preacher Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 Hi there, my name is Peter. Although my family have a history of water features with goldfish I am relatively new to this. It all began with my own pond (this is the second one I have built) at our current home. We started with 11 goldfish and 16 tadpoles, then one day I was walking down the local river and saw a pool under a tree that was cut off after the river dropped. Being curious I took a peek and was astounded to see lots of little fish. A week later I showed my 13yr old daughter and sure enough "can we catch some?" So we soon ended up with some little fish which I promptly mis-identified as torrentfish (they are in fact bullies). My fascination was caught and I began doing some research into native fish, discovered they are mostly nocturnal and began my midnight fishing expeditions. Armed with a net in each hand and a torch in my mouth I started under the local bridge where I had seen a pool and caught a 'big' fish (10cm). I brought it home and mis-identified it as an Inanga. A couple of nights later and I got a second, along with more small bullies. After a couple of weeks I noticed I didnt seem to have as many bullies as I thought. Then 1 night I found another pool that was cut off and caught a fish... which turned out to be an Inanga. I discovered my 1st 2 Inanga were infact junior trout! That explained my disappearing bullies. (The trout went back to the river as soon as I could catch them again.) Currently we have 9 goldfish, 10 Inanga, about 20 bullies and perhaps 30 shrimp. My wife thinks I am totally mad scrabbling over rocks at 1am, but hey I'm English so it goes with the territory hehe. I have made contact with the Upper Hutt society and am looking forward to seeing if there is anyone else out there as mad as I. P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim r Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 They are all mad in Wellington. :lol: ( that is why they live there) Oh! By the way, welcome aboard Peter and I hope you get as much pleasure from this site as I do, I feel as if I have made lots of new friends here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 Hi Peter, was good talking to you on the phone earlier tonight and look forward to meeting you this weekend. I grabbed two books on NZ Native fish from the UHAS Library which you may borrow until the meeting on May 14th. It's not a lot but happy to help any way I can. In time you'll meet myself and caserole and eventually Billaney in Wainoui and your wife will be assured that you're not fish mad.... yet Welcome to the site, and welcome to the hobby! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 Hi Peter, Yes you are nuts, or at least well down the path. See I started innocently enough: a couple of inanga. Then I added a couple of bullies. Then I found more and more exciting native fish to keep. Then I started writing a book on keeping them. Then I realised I had six tanks, 13 species and well over 30 fish... Welcome to the obsession 8) As for books there is pretty much only McDowall. He is Excellent . Mostly they are biology and identifying (the reason I started writing my book is there is nothing out there on keeping them). There are three: A very small pocket field guide, a larger hardcover expanded version and the huge 2 inch thick tome. I have all three.... The first two you can still get from Reed publishers. The second one is out of print, but save it as a favourite and get it when it is circa $40 (some people manage to sell it for $70!!). There have been a good number of threads here about native fish, do some searching (ignore the notice that says the search function is disabled, it isn't). Most of the native threads are in the coldwater section. Happy to answer (or try to) any questions you have! Also check out my photos below, you night be able to start identifying your bullies! (BTW my book is not published yet, will be finished this year, it was supposed to be an article but now it is 37,000 words!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
preacher Posted April 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2008 Thanks for the hello's. Great to hear from you Stella, I hear your our resident natives expert. I had a big clean out of our approx. 120L pond yesterday, we had great fun catching all the fish and shrimp. Mind you, I should have checked the weather forcast for today. I probably wouldn't have done it if I had known it was going to be wet and cold. Still, such is life. I completely re-did the inside of the pond to try and better simulate a stream environment for the natives. Rocks around the inside edge, with the plants coming out of them and plenty of branches and driftwood submerged. After we refilled it my 13yr old and I did a head count of our fish, and boy were we surprised. My estimate of 10 Inanga, 20 Bulles and 30 Shrimp was a little off.... There were : 14 Inanga, 46 Bullies (Bluegills?), 41 Shrimp, oh and the 9 small goldfish of course. I wouldn't mind a few more Inanga, and you can never have enough shrimp. P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 19, 2008 Report Share Posted April 19, 2008 Hi and welcome. Sounds like your fish have a awesome home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkLB Posted April 19, 2008 Report Share Posted April 19, 2008 Welcome to the forum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted April 19, 2008 Report Share Posted April 19, 2008 Hi & Welcome! Post pics sometime. Take care & have fun, Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spink Posted May 2, 2008 Report Share Posted May 2, 2008 Hi and Welcome Peter! I'm in Upper Hutt as well, and i believe the first step is admitting you have a problem..... As for scrambling over rocks at 1am? I saw some photos recently of a 2003 trip some FNZAS members did up to the Desert Road area, where they were well and truly up to their armpits in mud catching mollies!!! It looked like so much fun!!!! I have been considering a native tank for a little while now, mainly because I saw one on a doco a little while back, and my husband, who thinks I'm nuts and hates fish, seemed to like the look of the native tank. I'm secretly considering setting one up for him for his 40th later this year, but not sure. I've been told to go marine, but seems like WAY too much like hard work! Anyway, supporting our native environments is a good thing isn't it!? Look forward to meeting you some time soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biddy Posted May 2, 2008 Report Share Posted May 2, 2008 Sounds like a fab pond Peter - just the sort of thing I'm trying to produce! Apart from some rocks and wood what other substrate have you added to your pond? I'm thinking mud/sand or gravel etc. Stella - just checked out your photos - fantastic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johannes Visser Posted May 2, 2008 Report Share Posted May 2, 2008 Hi & Welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted May 3, 2008 Report Share Posted May 3, 2008 Welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharronpaul Posted May 3, 2008 Report Share Posted May 3, 2008 Hello and welcome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
preacher Posted May 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 Damned bad luck, especially since I didn't recognise it or find out what it was until I got onto here. I had 120 fish and shrimp, but the white spot got a nasty hold before I realised what I was dealing with and started treating it. I have lost almost 50 fish so far, I expect I will lose a lot more yet. Oh well, we live and learn. It's strange, with all the goldfish and ponds we have had over the years I have never encountered this before. I am looking forward to the coming meeting of the Upper Hutt Society, I hope to learn a lot Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpidersWeb Posted May 4, 2008 Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 Welcome Peter See you at the meeting later this week! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
preacher Posted May 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 Oh heck, I thought that was next wednesday? I hope so cos I am working this week in the evenings till 11. Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpidersWeb Posted May 5, 2008 Report Share Posted May 5, 2008 Oh noes! The Upper Hutt club meets every 2nd Thursday. Which is this one coming (Thurs 10th May @ 7.30). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpidersWeb Posted May 6, 2008 Report Share Posted May 6, 2008 Whoops, they changed the day on me. It is the second Wednesday of every month, so it is indeed NEXT WED evening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted May 7, 2008 Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 Hi Peter, That is not fun I lost a tankful of fish recently to a really bad whitespot infection. So frustrating. Native fish are very susceptible to white spot and columnaris (which is like a bacterial or fungal infection: fluffy bits). They are most susceptible during the settling in stage, over summer when the temp get higher or if the water quality is not well maintained. Handy to do a bit of research now so you understand how they work and how to treat. This site is involved but excellent, dispells a lot of the pervasive myths that plague fishkeeping, excellent piece on whitespot: www.skepticalaquarist.com You and BlueandKim should make a trip up to Palmy sometime Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
preacher Posted May 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 Hehe, that would be awesome. I have noticed you might be doing a fish hunt later in the year... I might have to save up and book some leave . I dare say I would be due a few days off about then. Found 3 Koura the otherday but haven't seen them since I put them in the pond (lol), hope they haven't escaped! Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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