Anyone Kept Black Flounder?

[Stella]

Um, yeah, that is pretty much the whole question....

.... oh and how, what were they like, what do they eat and all that stuff....

[Dixon1990]

I wanted one but couldnt find any info on keeping them and didnt have room.

Have you found them before?

[Dixon1990]

It is most abundant in fresh or brackish waters, especially in Lake Ellesmere in the South Island of New Zealand, where it grows to its greatest size.

So it looks like im off to lake ellesmere in the next few weeks :lol:

[alanmin4304]

I kept them for a couple of years and they were realy neat. We used to get the odd one when taking tubifex from the south branch of the Waimakariri river. We fed them mainly tubifex worms and they would stick to the side of the tank like sucking catfish. Mine were small, about the size of the old 50c piece. I had no refrigeration and suspect they died from getting too hot in summer. Great fish if you can get them. That was 30 years ago and the tubifex has pretty well gone so if that was the atraction they may not be there now. There is I suspect a minimum take size.

[alanmin4304]

They are even nicer stuffed with garlic,ginger,soya sauce and sesame oil

(don't tell wok he will be down here next week.)

[Wok]

Too Late!!!!!

I like my flounder pan fried with a little salt and soy sauce,

have to make sure the fins are nice and crispy.

Yum Yum.

In fact a bought a whole heap of them when I was in Napier on Labour weekend.

Now in the freezer and frying one up every second - third day

Now where's that drool Icon. :roll:

[Stella]

No I have never seen them before. Know virtually nothing about them and google is not being particularly helpful.

They sound like the small ones would be incredibly cute though...

Alan, what sort of tank did you have them in? How do they eat (their mouths are sideways!)? What sort of substrate?

I am surprised they would stick to the side of the tank!

[livingart]

sandy or very fine gravel floor, mud might be worth a try

yes they stick to sides of tank

live foods, but accept qxheart, shrimp, prawn etc as well

can wean onto fine granular foods

[alanmin4304]

They bury in the bottom media so would stir up mud. Fine sand would be good. They are good at blending and hiding.

[alanmin4304]

I had about a dozen in a 12 gallon tank but they were small (below legal catch size no doubt). We used to get whitebait, baby eals and smelt also.