Romeo

Hey, I've been watching them all day and forgot about the post. They don't seem to mind the light at all. The small female seems to like harassing the larger male though - pinning him in the corner all day ;s. Is it safe to feed them courgette slices? More pics to come ;D!

-------------------------- THEY'RE HERE! I've been up since 8am waiting for the courier and they've just arrived ;D! I've got them in a bucket each, just enough to cover their eyes, in my blacked out room so they can get used to the water and temperature. They've been out of water for about 20 hours, so I can image they're a bit parched. Vince packaged them with a lot of damp wood shavings so they couldn't move around and also put in a bottle of frozen water. When I first opened the box I looked at them and thought "awwwww, they're dead ". But when my GF poked one he sort of cringed a little - so in with a cm of water each and they roared into life! So, unbelievably happy right now...

Cool, Thanks for the advice Mark and Stella. I just put my GF in charge of checking my tank again and she's checked the ammonia twice and come up with no reading (0ppm). So I guess I must have done it wrong last night, probably didn't rinse the tubes properly or something? I'm so excited, I can guarantee photos tomorrow! I've even thought up a couple of names, but I'll leave that for later! PS: Ran the pH twice and it's reading 6.8 - I've got two big bits of drift wood, so I guess that's to blame. I bought a block of 6 small calcium block things. Two are fizzing away and bubbling in my tank as we speak, they're supposed to bring the pH back to 7. Is there any other way of raising my pH? Can I throw in a few sea shells for aesthetic as well as pH benefit? I read that Australian yabbies need a pH of at least 7.5 to be healthy, as high acidity softens their shells. PSS: My tap water has a pH of 6.4! I guess that's a bad thing ! Cheers, Alexander

Gidday, Vince from Kaikoura is posting my Koura tonight, a small male and female. He's packaging them in damp wood shavings and popping them on the overnight courier at 4:30pm today - hopefully arriving some time in the morning tomorrow. So, what's the least stressful way of introducing them back into water - ie: my tank? I also got a master test kit off Candy for $20, and I've got a set of readings from it. Can anyone tell me where I'm at in the cycling stage - I wouldn't imagine it's very far along - as I've only got a few shrimp and plants from Spoon in my tank. Here's the readings: pH = 6.8 Amonia = 20(~)ppm Nitrite = 0.25ppm Nitrate = 0ppm

Do you have any further information on this? Because me and my GF want to come, but we've got no idea of locations or times, or even how many people will be there. Can anyone give me more of an idea of what's going on? Cheers , Romeo

Gidday, My GF's got a goldfish she got about 4-5 weeks ago, he's always been fat. But today we were changing his water and noticed that his scales appear to be a little distended behind the gills. You have to really look to notice them, but I've heard that the scales issue could mean it's something a lot worse. He's really lively, he's always darting around chasing the other goldfish (Not in an aggressive way, just hanging out or rubbing himself against the other one). She feeds him these tiny sphere shape floating pellets she got from a fish seller, about 6-10 every day (for both fish) and they seem to be shredding the oxy-weed she puts in (fresh bunch every week). Not sure if their appetite is increasing because she has a heater in there keeping it to about 16c. It would be nice to know she's just over feeding them but please let us know if it could be anything a bit more serious. We've been doing 20-40% water changes + vacuuming the gravel every week and theres an oxygen stone in there. It's a 10L tank and the fish are about 4-5cm long. This tank is just a stop gap .. we're getting a bigger one soon I don't think there's a blockage, he seems to make a lot of "waste". Thats pretty much all there is to know. Anyways, here's some photos... BEFORE: AFTER: Cheers, Romeo & Jo

Awesome! Can I come, or is this a closed group thing?

Gidday, Vince the Koura farmer in Kaikoura gets back from business in Australia on Sunday, and I'm looking at placing an order with him for a few Koura. I was just wondering if anyone is wanting a Koura in Christchurch but can't find one, since I'm shipping some down I thought I'd see if anyone wants to add some extras into my shipping containers. Pricing: They're $5 each. This is Vince skully's price per unit, I'm making no mark-up on this what-so-ever (As that would be illegal). Shipping is quoted at $10-$20, I'd absorb that cost, but it's subject to the number we get. It's legal to buy Koura from Vince, as he's a registered Koura farmer. I'll check with Vince on Monday to double check the prices and such, so please contact me before then. If anyone gets in on this, we'll have to arrange pick-up from my Avonhead residence the day that they're supposed to arrive. Cheers, Romeo

RE Spoon Aww, the map doesn't work for me. It's blank for some reason. Though, I've got the guy's phone number, so I might have to give him a call some time and go and get myself some more shrimpies! Cheers, Romeo

Thanks Whetu, I've been dragging her around petshops for that very reason. Though, she's doing 30% water changes weekly, and the fish are about 4cm long each. It's pretty much just temporary until we can get a place of our own set up with another 80cm/70L tank.

RE Richms Heh, you've obviously never lived south of Auckland I take it? We breed our women hard down here!

