museeumchick Posted October 20, 2008 Report Share Posted October 20, 2008 i know there are a few koura threads already, but i just wanted to make a short note of the coolness of them. mine settled in yesterday and is already marching about like he (or she) owns the tank - super cool! now i need some company (fast enough not to be food) for it super neet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted October 20, 2008 Report Share Posted October 20, 2008 Indeed, crayfish have a high coolness rating on the coolness index. oh I forgot to see which sex it was! Shall have to visit it sometime Glad it is settling in well and keeping you entertained. One of my plans for today is to get a thread up with some photos from our spotlighting trip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted October 20, 2008 Report Share Posted October 20, 2008 OK, I have to ask...are koura the same as lobster :oops: :oops: Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted October 20, 2008 Report Share Posted October 20, 2008 Kinda. But freshwater, smaller and with two great big pincers out the front (I think lobsters don't have pincers?). These ones are native (koura being the Maori name, also known as crayfish or 'crawlies'). Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/nznativefish/CrayfishKoura# Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted October 20, 2008 Report Share Posted October 20, 2008 http://atn-riae.agr.ca/seafood/lobster-e.htm lobster picture...although they don't look like that in the wild, they usually are red after cooked. Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted October 20, 2008 Report Share Posted October 20, 2008 ok, just like that but small, brown, freshwater and somewhat less 'I am going to kill you' nippers! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted October 21, 2008 Report Share Posted October 21, 2008 ok, just like that but small, brown, freshwater and somewhat less 'I am going to kill you' nippers! :lol: Dont let Mr Crawly hear you say that 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted October 21, 2008 Report Share Posted October 21, 2008 wow can you hand feed it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted October 21, 2008 Report Share Posted October 21, 2008 :lol: yes, but it seems a waste of a good hand The only time I have hand-fed mine was trying to give it a pea and the kokopu kept trying to steal it. I had to put it directly into its 'hands'! Even then the kokopu still tried to steal it off the cray... Kokopu are *insectivorous* :roll: Looking good Ian. Is that a recent photo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted October 21, 2008 Report Share Posted October 21, 2008 Cooool. I didn't know koura is actually a crayfish. I just figured it was a native freshwater fish. What sort of conditions would you need to have one.. tank size etc?? How big do they get? Can you have more than one in a tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted October 21, 2008 Report Share Posted October 21, 2008 your questions are actually pretty well covered in a handful of recent threads. Do a search and get back to us with any unanswered ones They do make GREAT pets. Not particularly interactive, but interesting, different and easy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted October 21, 2008 Report Share Posted October 21, 2008 Thanks Stella, I had a quick look and had all questions previously asked answered. I now have the following questions: What about pH preferences? Will they eat snails? What will they do with plants? I also read that if you have more than one, one is going to be come dominant and harrass the other.. what if I had 3?? It'll have 2 friends to harrass?? I have a AR620 (approx 90 litres) just sitting around growing algae and its home to a million snails. Want to do something with it. Thought it might be suitable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted October 21, 2008 Report Share Posted October 21, 2008 I take that the are ONLY cold water? No chance of acclimatising it to tropical? I want one, only so i can hand feed it. can they walk outside water? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted October 21, 2008 Report Share Posted October 21, 2008 pH No worries. There is a lot of variety in the wild. Stable 'any' pH is better than unstable 'ideal' pH. Snails They may eat them. I have never been too sure if they do. Could be interesting to put one in a bare tank with a bunch of snails (only they can't walk in a bare tank...) I would say they would give it a go. Probably depends on snail species (size, shell strength) Plants Don't bother. They will unearth them on purpose and accidentally, and they will eat them. Will drive you mad. Either go for plants that are already floating or disregard them entirely. Plants are not often found with crays. That said, a bit of ponga frond looks lovely in a tank. Provides a bit of textural interest and vertical stuff. It slowly goes brown but doesn't disintegrate. If you have two, one will get hassled. If you have three, two will get hassled... :lol: :roll: Unless your tank has an enormous ground area and a million hiding places, there will be hassling, if not cannibalism. One is fine on its own. I don't know what that tank is like, but for any natives they need ground area over depth. Ian has his cray in a tank with quite a small ground area and it seems to be doing fine, but I like giving them lots of space to rummage. Personal choice etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted October 21, 2008 Report Share Posted October 21, 2008 Oh the tank is 62cm long, 38 wide, 53cm high The tank is ready to go, all cycled, has gravel and some larger rocks in it, could make some caves too. And thats good about the plants cos there is only one sorry looking plant in there at the moment, so doesn't worry me at all if it gets destroyed. The snails are just small brown ones, they made their way in on a plant purchased from LFS.. pond snails perhaps?? Do they have lighting requirements?? And I can just go down to my local river and have a look for one?