nativelover Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 any updates when will you be getting the cray? :thup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey Posted December 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 Been very hectic last couple of weeks, Had friends come from overseas, daughters first birthday, friends 30th birthday, and this last weekend I got very sick and am still getting over it. (this is all on top of normal life ie work sport etc) I am quietly confident that I will be able to get some more work done to the tank this week/weekend and then leading into christmas finally get the occupant. Hah, maybe I tell my wife it is her xmas present :rotf: I have been keeping an eye out when I've been in garden centres and HFF on the rocks they have... nothing has taken my fancy as yet. So at this stage I will probably just seed and attach the filter, do a nice big water change and then go find said Koura... I can play with rocks at a later stage... and the Koura can help me landscape haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted December 5, 2011 Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 Hah, maybe I tell my wife it is her xmas present :rotf: Not a bad way of getting partners interested and subsequently less resistant to you taking over the spare room, garage and back yard with fish stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey Posted December 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 Well you will be happy to hear this one then Stella.... I left your book sitting on the table one day... she picked it up and read it cover to cover while daughter was having a nap... lets just say she is much more encouraging of me getting a Koura now... she thinks it will be an awesome animal to have crusiing around in the tank. Maybe you can use this as a marketing strategy Stella.... "This book will make your partner like and encourage your obsession" :thup: I'm going to be interested to see how my nephew goes with it... he is scared stiff of the turtle at mums place.... so we will see his reaction to a crazy armoured big clawed beast charging him from a cave. While writing this I had a thought... I still have quite a bit of the tea tree branches that I hacked up... so perhaps I should flag the rocks and just go for more wood? The Koura in my local streams don't have many rocks in their natural environment, so it might actually be better for them if I just use wood and occasional rock. Whenever I find them in the streams they shoot off under wood piles.... hmmmm something to think about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey Posted December 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2011 Update time... things have come to a shuddering halt over the course of this weekend... I was sitting there looking at my tropical tank thinking that it looked pretty empty fish wise and having a Koura in that tank with some mid/top dwelling fish crusiing around the top would be awesome... my wife agreed. I jumped onto a fish stock calculator to see how feasible moving the current fish stock of the 180L into the 60L would be... and lo and behold... my stocking is so low in the bigger tank that the 60L would be fine. I also calculated the groud area... and the cray would have twice as much room to roam in the bigger tank. Soooooo bearing in mind there is no occupant in the 60L yet, I reckon I might as well do the conversion now BEFORE I get two stocked tanks and have to scratch my head working out where to put them while I work on the tanks. So Stella, it has happened.... my thought is turing into a reality. I thoroughly support the idea of turning your tropical tank to natives :thup: So, I have now emptied the 60L out again... and I will be transferring gravel, a couple of plants, driftwood and the fish from my tropical tank into it. This gives me a decent tank to set up for natives. New set up for natives will be: Tank: 90L x 40W x 45H (approx 180L) Filter: Eheim 2073 Lights: I'm going to use the LED light set up I had for 60L.... I tested it on the tank yesterday and it looks awesome... nice a gloomy like a forest stream should be. I will need to alter the mesh lid a bit now, but shouldn't be too bad... 45cm high means koura can cruise around the bottom and I can look at getting some fish for the upper reachs. I will look at getting a chiller for this volume of water as well, I didn't think it was worth it for 60L, but might worth it for 180L.. i will keep an eye on trademe, and any specials at the LFS for this though :lol: So watch this space for photos of the conversion and the new Koura home... Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted December 11, 2011 Report Share Posted December 11, 2011 muahahahaha! 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nativelover Posted December 11, 2011 Report Share Posted December 11, 2011 :slfg: you have the native loving disease :happy1: you could have a nice community in there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey Posted December 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2011 muahahahaha! 8) Well played Stella, Well played. I'm actually really excited about it. Means i'm not going to be as restricted as I was before. And yes I do have native loving disease... not just in fish either... planted native trees all around the house, love Billy T James, Murray Ball etc etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nativelover Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 it sounds big enough to have a cray,few bullys, and a school of inanga or smelt so will look stocked and AMAZING :happy1: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueether Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 Much better size I think I'd go for: a koura (or two small ones - but they do grow quite fast) 4 to 6 or so bullies, I would go for a ratio of 3 female to 1 male (redfins or Cran's) and 6 or so inanga or smelt, remember that they will get to about 100mm in a years time - mine range from ~85mm to ~110mm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey Posted December 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 So much for making a small 60L Koura tank as a side project Well and truly hooked on the obsession now... perhaps I should change the title to the thread to Native tank build or something :slfg: (which I have now gone and done.