oeminx Posted October 4, 2008 Report Share Posted October 4, 2008 I was thinking of setting up a tank for Koura but i wanted to know a bit more about them afew questions i have are; how much flow do they need? and how much do they like? what other fish are good mates for them? What temp could i keep them at? any help will be appreciated muchly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-town... Posted October 4, 2008 Report Share Posted October 4, 2008 they will try to eat a lot of tank mates. If you want fish in the tank they will have to be fast and may all be picked off eventually. they like around 19 degrees lower prefered. if you get more than one make sure you have plenty of caves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heir Posted October 4, 2008 Report Share Posted October 4, 2008 They can live in stagnant water. Don't know if they like it so much though. I've had one with goldfish, danios, WCMM and hillsteam loaches with no deaths (apart from his) though he wasnt a very big koura. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Posted October 4, 2008 Report Share Posted October 4, 2008 Excellent, the more Koura the better! Here's a list of threads I've started over the last few months. I went from knowing *NOTHING* about Koura, to having two, then one + 2 Inanga. DOC: Keeping Koura / Freshwater Crayfish / Native speciesCHCH: I want a Koura - but I've got no idea...First Tank: Want to set up for Koura & ShrimpMy Koura arrive tomorrow!Koura *not mineFreshwater Crayfish*not mine how much flow do they need - and how much do they like? I've got an 80*30*30 - but my Koura only uses half the tank and never ventures to the right 20cm of it, so 60cm wide should be sufficient. (My Koura's 8cm from nose to tail) I had a 180lph Eheim internal filter circulating 50 litres of water in my tank - and the Koura was pretty happy. I've now got a 500lph internal Eheim filter and it's probably a bit much, she's always building little mounds of gravel to block the entrances to her cave, to stop the water from rushing in. Somewhere in between would be good, I've heard that filtering your tank water 4 times an hour is a good target for Koura. what other fish are good mates for them? I've tried putting four different types of things in with mine. 1) Shrimp - she ate them 2) Another Koura - she tormented him until he was at his wits end 3) A *huge* bully - she grabed it's fins and rode around on it 4) Two inanga, about 20% longer than the Koura - success, she ignores them completely! THAT SAID, Stella says that it's probably not a good idea to trust a Koura larger than 7cm with fish. I wouldn't recommend getting more than one - as one becomes dominant and harasses the other one. Thusly the other one spends *ALL* it's time trying to escape the tank - not very fun ;[. What temp could i keep them at? Vince Skully - a Koura farmer in Kaikoura - reckons that 19°c is optimum growing temperature. I've heard of them being in water up to 22-24°c, but this is pretty high and will most likely shorten their lifespan. Mine's active in temperatures as low at 8°c, but now that it's a bit warmer she's always moving gravel around and clambering about. Great fun... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted October 4, 2008 Report Share Posted October 4, 2008 Mine lives in a little 5gal tank buy itself, no tankmates, safer that way. But other people do keep them with fish. The Koura will try and stalk small fish, but they aren't very good hunters. The tank needs a normal level of filtering, they dont need or like high flow. Just a normal small power filter will be fine. Keep them as cool as possible. Depending on how warm the room is you may have problems in summer with them getting too hot. The tank cant get too cold, unless it starts to freeze. I suggest you just set up a small tank and just get one to start with, they are fascinating to keep and watch. Make sure your tank has a good lid. Stella may be able to give you better advice on tankmates as long as you have a big enough tank. Mine just gets fed sinking catfish tablets and bits of the plecos algae tabs. I've had it about 6 months and it's just molted so it must be growing. They are very slow growing, maybe only 1/4" per year. Even a 1" baby could be 4 years old, and actually big enough to breed. Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oeminx Posted October 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2008 thanks for all the help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkie Posted November 26, 2008 Report Share Posted November 26, 2008 i have a pond and have just made a water feature out of a large fish tank.the water is pumped from the pond up into the tank and it just over flows back into the pond and it looks great.anyway my qusetion is i have oranda's in there at the present and i would like to add a couple of fresh water crays?all thats in the tank is gravel which is covered with glossastigma will the cray harm my orandas?any advice would be apreciated.if not i will go with shrimp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Posted November 26, 2008 Report Share Posted November 26, 2008 How big are the orandas? It's hard to say sometimes with Koura. Judging by mine, and a few other member's Koura, it depends on the temperament of the koura you get. My 10cm+ koura happily shares it's cave/lunch with my 12cm, slender inanga. But in general, I'd hazard to say that if the fish is 50% larger than the koura, you *should* be fine. But I wouldn't bank on it, as they will nip hard if something bumps into their claws or flashes infront of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkie Posted November 27, 2008 Report Share Posted November 27, 2008 they would be about 16cm but as you no they arnt the fastest swimmers so i think im better of with shrimp which is a bugger as the cray would have looked great in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Posted November 27, 2008 Report Share Posted November 27, 2008 You do realise that goldfish/orandas EAT shrimp? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkie Posted November 27, 2008 Report Share Posted November 27, 2008 yup but im thinking they are allot faster than my big fat well fed oranda's and if they do eat them no biggie there free Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninjafroglet Posted November 27, 2008 Report Share Posted November 27, 2008 You have to remember that they aren't really *free*. You are removing them from their environment, which harms that population of shrimp, in turn reducing the food for the things that eat the shrimp and so on and so forth. While it's not as much of a big deal with shrimp as they are fairly prolific, I would still be careful about taking large numbers at once. Of course I am assuming you are taking them from a wild population? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkie Posted November 27, 2008 Report Share Posted November 27, 2008 yes i am well aware of that but 12 shrimp shouldnt make a huge impact on the eco system from were i collect them and there are plenty of them there anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mj Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 off topic (sorry) but koura seems to be the sort of topic that justifies its own forum in the specialists corner just a thought Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 off topic (sorry) but koura seems to be the sort of topic that justifies its own forum in the specialists corner just a thought Maybe a Native Fish section? That can include koura, bullies, ianga, eels, kokopu etc. There would surely be enough posts to justify it then. Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mj Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 yeah lots of questions relating to these ... make it easier for new people (like myself) to not annoy the old schoolers :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninjafroglet Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 great idea in my book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 Great idea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 How does it annoy others being in the coldwater section? :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninjafroglet Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 It just does....besides, we're special Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 How does it annoy others being in the coldwater section? :-? We just want get special treatment It's just a suggestion as there is the specialist fish area and there seems to be an increasing interest in native fish. But no one is going to have a Spaz if the admins decide things are fine like they are now. Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 If that's the case then the coldwater section should be renamed to the goldfish section. It's not as if there are 100 different active threads in here a day and if you miss a day you have to search 5 pages back to find a specific one. There's maybe 2 on a busy day. It's stupid to get so precise with the categories if the volume of activity doesn't justify it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 The suggestion has been noted and will be discussed but we do not want to end up with miles (or should that be kilometres?) of thread titles to scroll though in the main index Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted November 29, 2008 Report Share Posted November 29, 2008 Maybe just a description change on the coldwater section then? "Goldfish, ponds AND native fish?" Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted November 29, 2008 Report Share Posted November 29, 2008 Which of those aren't coldwater? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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