maoripho3nix

Hi all, Just wondering if anyone knows a good place/river/creek to collect freshwater shrimp from in the gisborne city area. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks

Hi all, Been many years since I've posted on here. These days I am down to an outdoor aquaponics tank. Roughly 400-500 litres. Currently the grow bed has started sprouting lots of water cress. The tank only houses 4/5 Bronze comets which are upto about 10cms now. With this warm weather and plenty of sun here in Gisborne, the tank has taken a turn and gone cloudy green and growing algae I need recommendations on what I can do to hopefully eliminate the algae or at least minimise it. Being an aquaponics tank I can't use any treatments that I know of without harming the bacteria growing in the grow bed. So I am on the lookout for specific critters and their names? Thanks all

Hi all, So here in Gizzy/Poverty Bay, there is a massive abundance of drift wood on the beach. My question which might sound newbie(ish?) is, is it ok to soak and use driftwood that has been in the ocean(saltwater) as opposed to finding driftwood in a river or lake (freshwater)? Queue the facepalms :facepalm:

Am I right in saying, that I am allowed to collect (within seasonal and location regulation) - whitebait (term for species specified therein) and Koura (most likely from farmed sources), and keep them in my artificial aquaria, and allow them to eat, live, swim, breed? Obviously wont be releasing them back into the waterways after captivity, or sell. If it comes to it I may eat them eventually :roll: (not the galaxias adults :ton: ) I'm only asking as I will be studying various aspects of land based aquaculture and have a system setup at home to help in my studies. I am favouring native species, but this study will extend into the study of reproductive cycle too. Plus with doing it all at home, the kids get to learn a lot too. Am in discussions with their school on doing some kind of visit once its all fully functional. So just for greater clarification, I can do all this legally? Im not farming, or selling for that matter, or releasing them into any natural waterway.

This course at Mahurangi interested me more than others Ive looked into, because a majority of their papers are to do with freshwater species. I hear you reef....not that I stand up for the government, but the only biggest threat that I can see is from the Salmon farming. Oyster and Mussel farms I believe have little effect. They are filter feeders. Besides without the practices of Aquaculture, these species of shellfish would have been wiped out a long time ago, atleast by these measures there is now a sustainable output. I do hear that disease is a big threat, which is why I guess they wont let more species in?? All I see the government doing is first protecting what there is here and at some point helping those field scientists improve numbers in species. Sure any tom dick and harry can learn about keeping fish, but I believe the real people teaching in the background have broken barriers when it comes to saving the native species here. Especially at Mahurangi. Without aquaculture techniques, skills and practices, then they would not be on the verge of replenishing endangered species. And thats what I am more interested in, how can we help a species survive. Dont get me wrong though.....there are plenty of fishies that Ive kept overseas that I would love to have here. But there will always be that bio block &c:ry Not to mention the restriction of keeping fish. In Perth I had Perch, Baramundi, Trout and Yabbies(Koura), all with inquisitive personalities, I loved studying each species. Although Bara are big, trout are far more "playful" at feeding time. Not to mention that you only need a transfer order to trade fish, no license to hold, no man in the middle. Fisheries over there only want to know what youve got, how many, and where they came from. Anyway back to topic, my biggest attraction to taking a course on aquaculture, is the scientific skills behind it. Aquaculture and Aquaculture for Farming/Sale/Government are 2 different topics. I'd like to be able to one day help the local iwi learn more about what use to be there(in local waters), what is there, and what should be there

Hi All Im looking at a change in career paths for the future, and thought I'd throw a couple questions out there. So after a decent desire and knowledge interest in our little aquatic species (here and in ozzy), and how they live.....I'm looking at doing aquaculture studies. Questions: Who here has done courses/papers etc in Aquaculture? Where did you study? How has this helped with your skills in keeping Aquatic species? If you completed your studies, how has this expanded your career? was it easy enough to continue on into employment? Do you support the Aquaculture industry? Why/Why Not? Any comments will be great Cheers

Thanks everyone, its good to be home. :nilly: No snakes or crocs on ya tail when youre in knee deep water spotlighting for friends :bggrn:

