wanting to set up a native tank

[Ashzbetta]

hey everyone, i am wanting to set up a native tank. but in dont know much about them. im wanting to try bullies and maybe some shrimp. maybe a fresh water cray aswel?

plan is a 60x30x30 tank in our washhouse. its a cold room that the heat doesnt fluctuate(spelling?) in.

other that that im not sure what else?

please help me

what sort of lid do they need? filtration?

can i get shrimp in christchurch?

oh and what can i feed them?

thanks in advance

ashley

[spoon]

yep you can get shrimp here in chch filter can be what ever you have handy even an under gravel will work (if its just for shrimp)

[CodKing]

I had a tank of similar size that happily housed 4 Bullies (3 males 1 female). I layered rocks and scenery so they had good hiding places at all levels in the tank.

The filter I used was suitable for a 70L tank which generated quite a bit of current. I had this on for about 10hrs/day, switching it off at feeding time in the afternoon and leaving it off all night. The Bullies seemed to enjoy a bit of a splash in the current, especially when a I added a few live bugs!

One thing I've found, when feeding them ox heart or liver, the fishes 'poop' was quite big and seemed to get trapped in small gaps. To combat this I swished the tank in the opposite direction to the flow of the filter and that dislodged a lot of it. A quick swipe with my little net and poop all gone!

I've found my Bullies fascinating to keep and feeding time is way cooler with these guys than any other fish! Great characters with a couple proving to be quite 'quirky'

Hope this info helps!

[CodKing]

Oops, chopped off the feeding bit...

My Bullies have a main diet of Ox heart, Sand fleas (little bugs you find under rocks in the garden), small earthworms and frozen bloodworms.

First up I tried Ox liver but they seemed to be regurgitating it. Found awful looking decaying chunks of food all the time. Since then it's been little chunks of heart offered to them on the end of a bit of wire If you offer one bit at a time you can control who gets what and saves on excess food floating round your tank fouling up the water. Plus I've found that most of them wont eat anything that's just lying on the ground, sometimes even live food! Now they are used to 'food on a stick' they come out as soon as soon as I take the lid of the tank.

Oh and that reminds me, put a lid on your tank. I lost a few that way, came home to carpet fish they dont do so well on the floor!

What I've found they wont eat: Earwigs, Grass grubs, Slatters, Leeches and Slugs

[Ashzbetta]

does the type of lid matter? is a plain glass one alright?

does the sex ratio matter? more females the males best? and what about lighting? im guessing just a dull light?

[Stella]

Hi there,

Good plan, placing them in a cooler room to begin with. That helps so much with the battle against the tank heating up.

What is critical with bullies is to have lots of ground area and lots of hiding places. Your tank is fixed size, but make sure you have lots of rocks and caves and nooks for them to hide in.

A tank that size, four small (5cm or less) bullies would be good. There can be big personality differences: some bullies are really relaxed but some can be very territorial and stroppy. It is best to have a few that get on well in the space available than to cram more in and have shredded fish.

Good question about the sexes: I haven't tried having more males than females (CodKing might be able to comment on this) but I suspect it would lead to aggression.

Bullies are not so good at getting out as some of the other natives. It is more of a side effect of them shooting up and down the glass then suddenly winding up on the wrong side of the glass. Plain glass is just fine.

CodKing, interesting about the liver being regurgitated. I haven't tried feeding that before.

I recommend you do a whole lot of trawling in the natives archives, some really good info and experiences in there

[CodKing]

Males living together seems to be alright so far. As you say Stella, their personalities can be widely varied. I've been monitoring the situation as best I can and it seems the largest male has the issues, with him seperated I've notice a huge change in the mood of the fish and they all come out much more often. Although this could be the calm before the storm, a new alpha will surely appear.

There also seems to be some reaction to light. I've got some kind of 12V orange coloured light near them and noticed they all came out for a look when its on. Is there anythign in this I wonder? Maybe a subject for another thread.

The meat thing I think was just how 'chewy' the liver was. Heart muscle seems to be much less dense and fibery. Fibery? is that a term? heh.

[Ashzbetta]

i went spotlighting tonight in our creeks. found a few bullies, they look to be common ones. one was real small and fast! we caught 2 but they were too big to keep, plus my tank isnt up yet. we also found a trout, and 3 of what we assume to be inanga. It was very exciting to see the inanga.

so i will set up a tank and go spotlighting again to get something.

the room we want to put the tank in is the washhouse. when we go in and turn the bright light on, will it stress them or will they be alright?

also wondering how to sex the bullies? of the two we caught one had a little yellow stripe on its fins, was this a male?

[Stella]

Always good to check them out in the wild to get an idea of how to do the tank and what sort of fish you can find

I think if the aquarium light it on, turning the room light on shouldn't bother them too much. (alternatively it wouldn't be much different to the aquarium light coming on in a dark room).

I often find my aquarium lights give off enough light that I don't need the main lights when I am pottering briefly in a small room.

Yup, coloured dorsal stripe = male