CHCH: Giant bully - help?!

[Romeo]

Hey,

We were at Spoon's tonight hunting around in his creek and I just happened to come across a 15-20cm bully. In my excitement I thought it would be a great idea to bring him home to my 80*30*30 tank! I didn't quite realise just how large it was at the time ;s.

So I'm just wondering if anyone's interested in taking him, if not, I'll take him back to spoon's creek.

It's a retarded idea to try and keep a fish of this size in such a small tank, LOL. So I'll get him shipped out quick smart.

PS: I'm affraid he'll eat my Koura!

Cheers,

Romeo

[Stella]

That is an AWESOME fish!

I have never seen such a big one despite my best efforts

Apparently bullies that size, and particularly giant bullies, don't play well with others. Tank mates are viewed as lunch.

Then again it would be a pretty cool pet on its own, and probably become quite tame with the right treatment.

That aside, ethically it is preferable not to take the big fish. They don't transport or adjust to captivity as easily as juveniles, and their removal has more of an effect on the breeding population.

Yay for the excitement of native fish hunt syndrome bring on summer! :bounce:

[Snorkel]

Get a 1500 long tank! They make cool pets. They're almost prehistoric in the way they behave. It's awsome watching mine eat a earthworm. Ya dont dare leave Ya fingers in there! Mine spends most of it's time in a lair behind a small log. It comes out looking for food if I fiddle with the hood. I would love to have a few more, but Your too far away

[Snorkel]

My one is completely non aggressive towards the smaller Crans Bullies it shares the tank with! Even has been banished to the far end while they breed. I wondered if it would be so amicable with others of its own kind! Some fish are like that eh? My one made short work of 3 gambusia that were in there at the beginning, and the freshwater shrimp get chased around and the slow ones are gone too! It would be cool to have 3 or 4 in there... p.s. I think it would probly be ok in a 800 long tank, You might have to eat Your koura thou....

[Stella]

yeah, sometimes you get the odd exception to the rule.

Then again I have not actually kept giants. I was told that by some people who should know. Sometimes it is conditions that make a fish stroppy, change something and they settle right down.

Do bullies give a good nip too? I got a really good bite from my mudfish last night! They can hurt if they try to. The whole bite-and-spin thing is disturbing when it is on the hand that feeds them....

[Romeo]

Okies, Bully's back where he came from. Southern Encounters wanted to have a look first, but since he was so big they suggested I release it.

[Ianab]

Yay for the excitement of native fish hunt syndrome bring on summer! :bounce:

For sure 8)

I'm re-organising my tanks so I have some space for a few bullies.

I'm not sure what species are in the local river (Patea river at Stratford), but I've seen dozens of small ones flitting around in the shallows down at the local park so a netting mission will be on once things warm up a bit more.

I see From the NIWA site that Torrent Fish are here in Taranaki, looks like the smaller streams around the coast, not right up here above the hydro dam. The farm I grew up on had Giant Kokopu in the small streams too, likely they are still there, but a bigger tank is a must before I get any of those.

Ian

[Stella]

Romeo, good that you have the Aquarium for advice! Awesome fish, neat that you got to see it.

Ian, I want to come up and check out your sites!

I wish i could re-organise my tanks a bit, but it is unlikely to happen. For a while i had nearly every native species locally available, but it was too much work at the time and the tanks were too small. Now I have mostly less common fish (mudfish, all the kokopu, torries), but these threads about bullies make me want to do a tank just for them. Common as anything but FABULOUS little fish!