZ, most of them cant be imported because of the possibility of them getting loose in the wild. Cheers Ian

http://www.trc.govt.nz/environment+online/river/patea+skinner/patea+skinner.htm

If your fish are happy up to 85F then thats OK. The temp change will be gradual over the day, not a sudden shock. If the tank goes significantly over the max then you need to worry. The local council has online measurments of the local river temp. It can vary 5deg C in a day, and 10C over the seasons. Just try and keep the fish in their natural range. Some of us are keeping fish that struggle over about 22C, in weather thats hitting 30C. Hence all the running about with bottles of Ice. Ian