Hi all, well its been a long time since I've been on this forum. It has grown so much in 3 years. Good to see the hobby is still going strong in this grand country of ours. Ive just spent 3 years in Perth, WA. Had some amazing experiences but unfortunately had to make a swift move home. Dont get me wrong I love Aotearoa but the economy has a long way to go (yes Australia is strong, but they have gold, iron etc). I was living in Tauranga, now I am in Gisborne. If anyone can point me in the direction of clubs or perhaps give me a shout if youre in the area. Whilst there I took on a different variety of fish keeping. Most (if not all) of us will have heard of Aquaponics or the methods thereof. It is such a big topic and science there. This would come with the freely non restricted trade of edible aquatic species. Trout, Silver Perch, Jade Perch, Cod, and Baramundi are at the top of the list, lets not forget the yabbies and marron. Fingerlings easy to find/buy at the local. The biggest passion of Aquaponics is being able to grow spray free home grown organic plants/veges. Healthy eating and juicing has taken a hard hold in Australia because of this practice. Over there though the soil has a lot of sand, the environment in some places is arid. I can understand why NZ have it massively restricted on holding (using) many of the fresh water species here, but the community of keepers that I have been part of in WA are very responsible and avid conservationists because of the science and research behind keeping species in a safe and respectable manner towards the ecosystem and environment. NZ have a long way to go, and Australia have a lot to learn from us. I know this will create some controversy as this is an age old issue. I firmly believe that the government(DOC, F&G) should give the control back to the people such as US. Let us create a separate entity of the people, where we talk over with the government what we would like to use, create a plan, a learning educated programme, of respect for the species, responsibility for the environment/ecosystem, and to bring our tamariki into this. Anyway my rant over haha. Its good to be back. My hopes and futures of my fish keeping hobby will lean towards the teachings of Stella. Bring back the Natives haha. Cheers :thup:

Hi all, While visiting Fraser Cove in Tauranga, I went for a browse in Kiwipetz LFS (as you do). They had a small tank setup displaying kuhli loaches. They had 2 different submerged plants in the tank. Pic below sorry about the quality, was a phone cam job. Please can someone tell me what plants they are. Thanks

I wouldnt worry about the legality of feeding live "sustainable" food to fish. Key being sustainable, if you have something that can be successfully bred in numbers, to feed another then really theres nothing to worry about. Mice are bred to feed snakes and bats, crickets to feed lizards and frogs, fish to feed fish. Next time a pet shop employee tells you its illegal to feed live food to fish, ask why they are selling brine shrimp kits LOL

Thanks Stella I want to use it as cover and give a more NZ feel to the tank Im moving to WA and a neighbor has taken the plants, just wanting something green until the tank goes. BTW i have PMed you about a copy of your book :bounce:

Hey all, ive done a small revamp on the tank, and am wondering/wanting to add fronds of silver fern. I know people on here have used and added them to their tanks before. Just wondering if there is anything i should be aware of and what I should do to the frond off cuts before adding them to the tank. Are they ok to just cut off and put straight in there. More just for cover and hiding spots for the inhabitants, easily replaced as we have 2 or 3 trees out the back. Thank you

Im no expert here, but perhaps using a bit of NZ ingenuity, get some filter sponge, 3 x 99c buckets, drill holes in bottom of one, place filter sponge/wool in this bucket, pack it into bottom, whilst getting someone to hold this bucket above an empty 2nd bucket, pour the 3rd bucket full of your dirty water through the "filter bucket", viola....cleaner water for around $5?? Reusable in some way albeit.

Hey all, I, like a lot of people, am jumping over the ditch and moving to Perth. I know there are hundreds of websites that relate to keeping aquariums/fish/plants, and australian specific species. But is there an Australian website similar to this one? :tears: Making the move is hard and its been very educational this dear forum of ours, will be hard not being able to safely go into a native stream, and easily setup a NZ Native tank, but will be also exciting getting into keeping all types of fish over there too. Also if there is anyone in the Tauranga region, willing to take a on a couple of ottos and silver tip tetras please PM me. Thanks

+ a million I'm a full time dad now, been through the whole thing. Definitely keep ya cool, it sounds like you have a lot already to back up your case, and I'm guessing you have that all in your affidavit. Keeping calm, concentrating on the kids and record keeping are best things you can do. If you have to go for a court hearing, go dressed to impress (ie suit and tie etc.). Image, composure and evidence to back it up is everything in the courts eyes. Any questions feel free to ask, good luck buddy.