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey Posted December 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2011 Update time... A good majority of yesterday was spent dealing with the first part of getting a Native set up in my 180L tank.... which was moving the current tropical set up from the 180L to the 60L. So here is the tank as it was before I started: I firstly removed the wood pieces then gave a good chunk of the gravel a really good vac. I then used a honey container to scoop clean gravel out into a bucket and relocated it to the 60L... progress pic: Then I removed the plants, some of them I trimmed up and replanted into the new smaller tank, others I chucked into the compost due to them looking so scrappy and covered in muck. Now ready to start catching the fish: The next part was having to catch the fish... was a battle to get the tetras, fast little blighters and there is a brace going across the middle of the tank which means you can only have nets in one side... I ended up lying a breeding net down on it's side and shooing the tetra's into the breeding net... worked pretty well. Success! I have left a sword in the tank to see what it does under cold water conditions (curiousity :smln: ) I have refilled the tank and left the filter running... so this is what I have sitting in the lounge at the moment: So that is my canvas for the Native tank... "phase two" is to set it up for the natives, so I will be giving the tank a good scrub down to get rid of algae, the gravel left in there a really good vac, then adding the larger sized gravel I had in the 60L tank earlier in this thread.... then various pieces of tea tree will be put in with whatever rocks I can find. I think I am going to relocate the spray bar from it's current position to one of the ends... this way there will be a quieter end for the Koura. The light system will change to a much lower light level LED system. Then I guess phase three will be to finally go and get a few occupants :happy1: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted December 18, 2011 Report Share Posted December 18, 2011 Woo, that is progress!! I don't think I have ever seen such a neat and tidy tank-dismantle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey Posted December 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 I don't think I have ever seen such a neat and tidy tank-dismantle Heh I had a week to think it all through and I planned it to work the way it did... still felt messy, but I guess you are always going to get that when you are breaking down a well established tank. Now, need some opinions on what to do with the gravel... I have the finer stuff in the above pics which is in there and will stay there, and I have the bigger sized gravel which is in the previous pics... so what would you do/how would you combine it? I had a couple of thoughts, but interested to hear what others might think. a) Fine gravel spread evenly along bottom, with bigger grade gravel on top and sloping down from left to right. b) Split gravel, so have one end with finer gravel, the other end with the big grade and have it "mixing" in the middle. c) mix it all up into one big bucket and chuck it all in together. Any thoughts and suggestions are welcome Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueether Posted December 20, 2011 Report Share Posted December 20, 2011 I would go for a combo of a and b. Fine gravel evenish across bottom (maby more at right hand end) and pile the bigger stuff at the left end. It will all get mixed up in the end Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey Posted January 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 Teaser update :gigl: Phase two was pretty much completed over the xmas period, I have given tank a good scrub down, put the large sized gravel in there and chucked in some tea tree, I also set the LED light up at one end and I must admit the effect looks awesome in my opinion I just need to build a cave complex at one end now with some rocks and then go gather some occupants. I have got photos... on my camera, so I will upload them soon for everyones perusal. So that is the teaser... more to come shortly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey Posted January 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2012 Update time: So I had this as the "canvas" after the tropical tank was dismantled: So I gave the tank a really good scrub down, gave the gravel sitting in there a good vac, and spread it evenly across the bottom of the tank. Then the larger sized gravel I got for the natives went into the tank as well, I have made little hills and valleys with the big gravel to give the ground a bit of variance as opposed to just having an even spread. I then got a couple of pieces of tea tree have put them in... along with my single rock. I have fashioned a lid out of an old fire place guard I had lying around and situated the LED on one side of the tank... the effect this gives the tank when it is on is pretty awesome... it lights up about halve the tank and looks like the light is penetrating a gap in the forest canopy So here are some photos of how it looks thus far: Mesh lid and light set up: Tank set up, hood off: Hood on, light on: I'm not 100% happy :an!gry with these last few photos because it doesn't show the lighting effect nicely compared to what it actually looks like (the first photo is the best)... I was trying to take the images during the day, so was a bit messy trying to get it right... I will have more photos after it is completely set up and will get better ones So this weekend I am going to go and get a bunch more rocks and will set up a bit of a cave complex on the right hand side under the bigger piece of wood, along with a smaller one on the left hand side and then in theory go and catch the Koura and a Bully or two. Cheers. PS: For those who want to see what happened to the tropical occupants, there is a link in my sig to that tank with some pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey Posted January 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 Got home from hockey. Decided I would go out and get some Koura. 