koaro in captivity

[nativelover]

went fishing at my secret spot on the weekend and caught my first koaro and some inanga bullys and crays are the koaro hard to keep in captivity?

[Stella]

koaro are absolute NIGHTMARES! They can climb out of everything. The last one I had was put in a tank with a lip all the way around the top, lids on top of that. And the little blighter got out and dried up the first night by climbing out on a powercord that I had forgot to tape around! :evil:

They are pretty amazing fish to watch in aquaria, but only get them if your tank has:

1: the most unbelievably escape-proof lid (it must go back on when your back is turned while doing maintenance)

2: the water is well cooled, under 20 degrees at most times.

With cooling, a lot depends on your room (cold side of the house? permanent ventilation? Air conditioning?) but a large body of water is more stable (eg typical 4ft).

I came home after a night away (so the house was all closed up) to find the tank at 27 degrees and the koaro long dead. The inanga and bullies were stressed but survived. Don't underestimate just how hot your house can get over summer.

Anyway, with the cooling thing, do a search, this has been covered a billion times before for natives and others.

have a look at my youtube channel (link in sig) and the latest video is a koaro climbing out of a bucket.

[nativelover]

cool thanks for that will have to find a new tank then

[Stella]

will have to find a new tank then

oh no, that is a shame!

Just remember that they *can't* climb upside down, but they can climb up cables and pipes.

[nativelover]

yup looking on trademe now

[OAB]

Since the subject of Koaro came up, thought I'd put this up. Video I took at Campbell Island of the only known freshwater fish species there. Everyone else goes photographing albatross etc, I go fossicking through the draco looking for fish ? Tried to brighten the video up a bit as it's dark under the draco and the water is 'tea' coloured from draining through the peat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1TwwJmo5AY

[nativelover]

wow thats a nice vid thanks for shareing

is that your one in captivity at the end?

[OAB]

No, we didn't have any aquariums set up down there. Just caught one and put it in a glass container for about 10 minutes so I could get a decent look at it. Found Koaro in most streams going into Perserverance Harbour and NE Harbour but none on the other side of the island at NW Bay. Not sure why.

[Stella]

What a neat place! Thank you for sharing A friend of mine has been there, I would just love to go.

So the fish were easily spotted? Lots of them were out during the day or were they a little few and far between?

Much cooler than albatross anyway

It certainly seems like the presence of trout changes their behaviour to being more secretive.

[OAB]

I didn't seem to have much trouble finding them in streams such as the one in the video which is at Lookout Bay, just a few minutes from the station, which were small, not fast running and with a canopy of draco. Streams such as Tucker stream going into Tucker Cove which is fast flowing, a lot wider and only tussock along the edges with no draco canopy, I didn't see any out in the open, but a net found them under the tussock edge.

I did three trips to Campbell when I worked for the MetService so had plenty of time to have a play down there.