hi what is needed to keep a snapper alive in a tank?, what equipment would be needed? and is it possible to just catch one from the beach and have it in a tank.

probably the same equiptment needed for a normal marine tank minus the heater and plus a chiller

might not need the higher lighting

what size tank would you be looking at, becuase snappers seem like the sort of fish that like swimming, and they grow dang big to.

i have a 450ltr tank at the moment thats got nothing in it, would that be bigg enough?what are some other fish like that that i could keep??how much for a skimmer etc?sorry for the questions.

You also need a licence to keep undersized snapper - minor legal detail. They grow real quick, greedy little pigs.

NIWA guys said it is pretty easy to get license for small crays etc for educational purposesz... anyone tried?

I had one years ago in a temperate tank, it was easycare and a good eater. It was perhaps 10 cm long when we got it, but grew quickly and had to be released again in just a few months.

I checked out the legality at the time, it is illegal to take an undersized fish, even for an aquarium. I was also told that getting a special license is not that easy either.

you could always have a look in the rock pools

I licence? That is the lamest thing I have ever heard. You don't need a licence to take them from the wild, kill them and eat them but you need a licence to keep them?

Ummmmm I don't think I would bother with the licence. But thats just me.

you could always say its part of the maritading proccess

Yeah it's not likely any Tank Police will raid your place, but legal issues should be mentioned.

It isn't the point of having them. It's having the "undersize" ones that worries them. Just tell the W***** that you have school kids round to see your tank/tanks and you get them set up as educational aid.

Alan 104

You can also buy undersized paua and crayfish legally from the seahorse farm in Napier.

http://www.theseahorsefarm.co.nz/sales_info2.html

hi will i need a skimmer etc or can i get by with a external and salt water???what else will i need?

at AUT in the science department they have a native tank that doesnt use a skimmer

but they did have some funny looking filtration unit (wasnt really all that clued up on filtration back then)

my seahorse tank does not have a skimmer, it had been running for about a year with no problems

ok , is there anything else that i would need to get it up and running? i have 2 externals,air pump , light what else??thanks for the help

Ouch

A tank and water, salt preferably

:roll:

Alan 104

You'll probably want a big pile of liverock and some powerheads.

Buzzy, you say you have a 450 liter tank with nothing in it. You mean nothing as in totally empty, no water, nothing?

The reason I ask is if you are totally new to marine tanks, there is much to know before even starting, more than can be explained in one post. The best plan would be to meet up with someone who is running a successful tank and discuss with them.

But for you, the basics would be this :-

The 450 liter tank is big enough for a smallish snapper. For filtration you will need liverock and circulation. External filters are not such a good idea for marine aquaria. Liverock is made from coral skeleton, and houses bacteria that eat the waste in the tank. The normal amount of liverock is about 1 kg to 6 liters water, so for your tank 75 kg. You can have less, depending on the bioload. For the rock to work effectively, you need sufficient water movement. This is achieved by pumps or powerheads, the flow should be at minimum 10 times tank volume per hour, or for your tank, you would have pumps with a total of at least 4,500 liters per hour.

When you initially put the rock in the water, it has to be "cured". In other words, the rock will contain dead organic matter that will pollute the water, and has to be given a few weeks to break down before fish can be added.

Get this right, and you have a basic setup that could house a snapper. The skimmer can come later, lighting is not critical in a fish only set up, and don't mess with any external filters.

But there is MUCH to learn. Here is an excellent site with a wealth of info. http://reefcentral.com/

Snapper get pretty big. We have some 7 year old snapper at a facility I spend a lot of time at, they are over a foot long excluding the tail. A group of 10 live in a 3000 litre tank with water pumped in direct from the sea. The water is turned over about once per hour.

Yes, there is the 10-inch rule to prevent baby snapper from being fished. You catch one under the limit, you have to throw it back. Throw it into a tank sounds somewhat similar, but its not the same thing. Yes, you will need special dispensation to keep one - even for educational purposes. Keeping one so you can "learn about what it tastes like in a few years time" doesn't count as education.

You would need:

1. a big chiller. In Wgtn, our water hits about 18 on a nice day. Your house is going to be warmer than that.

2. a big skimmer. Snapper guzzle, and they crap.

3. big vessels and frequent water changes, if you don't pipe water in from the sea

4. big supply of mussels and other fresh fish tidbits to feed them. Flakes won't do.

5. a big wallet crammed full o' Rutherfords.

........... keep something else!!! LOL

All the best

Getting snapper to breed isn't just a matter of putting a red light over the tank and slapping on a Barry White record There are many factors to get right (many of which are not fully understood) including:

lengthening of photoperiod

appropriate food source

change in temperature

mate competition

suitable spawning location and depth

chemical cues in the fish and water

There aren't any guarantees in life, so even if you got this right it may not work or the 'chemistry' may not be there. Fish A has to be attracted to fish B. If a ton of lipstick and a tarty outfit on fish A, and lots of macho posturing by fish B doesn't cut it, you can't just force the issue. Also, you have to make sure fishes A and B are of the right type to mate. The Civil Union Bill doesn't apply to fish in this instance.

Finally, hatching eggs and rearing fry is another ball game altogether.

Best to leave the snapper breeding to the experts (the snapper), eh?

And what may I ask is wrong with stripping

NO YOU FOOL

To strip, as in goldfish keeping.

I think I remember that the Napier Aquarium used to have some type of contact with Wellington during the breeding season.

Maybe some Napierian can fill us in on this if they see this post.

Alan 104

Yeah, that's how practically all larger fish are bred commercially, as far as I know, I don't see why it can't be done with snapper. Pretty straight forward process.

Hi Alan, I suspect the Napier aquarium would be in contact with the hatchery at Mahenga Bay in Wgtn that (among other things) has hatched snapper from time to time and grown them to about 2-3cm in size before releasing / distributing.