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cockabullies...


Whiskas

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there are several species of native bully. The ones most often seen in fish tanks are redfin bully(Gobiomorphus huttoni) and common bully (Gobiomorphus cotidianus). Other natives which are good to keep in aquariums are kokupu, freshwater crayfish, Inaga and common bully.

for a list of species which are protected check out:

http://www.nzfreshwater.org/index_aquaria.html

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have native fish, am completely obsessed about them! Had just natives for somewhat over a year now.

Bullies make wonderful pets. They are really curious and can become suprisingly tame with no effort on your part if they are bored (like in quarantine). There are also quite a few varieties easily found in most areas.

The MAJOR problem with native tanks is temperature. They need it cold, and over summer this can become a huge hassle. Bullies and inanga (the most common whitebait) are more tolerant, but other fish really need a chiller. Do keep a really close eye on the temp (and have a reliable thermometer or two) and keep 3ltr juice containers in the freezer for ice.

I have a 220 litre tank with inanga and an upland bully. I also have a common bully and another upland in quarantine after capture. I used to have more uplands and a cray, until recently when they cray ate the bullies then hopped out of the tank for a spot of dessication.... Crays make excellent pets, though are an issue when they get bigger than their tankmates.

Check out my tank here:

http://s120.photobucket.com/albums/o165/hecaba/

If you have any questions at all, please ask! I love talking about these fish :)

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I have just read the promo advertised earlier in this thread.

Went thru all the palaver of what we should not, maybe able to, or can if your careful, then I went back to see who actually put "this" out.

Just so happens that I was a foundation member of this association and boy have things changed.

Private property, don't ask, wait till ya get asked what ya doing.

Fauna areas, just made for excellent capture.

Careful of local iwi, might be their rights being trampled on??

Remember one year at a "Molly hunt" that a local iwi member stated that they had put the fish there and it was their food??

Come on!!

One of the executive in those days was even going to export captured fish.

But hey!! We did have scruples, it was frowned upon taking mature fish, so we were only capturing trout tucker any way.

Then it says in the first line of the HOME page,

Best known for its pristine, cool clear waters and trout and salmon sports-fishery, New Zealand

Trout??

One of the biggest killers of our native species

Poof!!

And who introduced these huh??

I don't think ANY species are under a protection banner.

Alan 104

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I have just come back from camping, and got 6 Crays, and 5 Bullies, I had a tank going for them long before i left, and have introduced them, bit im curious, what temperature are we going to have to keep them at, Im not sure i can do much more than keeping them in one of the coldest rooms in the house....

Any other advise will be welcomed. will try and get some pics up later..

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Nice fish! Looks like a good size. I don't know what it is... might help to see a pic when it is in the water and settled. The patterning on the cheeks is distinctive.

6 crays is a lot.... I would expect a bit of cannibalism if they are all together. Particularly if closely stocked or there is a bit of size variation.

*Both* species really like caves and nooks. You will soon become an expert making rockeries and complexes! The more caves, the happier the crays, the less aggression towards other crays or fish. As with anything, the more secure they feel, the more natural behaviour you will get.

Crays are vegetarian mostly, though will eat anything they can get their hands on. Keep a pot of frozen vegies for ease of feeding. They utterly adore peas. Don't worry about cooking or defrosting things. You will quickly find out what they like. They will also munch leftovers from the fish (and fish... if slow), and a nice treat is a worm (though very not nice for the worm...). Bullies are insectivorous, eating most aquatic insects, including snails (crays also eat snails, good source of calcium). I feed frozen bloodworm to my fish as their staple diet, but live food is greatly appreciated.

As for temperature, this will be a battle. The bigger the tank the better - less fluctuation. Seriously, over summer, dedicate one drawer of the freezer to 3lt juice bottles for ice, do a rotation and keep a very close eye on the temp. Even if you find you are not using the ice much, keep more than you think you need. Disasters happen. The link earlier on this thread has a good section on temp.

