kiwiraka

That's me! Anyway , where did it start... I think I would've been about six when my parents set up a family tank. So we chose a fish each plus the apple snails that multiplied from 3-20 very quickly.... We ended up with common goldfish (mine), a betta, a common pleco and a neon tetra (petshop advice) A year or two after they all died.... I got a turtle tank with four red eared sliders for christmas, they were awesome pets but sadly when we moved up north from the wellington region we had to sell them... After moving up north I started breeding goldfish (kept what I liked and gave the rest away) One to two years ago I traded 12 goldfish for about 8 small koura, that obviously didnt work out in a small tank :facepalm: So a year and 300 litres later I'm obsessed with native fish :roll:

Im looking forward to this :spop:

- Do water changes? No, only occasional top-ups. - Do you use rain or chlorinated/dechlorinated water? Bore water. - Feed them regularly? About once a week. I have 5 tubs set up and I empty my birds bathing dish into a different one every day. Stimulates algal growth very well. - Use an air stone or let the water stay stagnant? No airstone, due to being outside. - Cover the tank/container at all? No. - Try to keep it cool during the summer? No, gets very warm but never have any die-offs.

Ich would likely be less localised, could be bite marks like Adrienne said. Any sign of bullying?

Also bandeds habit of jumping can be prevented by digging the tub down to ground level and slightly sloping the ground around it inward.

Here's a link to the native section, it's located in the specialist corner: viewforum.php?f=41 The ferns will definitely help keep it cooler.

Good to see more and more interest in natives, there's a section on this forum just for threads about native fish. Like all native fish eels require cold water, so in most instances they will require a chiller. If you bury the bath tub and but it in high shade you might be able to keep the temperature below the recommended max of 20c. Burying the tub and totally filling it will also allow eels to leave if unhappy or ready to go to sea. How big is the tub? Eels grow big and produce a fair bit of waste and if fed well they will grow fast. They need a large volume of water per fish so without filtration your tub may not be big enough for even 1 (depending on frequency of water changes) You could put crayfish in but even if they has plenty of hiding places the eel/s would get them eventually. Aeration would be recommended, a small pump or fountain would be good, a solar powered fountain would be an easy option as it will supply aeration when it is most needed. Good job on posting your first photo BTW

Although bullies are classified as Amphidiadromous they do not actually migrate to breed (Bit weird really ). After they hatch they are swept out to sea where they spend the first few months of their lives before heading upstream. Once they reach breeding age they start to exhibit breeding behavior during the breeding season, where females will start to produce eggs (become gravid) and males protect nesting sites (Usually under rocks and other objects). When a male bully is exhibiting nesting behaviour he will often change to a darker colour, he will return to normal after he finishes "nesting". One of your bullies is likely a gravid female and you may get to witness some breeding behavior in the near future.

You're not in a position to negotiate, don't forget I know where you live

Everyone could just pop 'round to your place What do you think WillyP?

Bugs. Aquatic, airborne and garden. Bloodworms and animal heart can be easier to get and are high in protein. High protein pellets are good if you can get your fish to eat them. Raw shrimp and prawn are also good. Vegetables (Boiled peas are nice and easy) and/or algae wafers are needed for koura.

Looks good!

Email me the pictures and ill do it for you, ipads seem to be quite difficult.

Great Glad you've found what you've been after! Now that you're finding fish just remember to only take a small number of a population and try to take the smaller specimens. Pics of the Giant Kokopu would be great. +1

Trout. And the only clear pest fish picture.

Brown Mudfish, Koura and Eels.

Giant and Shortjaw Kokopu :bggrn:

Took some photos at the Trout centre, Really nice native area. I didn't think to take photos of the tanks themselves though. The only things that I would change are the Bully/Inanga tank (Not a place to keep Torrentfish, too little flow) and the Koura tank (Large numbers of Koura in a 2ish foot cubed tank) Some photos of the Trout too. I only got one clear picture of the pest fish. Bullies (There were Common, Crans and a couple of female Redfins) , Torrentfish and Inanga:

Went for a trip down the Wellington-Kapiti area and brought back some new bullies. A Redfin male, a Redfin female, a Crans male and an Upland male (?) (Crans male in first pic is not a new addition, new Crans in next lot of photos)

Found the greenest Koura I've ever seen tonight, Here are a couple of pics. The one in a photo by itself was stunning.

You'll want to give them some hiding places. Remember they like quite high flow. Have they started eatimg yet? Also you might be interested in looking at this old thread: viewtopic.php?f=41&t=42386

That's a shame hopefully youll be able to get back into them soon. Mikey: viewtopic.php?f=41&t=68792

Congratulations! :thup:

Okay, thanks for that