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted October 21, 2008 Report Share Posted October 21, 2008 That should be fine Caves are a must for crays. Not just one but lots all over. The more caves it can hide it, the more secure it feels and therefore the more you will see it rampaging about looking for food. (they are surprisingly timid critters). Just pile some rocks hither and yon, making sure they are stable. Lighting is not much of a worry. Light enough for you to see in. Their eyes are weak and probably not keen on bright lights. And of course without plants you don't need strong lighting. Yep, you can take them from rivers/streams. Bag limit of 50 a day - good luck finding that many! Romeo had a lot of trouble finding one around Chch. Streams in a bad way. Go out at night with a strong torch. Look in the slower, shallower areas. Or go during the day with a net and lift rocks and poke through vegetation. During the day you usually won't see them until they are in your net. If you ever want to return it (or any other native critter) it MUST go back to the same spot you found it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted October 21, 2008 Report Share Posted October 21, 2008 Cool, thanks for all your advice Stella! The lights in the tank I would say aren't very strong, they are on individual switches too so can have both on or only one on.. one would probably be enough perhaps. Off to find me a koura! Well not right now but later maybe. I'll start with the Otautau Stream which is just over the back of our house, then try the Aparima River. I've definitely seen them in the Dunsdale Stream years ago, but thats a bit of a drive from where we are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted October 21, 2008 Report Share Posted October 21, 2008 :lol: yes, but it seems a waste of a good hand Looking good Ian. Is that a recent photo? No, it's an old photo. It's moulted since then so it's slightly bigger and the tank is slightly greener :-? SouthernG. dont worry too much about the lights, my koura tank has no lights, just normal room lighting and the koura seems a lot more settled and is out around the tank most of the time. He seems to have learnt the the lid moving means food, and will climb up on the wood waving his feelers and looking for the food. They certainly like some hiding spots, and can dig and move even large gravel to to get things how they want them. Mine lives in a 18l tank by itself, gets fed a sinking catfish tab or 1/2 a pleco tablet each day. Have had it 6 months, one moult and zero problems, so they are pretty easy to keep. Keep the water cool and fresh and they will be fine. Not running bright lights will help keep the temp down too. I'm not brave enough to hand feed mine.. I'm sure you could, but I'm not sure how good they are at telling fingers and food apart. Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted October 21, 2008 Report Share Posted October 21, 2008 yes, but it seems a waste of a good hand :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Ok, we can eat lobsters can you eat koura? Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted October 21, 2008 Report Share Posted October 21, 2008 Ok, we can eat lobsters can you eat koura? Caper Yes they are edible, but you have to have a real good spot to catch enough for a feed. They are common, but seldom in huge numbers. Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted October 21, 2008 Report Share Posted October 21, 2008 Thanks for the info Stella & Ian Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cricketman Posted October 21, 2008 Report Share Posted October 21, 2008 the old maori trick to catching them was to put a manuka branch, leaves and all into the river in a pool or into the side of a lake, leave overnight then pull it out quickly in the morning... apparently koura are attracted to teh manuka leaves. could be worth a try.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted October 21, 2008 Report Share Posted October 21, 2008 It is not so much the manuka leaves that attracts them, as the hiding places. There are hardly any plants in lakes with koura, because they like eating them, but conversely they like hiding in vegetation. They did a study to show that lakes with no weeds were actually able to support weeds, but it was the koura that stopped them growing. To test this they anchored a submerged raft to the bottom of the lake so it was floating above the substrate and out of reach of crays. They put heaps of weeds in pots on the raft. Then they found the common bullies had totally taken over the raft and were uprooting the plants and chucking the soil out of the pots and using the pots as nests! :lol: bullies rock! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
museeumchick Posted October 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 the fresh water weed control unit? bullies and koura (although i suppose its just the pots the bullies were after so not so good in weed control, koura of the destruction are perhaps better - just send in a team and hope they dont all eat each other). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
preacher Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 They are so much fun, I suspect they killed my lily and one other plant in my pond. Strangely enough they appear to have left the other 5 alone. I have lost the tags to two plants, but the others in my pond are : Juncus Effusus (common soft rush) (Bugger my torch just ran out! Time for the back up) Ranunculus Amphitirichus (Waoriki) NZ Native (Ewww! Its 1am, cold and pissing with rain! Why am I doing this now!) Rotala Macranda They were all left in their origional pots, and the Koura definately go around them all, though they do prefer the deeper part of the pond to the shallow where most of the plants are. P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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