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kiwiraka

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Posts posted by kiwiraka

  1. The way to catch them is with a good old fashioned rod and line and I belive they may need a round eged tank

    Lol, I was wondering if there was a more effective method, as I imagine target fishing for fish of that size would be extremely difficult. Would it be possible with a hand net? Or are they too fast?

    Would they really need a round edged tank, I thought only sharks, stingrays and jelly fish needed those.

  2. I know it's been asked before, but just a few questions.

    Minimum tank size? Preferably for a trio, but I'm guessing even one would need a pretty big tank?

    Recommended turnover?

    Healthy diet?

    And how would you catch them?

    I went snorkelling with some some friends recently and there were schools of 30+ 2-3cm kahawai, a few of them were silver and yellow instead of the silver and brown colour of the rest. Do they grow up a different colour, or do they change as they get older?

    I'm guessing the temp would be the same as FW natives? Or would they need even colder?

    Thanks

  3. Due to one of my first native critters I have suffered a very destructive ammonia strike.....

    I hadn't seen my biggest koura (got them both at 1cm) for about a month, but I saw it while cleaning up the mess I would guess that including pincers it would be upwards of 10cm.

    But anyway, I woke up at 9:30 and checked the temp it was at 19.2 degres, so I started changing the ice bottles, then I noticed the bodies.....

    So I removed the dead fish and then started shifting the rocks and I found2 medium sized half eaten bullies in the same cave as the big koura, and they looked like they'd been dead for awhile longer than the others..... So I've done a 50% water change and I'm going to do one everyday for the next week (I really should have a test kit)

    Body count:

    4 mullet

    5 bullies (common)

    1 young eel

    2 bullies (redfin)

  4. Over the very warm weekend I had a catastrophic tank malfunction on the 430L native.

    The powerhead that drives the chiller failed at some stage on friday or maybe thursday night. I didn't notice untill saturday afternoon when the room temp was 30 deg and the tank temp was 26.

    Losses:

    All the giant kokopu

    both the torrent fish

    and most of the large bullies including the redfin male and the crans males

    That's horrible! I'm really sorry for your losses! Those giant kokopu were such awesome fish....

    Are you planning on restocking it with natives?

  5. Oh and same questions about mullet e.g. where to find how to keep

    Usually found in tidal streams or estuaries. Feeding, I've found that they prefer very fine foods, crumbled flakes are good, the biggest food mine eat is mosquito larvae. I've had best success with the food mix I made myself, because it breaks into small pieces easily and also crumbles a bit as it falls through the water and they just swim along like vacuum cleaners sucking it all up. Best to be kept in in groups of atleast 3 probably better to have 5 as they school and I've noticed that they seem to get nervous if they lose their school.

    EDIT: Just remember that they can grow over half a metre so not a good idea unless you have a large pond. Also, make sure you get grey mullet, Yellow eyed mullet can't live in fresh water.

  6. I don't know of any auckland spots, willyp123 would be your best bet.

    Temp below 20 degrees preferably 14-18.

    Feeding is easier in ponds, the fish will get lots of bugs that land on or fall into the water, you can feed them with heart, shrimp and bugs (just as if they were in a tank) Also koura will need plenty of greens.

  7. :iag: So that's how you make the pond. I'll just add that you'll have to decide between an eel pond and having bullies and koura.... They won't mix well. And also if you do decide on an eel pond you will need a large pond as both nz species grow to over a metre and are messy eaters. Also you'll want the pond well shaded and largest possible volume as the temp can really heat up, even when the water is below ground level.

  8. Bullies and koura would be your best bet!

    You don't really need a "hot spot" just an unpolluted stream....

    if you do manage to diy a chiller, many of us would appreciate a step by step guide :wink:

    I'm not experienced with inanga and smelt in 3 foot tanks, but watching the smelt in my tank and since they're shorter than inanga you might be able to have a small school of smelt. I think someone else would probably have a better idea on that.

    No problem

  9. First what are the dimensions of the tank? If it's less than 3 feet you can't have inanga or smelt (4 foot is better) and if it's less than 4 foot you can't really keep kokopu, unless you're planning on upgrading soon....

    It isn't legal to sell natives without a permit. But you can collect them from the wild yourself, just don't catch "whitebait" out of season!

    And also how are you planning on keeping the temp down?

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