I came home from a weekend away last summer. Had left the light off (hot little buggers!) and the curtains drawn to keep out the sun. The day was the hottest on record (in palmerston north!) and the tank was 29 degrees at 11pm when I got home! All my koaro were dead! :( Got a chiller after that.

Put a low level of salt in the tank as a light preventative. Bullies are really suceptible to whitespot/ich while acclimatising. Sitting on the ground makes them more prone. Crays will not get ich, but will be killed by ich treatments. If you get ich, let me know, there are a few tricks with these coldwater fish the pet shop and books didn't tell me :evil:

As I said, I love these fish, will talk about them for pages! :bounce:

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I missed the initial part of your questions: LEGALITY.

YES it is legal.

PROVIDED YOU DO NOT:

sell them

take from reserves etc

move them to a different waterway to where they came from

move them between islands

Take crayfish from lake taupo and surrounding waterways (iwi property)

take juvenile galaxids (whitebait) outside of season

*That is a rough guide* and it took months of pestering various experts to find it out.

Pay attention to the one about moving to a different waterway. Even if the same species is there, you can stuff up local genetics. DoC does care about all of the above and will come down heavily, even without that, it is about caring for the environment on a number of levels. If you want to release them in the future, please take them back precisely to whence they came. (a small pond is ok, if isolated from other waterways.)

Stella

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Shane, have you got a count of the rays of the fins.

Especially the jugular pelvic fins, that is the ones down by the base of the gills.

Is it a triple-fin or two fins.

That is the dorsal, ok.

Maybe with my book I'll be able to attempt an ID of it.

Alan 104

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Ive ID'd the larger 2, they are Crans bully's. I come to this conclusion because of the orange strype on the top of the first dorsal fin. Im now trying to tell weather the 3 smaller fish are juvenile of the same species or another species, im leaning towards another species.. the tank they are in dosent have a light on it yet so pics are hard to get.

Highest the tank got today was 22, im happy with that, it was a dam hot day 8)

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Mmm, crans might work, not that I have really seen one before. There are others with red dorsal stripes.

Mine are uplands, supposed to have red stripes, but have green! I dont get it... but they were ID'ed by an expert in freshwater natives.

Personally i have only ever seen one species of bully in any given section of stream, Im sure the territories overlap at times though.

22 is still rather warm, higher than 18 degrees begins to get stressful. Not warm enough to start freaking. Start that at 24 degrees at the latest.

Now try leaving your house closed up for the weekend in the middle of February. The temps a tank can shoot up to! :o Start making ice.

BTW Freshwater bullies all have two dorsal fins, cockabullies have three and are marine. Freshwater bullies are often called cockabullies, but aren't.... just to be picky :wink:

These books are excellent for identifying native fish:

http://reed.co.nz/searchresults.cfm

The cheaper one is page-a-fish and has a photo of each one. Good basic stuff at a good price. The second is an enlargement of that, about five pages per fish, including drawings and maps. I want to upgrade to that one soon.

There is nothing out there on keeping them in aquaria, so I am writing it 8)

Stella

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  • 14 years later...
On 1/3/2007 at 7:30 PM, Stella said:

I missed the initial part of your questions: LEGALITY.

 

YES it is legal.

 

PROVIDED YOU DO NOT:

sell them

take from reserves etc

move them to a different waterway to where they came from

move them between islands

Take crayfish from lake taupo and surrounding waterways (iwi property)

take juvenile galaxids (whitebait) outside of season

 

*That is a rough guide* and it took months of pestering various experts to find it out.

 

Pay attention to the one about moving to a different waterway. Even if the same species is there, you can stuff up local genetics. DoC does care about all of the above and will come down heavily, even without that, it is about caring for the environment on a number of levels. If you want to release them in the future, please take them back precisely to whence they came. (a small pond is ok, if isolated from other waterways.)

 

Stella

hi there I really really want to get a bullie for my outside tank I have spent hours and hours trying to catch one but I just cant I have a little creek that is full to the brim with koura but no fish I went in different creeks but still nothing at all can you help me where I should search or anything will help?

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