15 mins later they are in mah bucket! So here is a couple of photos of them in bucket... more photos and description of how it all went to come tomorrow I promise. Very excited They are now in the tank... and the slightly bigger one is already organising home I can hear it playing with the gravel as I type this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nativelover Posted January 17, 2012 Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 cool did you add more hiding spots for them ? the little one will want to be hiding from the bib one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey Posted January 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 As above, I got home from hockey last night and decided to go out to try and get a Koura for the tank. I was gone for 15 minutes... and it only took me a minute to catch two Koura... most of the time was walking there and then clambering (and falling) down the muddy bank to the pool, and then clambering back up the bank with a bucket with two Koura in it. The pool was the same one I found the Koura in originally... there is still lots there, and there was a decent sized one watching me as I took the two smaller ones, I wonder if it was mum! I got home, peeled off my now muddy shoes and scraped some of the mud off my legs... then went inside and started acclimatising the Koura. Left them in the bucket and poured some water from the tank into the water gradually and added more every 10 mins or so... I did that for about 1/2 an hour. I then popped them into the tank... the smaller one got hold of the net with its Chelae and was hanging on for dear life... once it let go it proceeded to charge around the tank trying to work out what just happened. The bigger one went in nice and easy and proceeded to sulk and start landscaping. This morning when I checked on them they were both happy, one was hiding under some wood and the other was hiding under the filter inlet?!?! Needless to say I'll be setting up some more rocks on the left hand side of the tank so they can have a complex each. Only a couple of pics at this stage... I didn't want to stress them out too much last night... I figured plucking them from the stream and re-locating was enough for one night. I'll get some more pics of them and the tank overall in the next few days to share with you all. The "big" one - between 4/5 cms The "little" one - between 3/4cms Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey Posted January 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 cool did you add more hiding spots for them ? the little one will want to be hiding from the bib one. I built up a bit of a cave complex on the right hand side of the tank in the dark end under the big piece of wood. I have some more rocks now, and tonight I'll set up another one at the left hand end. I was only planning on getting one, but when I was there and had the chance to get a couple of small ones, I took the chance. So by sun down tonight they will have a complex each end of the tank if they want Once I have set up the rocks on the left hand side, I'll get some photos of the whole set up and get some opinions and thoughts from members here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueether Posted January 18, 2012 Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 Neat that the tank has got some 'inmates' now. I hope that they get along well with each other. Be prepared not to see them for weeks, my two never come out if the lights are on, except the biggest one - he will come charging out sometimes when I feed FD krill. My big one: DSC_4585 by nzbeeman, on Flickr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey Posted January 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 Koura are settling in well. Gave them some peas last night to see if they would go for it... success: This is the tank as it currently set up: The bigger Koura has dug out an area under the wood on the left and is chilling out in there. The smaller Koura is charging around in the rock complex on the right hand side. No good photos at this stage. I am trying to decide whether to add more rocks to the tank so they go the whole length of the tank... I have plenty of rocks left so could get some good height etc. Or shall I just leave it as is and change it later down the track as they get bigger? The other thing I have been mulling over is other occupants... now there is two crays in there I am a little reluctant to get bullies for this tank. I was thinking maybe a Banded Kokopu to cruise around the upper reaches and eating the moths that keep flying into the water! Oh... and for the random photo of the day... I had a visitor come and check out what I was up to. It was released into the garden after it's photo shoot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueether Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 I would think that bullies would still be fine, remember that a banded could go well past 200mm. I must get some for my tank as my dozen or so inanga will start to pass on this year as they are all now well into there second year Much better size I think I'd go for: a koura (or two small ones - but they do grow quite fast) 4 to 6 or so bullies, I would go for a ratio of 3 female to 1 male (redfins or Cran's) and 6 or so inanga or smelt, remember that they will get to about 100mm in a years time - mine range from ~85mm to ~110mm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey Posted January 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2012 The Koura are doing well, they are settled in now and are getting used to their new home. I don't tend to have the light on all that much at all, and I think this helped them settle down and as a result they are out and about quite a bit and visible. As of yesterdy evening the big one has taken over the rock complex on the right, so the smaller one has been hiding out under the wood that the big one has vacated, I will be putting a few more rocks in on the left side now so there is more hidey holes. They are taking on all the food I am popping in the tank... veges (they love peas!), JBL Novo tabs (that I feed my cories) and last night they had a bit of ox kidney each (there is a post from me in beginners corner about feeding kidney as I'm not sure if its ok). Fascinating creatures to watch... in particular at night. I have seen the bigger Koura running up and down the wood on the right hand side and it also charges along that piece underneath it clinging to the bottom. I am having a great time sitting in the dark with a very low light source watching them both charging around the place. Last night was fun because they had a chunk of kidney each and they were clinging to their pieces and tearing into them with great relish. In terms of future additions, blueether reckons bullies will be ok (crans and/or redfins), and I like bullies, so I will get a few bullies for the tank and see how they go. I am not 100% sure what type of bullies are hanging out in the streams in my area as I haven't caught any to identify properly, but from what I can see of colourations, patterns and location... it looks like I only have common bullies available locally. I will investigate this further and see if there are Inanga nearby... the local "supply" is going to dictate what I could possibly have in the tank methinks. Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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