RE Richms The tank IS inside the house - in her bedroom . It's just freakin' cold at her flat because it's not insulated. It's like an icebox some days - bring on summer! I might go get one of those meters also :] Cheers, Romeo

RE Whetu Oooooh, is THAT what that little light means! I've only ever noticed it on a few times, so it can't be going hardcore all the time right? That's exactly what I wanted to hear, thanks a lot. I knew it was a bit more complicated than simply working it out by it's wattage. I might get some insulation for under and behind the tank, I've already cut a lid out of Perspex for it and that seems to have kept a bit of heat in. Cheers, Romeo

That's what I'm trying to figure out. Some people say that for ever 6°c you heat you quadruple the heating bill. So there's got to be a difference between 16°c and my heater's maximum of 32°c. But a lot of people just see the "50w" rating and work it out that way - but that can't be true for all of the settings. I might have to get one of those power metres from Bunnings Warehouse. I think they're $17.99?

Normally I wouldn't use a heater for goldfish, but it's sad to see them just sit on the bottom of the tank all day doing nothing. With it on they're happy as larry, following each other around, annoying the snails and just being awesome. Without the heater it's 7-9°c average - which is pretty chilly! If we insulate the tank, will it use less power since it's not running so hard? If it's set to 16°c will it use less power since it wont be running so hard? Cheers, Romeo

Gidday, My GF's got a couple of goldfish and a few snails in a 30*20*20 tank with about 10 litres in it. We recently setup a MasterPet 50w heater in there to keep the fish a little bit more active and happy. The water's at a constant 15/16°c and it runs 24/7. So far it's worked a treat... BUT, at what cost! How much power do you estimate this is using monthly? If it's higher then we think, how can we save power? Cheers , Romeo

I emailed DOC querying the legality of keeping and transporting different Koura species around the country. Have a good read if you plan on keeping native freshwater species. PS: Check with your local Iwi if the waterways have either full, joint or partial ownership with any maori tribe or other group (thanks Stella). If you require email addresses or names for the above DOC representitives, please PM me. The contents of this email are legally confidential, but I have removed all references that are not freely accessable via the DOC website. Cheers, Romeo

Update Back from Hanmer, but unfortunately we couldn't find any Koura. Spent an hour or so lifting rocks in the pond/stream up there but no luck. We went back about 8pm, but as we were getting out of the car there was a freaking big feral dog outside there barking at us! So as you can tell we high-tailed it back to the hotel room and hid in bed. I'll phone the Divers in Alexandra and see if they can help me out.

Don't spose the guy's name is Israel by any chance?

RE Dixon <?php while ($fnzas['users']['Dixon1990']['mood']=='silly') { echo ':lol:'; $postcount++; } ?>

RE Snorkel Have I mentioned how much I hate you lately? Just thought I'd reiterate it :].

RE Spoon Shuddup! The admin was all on my case after I posted a TradeMe link, so I thought I better learn the rules. It's a bit different to the usual forums I partake in - KiwiBiker etc. I want a pet Koura/Crayfish/Yabbie but I can't find one in my area. Where can I get a pet Koura/Crayfish/Yabbie. Phoned Vince Skully [Koura Farmer] - based in Kaikoura A cool bloke, had lots to say about the Koura. Here's the gist of it... - He's willing to ship small batches - he said shipping's around $10 per batch (Kaikoura to Christchurch, subject to change). Obviously this will incur greater costs to him due to the hassle and packaging etc - so don't take it for granted! - They cost about $5 each, that's for a mature 50gm Koura at $100 a KG. These are some of the highest quality crayfish in the country, disease free and well graded. These prices are subject to change so check with him before you budget! - He sells the Northern species, so if you live south of Kaikoura you will need clearance from MAF and DOC to keep his Koura as pets (unconfirmed, I'll contact them this week and find out). - If you want to catch your own, your best shot will be to use an Opera House Net - he also said the best bait to use is Cheese Snarler Sausages! - He finds that every hive has a dominant Koura, all the others will grow much slower than the dominant Koura. Once you remove the dominant one the others will begin growing normally again. - He sees no reason why two koura cannot live in the same tank. Obviously there's a chance of cannibalism - especially during moulting - but the chance of this can be mitigated by providing numerous small caves for them to squeeze into. - His current stocking is 10 per square metre, but that's with a complex "hive" structure, which reduces their stress by separating them whilst maximising the space. Also, he purposely clouds the water in order to reduce the infighting. - Their oxygen requirement is 8mg per litre of water and they absorb it quickly. He told me to learn about the Oxygen Cycle, though it may not be necessarily applicable to my setup. - If you have to put Koura in a bucket, make sure they can stick their head out and breathe if the oxygen in the water becomes too low. They'll drown otherwise.

RE Dixon Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's right. I can imagine that might have been a sticking point for MAF, but apparently not. The Northern ones don't get as big, but they're not as hairy. So it's 50/50 really. I could have just shaved a southern one, if I could I source it. Failing all this I'm going to Hanmer on the weekend, then failing that I'll try Alexandra and then Blenheim. Gee wizz, he's dedicated!

Sort of like a magic trick, converting 20 small Koura into one giant one ;D!

Here you go, the website is GoldfishInfo.com, so it seems pretty reputable. Salt Dosage for Goldfish .