museeumchick

What natives would you recommend for a beginner fish keeper? I intend to get a koura first (work is busy at the mo, so am still getting there) then once i've got that sorted and running well i'd like to try my hand at a native fish tank, but which native fish? any thoughts is there anything that stands out as 'easier' to keep than the others?

Ok worried now still over the shyness but appear to have changed colour!!!! i's sure they are a darker green/brown than they were when they arrived! what does this mean? initial thought was that their whole environment is quite a dark green/brown - could this be it? i thought these frogs diddnt change colour worried!

So it looks like they are well over the initial shyness (hiding out under the branch in their tank) and I am now watching them stuff themselves with mealworms bulging bellies all round

They have arrived! and after a small (unplanned) tour of the office they are settling into their new home. soooo super cute :bounce:

I missed the last expidition, so am definately in for this one sounds good

Beautiful! I just stole one of your pics for my desktop background, sooo pretty!

Frog sex?? boys or girls? how can you tell? the seller thinks they are boys but isnt sure not that it matters too much just curious :bounce:

So no camera, i shall describe it instead it has a solid base of leafy stuff with a cover of sphagnum there are two 'pond' bits (need more rocks so they can get in and out easy (will do tomorrow morning) A branch covered in leatherleaf fern with spcae to hide under it. a hen and chicken fern (coz they never die on me) and another fern, both quite small at this stage. Might have problems with air circulation as only the top is mesh - remedied by putting an air line in? will have a heat lamp for a bit every day for them to bask in am most worried about the temperature, it is a constant 20 celcius during the day and a little cooler at night - is this ok for southern bells (i understand its not so much the temp as the rate of temp change that is the problem - true?)

oh, that last post - i was talkin about flytraps

The herpetological society website has a plan for one (i used this one when i had geckos and it worked really well). http://www.reptiles.org.nz/index.php?pa ... -husbandry and there are lotts of similar designs about will post pics when i can find a camera

Am growing many meal worms in my desk drawer (for a staple) and will accumulate dietary variations as i go methinks (am pretty good at making flytraps since i had geckos once upon a time) NOT loving the way sphagnum acts like a sponge/siphon and moves all water from 'pond' to the rest of the tank, sigh

ok so i'm excited i'm getting frogs (southern bells) I love frogs, they are so fantastic! and although I havent had any before I have done my research and my terrarium has been all set up waiting for its occupants for weeks super excited!!! So any hints for a first time frog owner?

Lottsa scollaps, some turret shells and whelks (and some other stuff i have yet to ID) it was rather nice to be out in the sunshine

Ok, so now i am appropriately jelous i will get around to it all eventually, sigh, methinks i wore myself out with an afternoon of fossil hunting. looks like you had excellent fun!

slightly off topic, but still bug related I saw this great recepie for chocolate chip cookies with meal worms - am now very keen to try it and i have meal worms too!!! my flatmates better watch my baking carefully in the future

neetoh! i shall take my torch and go exploring, cant wait for some interesting new pets. the tank is ofically watertight, next step stuff, then occupants (not to be confused with octopus, would be cool but more of an escape artist than the koura methinks).

davidb that would be awesome, but i should probably start with picking the brains (and scoping the tanks) of the local experts as much as i would like to come visiting your fishies (i will ask the boss aniway, no harm in asking). I'm not sure if i will actually be setting up the tanks myself, more likely to have an 'expert' do it for us closer to the time, and probably maintain it (anyone interested?) i'm more in charge of researching and writing the how to/plausibility guide for parts of the exhibition. What i'm really interested in is what sorts of things you would like to see ie should i have big fish? little fish? what sort of fish? how many fish (the sorts of things that dont sort themselves out with the habitat requirements of the fish concerned) What is your ideal museeum live native fish/stream ecosystem type dislpay?? write me your brains :bounce:

I hope to discuss the project with stella sometime (will definately be buying her book when it comes out), and anyone else who will listen. Especially as my fish keeping skills/experience consists of tadpoles and the goldfish death trap that is my flat. so i have been doing Heaps of research, but i would like to hear from anyone who has ideas and thoughts on the topic.

SO i'm not entirely sure this is the place to put this but i would love to hear your opinions: I am working on an exhibition for the Te Manawa science centre in palmy due to open at the start of 2010 and we would like to include in this a couple of natives tanks (currently looking at mudfish and maybe growing some whitebait - ie "whats in your whitebait fritter"). Any thoughts?

Oooh! i like beetles, you can shoo them my way

Grrr contrary weather but now i have a little tank (about the right size for a koura) so next step is to make sure it's watertight then put stuff in it then put occupants in it so soon i will able to collect as well as look on fish hunting expiditions, yay! :bounce:

I worked in a lab last summer and we had a competition as to who could find the best zoological pick up lines now i cant remember any of them but what I do remember is the excellent collection of zoological/ecological dance moves. there was the ganett (sp?), the stick insect, mollusc, seaweed, quail, grasshopper and many more. They were most excellent, and thoroughly tried out at every danceworthy event (including my mothers wedding).

saturday you say? me and my soggy boots are at the ready the next thing will be for the weather to co-operate, hmmmm...

If anyone wants/doesnt mind an extra pair of hands on a fish hunting mission some time I would love to help out. I am interested in getting into natives and am especially keen to have a koura or two but dont have tha tank/space etc.. at the moment, I would love to just tag along with someone just to check things out sometime so if anyone's planning a mission somewhere near here can i come? I dont have a net or anything but dont mind getting my boots wet and am not fussed at picking up koura (used to catch them as a kid, we had a refined technique of putting our fingers under the streambank and wiggling them so they would latch on then pull them out, only drew blood once) or slippery eels and the like. :bounce: