Zealandia exhibit

[preacher]

The Zealandia exhibit was free today for the Wellington region. We took the 2 kids (almost 5 and 16) for a walk.

We had an awesome time, from seeing the rare Saddlebacks flying around us, to laughing at a comical Kaka which was having fun landing on peoples heads and exploring their hair. I of course was interested in their native fish setup...

I was somewhat disappointed, it being little more than a tank about a metre long and about half a metre high, set out half way along a track totally exposed to the elements (I hate to think what the temperature was in there...). For 'nocturnal' fish they had no real shading from the daylight at all. It was essentially a bare tank with some gravel and 2 bits of drift wood. Nothing at all like the 'slow moving streams' which it the information board suggested they live in. Fish species consisted of a bunch of bullies and 2 Kokopu. The largest bully dwarfed everything else except the Kokopu being about 10cm long (I am assuming at that size it is a common). The next largest was a beautiful, and very black, male Crans? Hang on... how come he's black and hiding under the log? Oh, wait... Sure enough there's a large white patch under the log. Their bullies have spawned! Way cool

The only Galaxidds listed on the information board were Inanga, Koara and Banded Kokopu for some reason. Though it mentioned Koara and Banded could be found upstream in the reserve. The 2 Kokopu in the tank could have been Inanga or Banded? They appeared to be about 10cm long and had a very prominent yellow/green stripe along the dorsal edge of their bodies. They looked very sorry for themselves, just sitting huddles in a corner and not doing anything. (Hardly surprising since they had no cover to hide behind.)

Somehow I think they lack someone of 'expertise' in Native fish there. I give them a 6 out of 10, mainly for effort alone and the fact their Bullies spawned. But they could certainly do better.

If you ever do come down to visit Stella I will take you along and you can give them a stern talking too!

Peter

[Stella]

Hi Peter,

Yes, the Karori tank is a shocker. :evil:

I would LOVE to get my hands on it and 'redecorate'!!

The physical structure is actually VERY well designed. The tank itself faces the bush away from the sun (and annoying reflections). The information panelling on the back and sides probably insulate it. And if you peer into the grille underneath there is a KICKASS chiller, which, being positioned in the shade near the ground, is ideal for efficiency. The size/shape of the tank and the spray bar is also great.

But yes, the decor is AWFUL.

The fish are unhealthy and poorly fed (I saw a well-eaten dead one)

There are not enough hiding places.

There is no 'vision' behind it: no depiction of habitat, no thought into fish assemblage. It is just a random pile of fish.

And...

wait for it....

FRUIT SALAD GRAVEL!!!!

With the streams running through the sanctuary it would be easy to model the tank on them, and then people could relate the natural streams to what they see in the tank.

A freshwater ecologist friend has tried talking to them before about it, and showed them pictures of my tanks, but clearly nothing has changed.

When my book is done I shall go down there and try to talk to them about it. It is a shame because the structure is so awesome but the interior is a huge letdown.

[preacher]

Thanks Stella, I'm glad they have the chiller installed. The fish looked pretty healthy to me when I went down so I presume someone's feeding them. But as a display I have to agree, its a huge let down. I was thinking of emailing them and offering to volunteer to do it up a bit better. Maybe even offer them some shrimp, I would have loved to see a little Koura in there too, but I can understand why they don't.

Better yet, if they do allow you to do something about it (oh God PLEASE!), let me know. I would love to help out

I am having fun watching my pond the last few nights, I have a very stroppy Koura at the moment. For the most part they seem to get on well with the fish, especially the goldfish (which are just as big or bigger than all but one). This little so n so though cuddles up to them, slides underneath and nips them. Its almost a game for it, the goldfish don't seem to care though. Mind you, I have to be careful going across the garden. My Southern Bell frogs are engaged in nuptials and I keep finding them all over the garden!

P.

[rong]

I would like to respond to the observations about the native fish display at Zealandia. I gree with with the observation that inunga are nocturnal and like cover, we tried providing more cover (filled the back corners of the tank with rocks for 6 months) but the fish then became totally hidden during peak visiting hours.

The tank is placed as far under the shade of the trees as we could get it in that locality ( so far to one side that many people miss seeing the fish display altogether). I did a web search and ours is the only successful outdoor aquarium I could find anywhere. (Most aquaria are in a darkened room so that the low light (to prevent algal bloom) still looks reasonably bright ). (One of the best displays in NZ would have to be the display in Cathedral Square Christchurch although it is already several years since I last saw it). We do have a problem that as the inunga mature and need to spawn we have no option for them to do so. (Presumably they naturally die after spawning ). The ones reported in our tank with the iridescent green dorsal stripe are the males that are left (breeding colour ? – I hadn’t noticed the green dorsal stripe until recently either). Our supplier Mike had promised to give us some replacement inunga whitebait and that was nearly a year ago. (Incidentally Mike was amazed at how long our fish are living ).

Our fish are fed twice a week – a selection of white worms, tubifix worms, mealworms, tropical fish flakes, fish pellets, even chopped earthworms, and what ever moths, wetas etc that fall into the tank naturally. (They must like what I give them because they often leave the natural live food for some time).

The tank is cleaned every two weeks ( we still get a lot of algae – especially in summer when very early morning sun shines into the tank which the fish seem to enjoy (ie they sit in the patches of sunlight).

At the same time I do a 60litre water change – that keeps the nitrate and nitrite levels at 0%.

The tank is kept below 19 degrees Celsius with a big chiller which then results in condensation on the glass when ever it is warm and humid making it hard to look in. (I hate using chemicals near the tank which might otherwise control the condensation).

Another problem is that as a public display tank it is compared to other public aquaria which have their display tanks stocked at much higher densities than we can manage in a stand alone tank because the water in public aquaria are linked to massive (empty of fish) holding tanks under the floor.

It maybe of interest that we tried koura – also very nocturnal (they burrowed under the rocks out of sight) and came out at night to nibble on the fins of the fish – so of no advantage at all.

So far the common bullies, redfins and inungas have been the most successful. The banded kokopu become much shyer as they mature. We have tried blue gills twice but there is something about our situation that does not suit them. I suspect they have a particular food requirement (any ideas anyone?).

Ron.

[livingart]

hi ron

welcome to the forum

thanks for your response

i had an outside tank for a few years and found like you that fish like to hide

part of the problem was them feeling exposed to predation

natural instinct was to hide

i found that the more plants and cover i had the safer they felt

covering the back and sides i feel made the fish feel they were near a river bank

it is hard to strike a balance between what is best for the tank inhabitants and best for human viewing

are you able to catch fish yourself locally during the whitebait season?

[Stella]

Hi Ron,

I agree: welcome to the forum and thank you for adding to this thread

It sounds like you have put a lot of work into the tank, but I do hear from many different people that the 'decor' of the tank is very disappointing and doesn't show the fish off as well as it could. Believe me, I really want this tank to look as awesome as possible - I am a firm believer that public native aquaria are a great way to go for education and raising public concern about the state of our waterways.

A bit of background on me: I am currently advising on two large new public native aquaria in different parts of the country. I am just about to publish a book on keeping native fish. Also currently studying for a Masters in Ecology to become a freshwater ecologist.

It is a problem these fish being nocturnal and secretive, but I find there are two important ways around that: food and shelter.

If the fish (and koura) feel safe they will come out more - they know that cover is close to hand. Bullies especially are very active buzzing in and out of their rocky caves, especially the males defending their territories. Just having the back corners filled with rocks will put the fish at the back, caves throughout means fish will move throughout. It can be a difficult balancing act though, and that is where the high density stocking and species selection comes in.

With food: the fish come out when they know they will get fed. Having a set feeding time and making a big public deal of it means the fish will be more active around that time and the public get a good educational show and tell. Over winter their metabolisms slow, particularly the kokopu, but certainly over summer, and with such a well-stocked tank, there will always be someone that is hungry. Just adjust the amounts of food accordingly and only drop in a little at a time.

As you have found, inanga can't spawn in aquaria. Females may die from being eggbound. However those that survive can keep on going. I had one live for three years and I saw a huge 15cm one that was five years old! I am surprised that you are finding the inanga are nocturnal and like cover - they ought to be one of your more visible fish. It may be something to do with the numbers - they like to school, and the tank is big enough to allow that, are there enough of them? Alternatively, non-schooling midwater fish (mainly other galaxiids) get in the way of the schooling and break them up. Also look closely at other behaviours - koaro and kokopu especially can become quite aggressive, especially around the 2-3 year mark when they mature sexually.

I heard of a guy who had an inanga die from being eggbound. He squeezed the eggs into the tank and food for the others - the next day the tank was full of eggs from the other inanga! Some pheromonal action going on. May be handy if you have that happen.

Bluegill bullies are very timid and easily out-competed at meal times, thus rather difficult to successfully keep in a large community tank. They naturally live 'within' the substrate, moving between stones, although in a single-species tank with a reasonable current they can be extremely active and playful.

Only small koura should be kept with fish, especially when ground-dwelling fish (ie bullies, torries) are kept. I find a cray over 7cm long is far too big, but a lot depends on the individual personality. If the cray is at the large end of the scale, the bullies should be large too. Small bullies = cray lunch.

It would be wonderful to see the tank reflect the streams in the Sanctuary, so that as people walk through they can automatically associate what they see in the tank with the streams. Obviously restricted access due to the dams and perch has limited the species present, so it would be necessary to add other species that would likely have been present. Use gravel, rocks, leaf litter and fern fronds from the Sanctuary. Having a focus like that also makes it much easier to meet the needs of all the fish and design a cohesive and natural looking aquarium.

I would be more than happy to meet and talk about this more if you want (written format can be so cumbersome!) and you would be more than welcome to visit my aquaria if you are coming up this way some time Otherwise happy to help here.

[preacher]

Hi Ron

How are your bullie eggs? Did they hatch?

I can understand you face many issues with such an exhibit, as you can see Stella and I are some what passionate about our native fish.

Have you considered low level lighting of your tank and using a blind screen of some kind that people duck under to see the fish to reduce the natural light as much as possible?

Stella and I have no issue with the tank itself, it seems to be well maintained. For I it was the presentation that disappointed me. Having observed these species both in the wild and captive in my ponds, day and night, I can appreciate your wanting to present the fish as best as possible. Though typically nocturnal, I have noted that Inanga can be quite active during the day, albeit ducking from weed/surface cover to cover. Fixing some fern fronds on one side of the top of the tank might just give them the cover they need to be a bit more active. In open water they duck in and out of the rocks on the bottom and try to hide if they can't swim away. That explains why they hid behind the rocks in the corners. Inanga are midstream schoolers, where as I understand Banded and Koara are loners who like to hide in slow, covered streams.

If you want some more Galaxidds, let me know. I can take you to a spot in the Hutt River that I often see them schooling in October - December, Bullies too. I know several spots for Koura in the Hutt Valley, so their no problem. Also have you considered native freshwater muscles and shrimp in your tank as algae/filter feeders, it won't solve your algae problem but it might help and it gives you some more species to boost your diversity. The shrimp are certainly very active little critters and the fish won't bother them.

I am more than willing to help out in any way I can.

Peter

[rong]

Thank you all for your welcome, ideas and offers of help. I would like to try the idea of milking a gravid female if that will help keep her alive ( I was afraid the stress of milking would be too detrimental).

I am still reluctant to add a lot of rocks - last time it doubled the

amount of cleaning each fortnight and it became a two man job to clean the tank. I can try the fern frond idea. (I have been reluctant to put fresh material in because of previous problems with whitespot when adding new fish or substrate). It is surprising how well they can hide with the cover already provided.

I love fresh water shrimps (I grew up along side the Hutt River (Upper Hutt) and the shrimps were in only a very few places and I have always regarded them as something really special - totally transparent with black pencil lines). I understand though that they too are migratory - how long can you keep them in a tank? (We also knew of a couple of pools that had full grown giant kokopu - now long gone).

Limpets might work - they presumably feed on algae (the limpets I found in the Hutt River were always under rocks - will they display at all?). Mussels might be harder to feed. Presumably we would have to turn the filter pumps off for a couple of hours each time.

Maybe I should point out that unlike your home tanks ours does suffer from some public abuse now and then - eg banging on the glass, which is enough to make a nervous banded kokopu try and jump out. Unfortunately the people that do this are careful to do it when we aren't around to try and educate them.

Recently we had to get a commercial glass polisher in to remove scratched in tagging on the glass - the polishing machine was nerve wracking for the fish too.

Thanks again, Ron.

[Stella]

Hi Ron,

I don't know if milking a live inanga would work (probably, may require anaesthetic...). Though maybe some light pressure may be enough to get her started. Might be hard to tell when they would need it though, then it requires catching them....

How did adding rocks increase the amount of cleaning? Did it increase the algae-cleaning needed?

In my forest stream tank I only clean algae off the front glass, the rest of the tank is this wonderful earthy green with everything blending in and looking aged. Can go through some unappetising stages at the start with brown and blue-green 'algae' though.

Whitespot can only ever be transported into the tank on fish or material from a waterway with fish. If everything gets quarantined before being added (which is compulsory anyway), the chances of having an outbreak is very low. Further if all fish are treated before entering the tank, whitespot will NEVER be a problem. It can hide in the gills but when the fish get stressed they can really get stuck in and a major outbreak occurs. This site is great for accurate info: www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/health/ich.shtml

Ponga fronds look awesome in a native tank - they make a really nice obvious NEW ZEALAND connection for the viewer, without actually looking out of place. They make a good backdrop and take up vertical space, which is really handy in a naturally plant-free native aquarium. Broken pieces littering up the place can provide a bit of cover for smaller fish, and help with a forest stream look. They last for many months, depending on how careful your maintenance around them is. They stay green the first two months and slowly brown off, staying like that for ages (I think they look best brown).

Shrimps may last a while and look awesome (if anyone can spot them) but will likely become live food after a while, depending on the degree of habitat complexity. No idea how long they normally live.

Latia limpets are pretty cool. I have mostly seen them under things too, may not be ideal. I tried them in my tanks and the redfin bullies ate them all within half an hour! I had carefully stuck each one down on a rock too, and they are HARD to get off!

Mussels are sadly very difficult to keep in aquaria - they just slowly starve to death. Even keeping them in a mussel-only set-up with daily feedings of green water doesn't work. Actually it could be interesting trying to come up with a semi-captive mussel-bed in the Sanctuary wetland so people could see them. Or some kind of tank where there was a continual flow of wetland water.

It must be frustrating having to deal with idiots like that :evil: More activity in front of the tank can make the fish more or less flighty, depending on species. Inanga and torries will always be flighty, but bullies tend to be more relaxed.

BTW if you ever get the inspiration/money, mudfish are the most curious fish you will ever meet and their wetland aquarium is such a different look and the easiest ever to maintain

[snorkelboy]

If experianced fishkeepers are saying the display sux, then it sux. Do not be offended. It is very difficult to set up a beautiful display tank. Some people can do it, most people have no show. I am hopeless, and my tanks look pathetic, like the vast majority. Karaori Wildlife Sanctuary is a fantastic place. Lucky you!

[rong]

Peter: I cleaned the tank again Friday and the bully was still guarding her eggs. I was careful to work around her. During the cleaning process she changed to uniform black colour, keeping the other fish at bay during the disturbance but as I was finishing she quickly changed back to her usual mottled tans and browns within 5 - 10 mins.

I always clean the tank late in the day so that the fish associate cleaning with getting fed and aren't stressed by it.

Ron.

[bdspider]

Is Karori sanctuary a different price if you're a resident of Wellington?

[preacher]

Thanks Ron, uh one point. It's HE not she, the male turns black and guards the nest while she goes off partying. Kind of like Kiwi's I guess, doesn't the male sit on the egg... hehe. Shame we don't know when they were spawned, otherwise Stella might have been able to give you the heads up on when to expect them to hatch. Oh Stella!!! What sort of time frame are we looking at for Crans? Its 2 weeks since I was there.

P.

[Stella]

aw cute, sounds like a very dedicated dad

It is somewhat temperature-dependent, and I can never remember how long it takes.... somewhere between 2 and 3 weeks. Certainly by now there should be shiny little eyes staring back at you

[rong]

Oops - still lots to learn obviously - I just assumed he was a she.

The best way to enjoy the sanctuary is to take out a membership - its about $60 but you can go several times a day if you want (some of our members do that), every day (except Christmas), and get free invites to all sorts of evening presentations, talks, special events, subsidies etc. Ron

[preacher]

I'm thinking about the membership thing for the family Ron, Karori makes a great place to go for a family day out. I would also love to go on the night tour one day, mind you I would mostly be interested in the waterways lol.

[Stella]

My dad's partner is a night-walk guide at Zealandia

[bdspider]

I don't live there so no point in membership... Just wondered cos the first time I went it was fantastic and I saw heaps of birds. Loved it, spent the whole day there. But when I was last there, the place was full of screaming toddlers and kids and people who had no consideration for staying quiet so others could view birds. And I wondered why they spent so much money to do something they could do for free in any old park. They must be people with memberships then

[rong]

There are 225 hectares of park (and waterways) and 99% of the visitors don't reach the halfway point - it is very easy to go off to the south end and not see anyone - just birds, (fish in the streams if youre that way inclined) and even tuatara on the tracks where you least expect it.

Peter: I would like to take up your offer of getting some more whitebait. I can be contacted at the sanctuary quite easily. The eggs still haven't hatched but I'm not sure I'll ever be able to see any eyes in them with out some sort of magnification - the eggs just look like a carpet of very tiny airbubbles at this stage. Ron

[Stella]

I am looking at coming down to welly the weekend of 13/14 November and am keen for go spotlighting if you are avaliable Peter (and Ron and anyone else! Peter has a good spot ),

also Ron we could meet up if you want to chat about your tank - so much easier in person!

[preacher]

Awesome! Im free Stella, I'm working this weekend but the following I'm all yours. I hope the weathers nice for it, I would also love to show you my Koura stream re growing Wetland. I was up there last night with the loppers cutting what I believe to be Blackberry... I counted about 6 - 8 large crays in the main pool where the waterfall comes to the valley floor The stream has diverted around the rocky wall rather than into the ground and if I am right has formed quite a large water feature on the valley floor. I noticed the Koura have started to spread out from their stream into the pool itself so hopefully it will become a permanent feature. Pity the fish can't get to it, it would probably make an ideal environment for the mudfish.

Ron, your more than welcome to join us if your free. There are lots of baby Galaxidds around at the moment, I caught a few the other day and I am seeing lots of gravid bullies around so hopefully I will see some fry in the river soon. If you can't make it, we can always catch some for you and deliver them. How many are you looking at? 10? 15? The ones I have seen are 3-4cm long and about the size of a toothpick.

[rong]

Thank you very much for the invitation. Unfortunately I am in Palmerston North this weekend, Masterton the following weekend (for the New Zealand Iris Society convention), working the Saturday the 20th and off to Te Aroha on the weekend 27th which leaves precious little time before the 30th (the end of the permitted season according to what I read on one of your other posts) so I would love to accept your offer of a few babies; 6-8 fish would be fine. I will make sure the person on duty knows what to do with them. It would have been good to see some in the field again too.

I am looking forward to seing Stella's new book too!

Ron.