Fishkeepa Posted February 22, 2012 Report Share Posted February 22, 2012 So here is our story so far, apologies I do not have any good photos of our tank. We have been planning on having a native tank for quite a while, we saved up and brought a new 180L tank with stand and filter and had to wait five months before we were able to set it up in a new flat. We had to satisfy our native urges by going for study break walks to Te Manawa (the local museum) which has a huge native tank. !drool: We also visited and highly recommend the National Trout Centre at Turangi to all native fish enthusiasts. It is well worth the ten dollars and makes a nice place to stop on a long drive. Our tank has been set up a month now and it is going pretty well, we use ice to keep the temperature to what we think is about 20 to 21 degrees. We have three thermometers in tank and all say different things :facepalm: We only turn the lights on when viewing the tank to help minimise algae growth. We have been out looking for fish a few times now. At the Tokomaru stream we collected the first three bullies which I'm pretty sure are all uplands and have inhabited our tank now for a month. We went to the Kahuterawa reserve at night with a feshwater ecology PHD candidate where we found a small cray, an eel, lots of upland bullies and a nice sized female redfin. An evening trip out to Himitangi Beach yeilded no shrimp as was hoped but we found heaps of inanga. Our latest trip to the Turitea Stream was our most sucessful, we borrowed a torch from and Gumboots from Foxja and set off, I used plastic rubbish bags to keep my feet dry which worked really well . I later went back in just using aquashoes and long johns and the water was suprisingly warm. Here is some photos of what we found, at first we didn't take a camera because we thought we wouldn't find that much interesting stuff, so had to rush back to get one :oops: We were really excited when we found this big bully, I'm pretty sure it is a common bully because of its face patterning We caught this Inanga, we think we saw a few more of varying sizes around. Stacey releasing the Inanga A few smaller bullies, may have been female redfins, but they were very washed out so difficult to see markings One of the Koura we caught A medium male redfin which we ended up taking home with us Another adult bully, pretty sure it is a common again Two introduced species, perch and brown trout juvenile We went looking for another cray we had seen earlier but got distracted by these two large male redfin bullies Our friend Emma doing the honours Another cray with nice patterning, we took this one home with us for the tank It was really cool to see so much life thriving in a stream which I had heard had less than ideal water quality. Our tank now has four bullies (three upland, one redfin male) and a koura. If we can we would like to find a female redfin to complete our stocking. I will try to get some photos of our tank soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted February 22, 2012 Report Share Posted February 22, 2012 Wow nice work! Looking forward to the tank photos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supasi Posted February 22, 2012 Report Share Posted February 22, 2012 Looks like a good night. Yes the Te Manawa tank is sweet. Would love a tank that large at my house. I havent made it up the line to Turangi yet but it is on the list. What were you using to catch the fish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted February 22, 2012 Report Share Posted February 22, 2012 Nice pics! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted February 22, 2012 Report Share Posted February 22, 2012 What a neat trip! Kahuterawa always has a good selection of fish. The 'releasing back into the wild' photos are a nice addition. I don't think we have had them here before. Interesting seeing the inanga, must have been quite a determined little migrant! So cool hearing that people are going to the museum for a study break. Have run into people there who were avoiding class too! I am trying to convince them that they need to keep a couple of ottomans in front of the tank. When you go make sure you pull those ones in the next 'wing' of the display and leave them by the big tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishkeepa Posted February 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2012 What were you using to catch the fish? Just a butterfly net from payless plastics bent so that it has a flat bottom and a couple of those small square fish nets you see in pet shops. I even managed to catch a koura and bully using a small net and shooing it in with my hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asphyx Posted February 24, 2012 Report Share Posted February 24, 2012 Those are some very nice fish and great photos - jealous! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishkeepa Posted February 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 29, 2012 Well, it has been a pretty bad weekend, 1) Lost the final of the Hockey Tournament I was playing in to a team we had earlier beaten 2) The Koura had escaped from the tank and managed to find/fall its way into the filter bucket 3) Stacey's rat passed away 4) Koura died the next day, possibly from injuries from falling into the bucket 5) Suit which I brought from the UK arrived but had no pants only two suit jackets We only have possible theories of how he escaped most of which invlve climbing filter pipes, we feel quite irresponsible having taken it from the wild and then having it die 4 days later. We have a cover made of netting which has some small gaps around the light fitting and filter pipes, so it must have been through on of thee gaps. We are going to look at ways to fix this up before we out looking for a new one Anyway as promised here are some pictures of the tank and the suicidal crustacean and Mr.Redfin The tank, you can see the filter bucket and if it did fall, how far it would have fell Mr.Redfin had a ripped fin, but it has since healed and he is eating well One the plus side, all three of our disagreeing thermometers agree that the tank is sitting below 20 degrees without using any ice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted March 1, 2012 Report Share Posted March 1, 2012 oooh very nice setup! I had one cray fall 140cm, wander through into the next room and then hold his own against a cat. Survivals outside the tank have a lot to do with the temperature and humidity (basically how long it takes for critical apparatus to dry out). Spotlighting last night I found a pile of what seemed to be shag vomit that consisted entirely of component parts of a couple of crayfish. Actually, thinking now, there was no soft material, only crunchiness, whereas the poop on the other side of the rock was very fresh (and we had been there the day before), I wonder if they throw up the indigestables a a normal thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted March 2, 2012 Report Share Posted March 2, 2012 i wouldn't mind trying some natives. When i was a child I used to play in the Karori stream ...and I remember seeing some fish, and eels, but never any Koura. During storms the stream would nearly rise to reach the bottom of our bridge. And on occasions the stream would change colour as people poured paint etc into it. It's now a stream selected for the Streams Alive project. I have no idea if any of those natives I saw more than a few decades ago are still there. Do you know Stella? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishkeepa Posted March 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2012 Spotlighting last night I found a pile of what seemed to be shag vomit that consisted entirely of component parts of a couple of crayfish. Actually, thinking now, there was no soft material, only crunchiness, whereas the poop on the other side of the rock was very fresh (and we had been there the day before), I wonder if they throw up the indigestables a a normal thing? That is an interesting notion, I guess the cray shells would offer limited nutritional value and sharp parts could possibly pose a hazard further down the digestive tract. Graham, I know that the stream that runs down Happy Valley and out into Owhiro Bay still had koura in it a few years ago even after it had major issues with contamination from the tips and compost plant located up the valley, so I wouldnt be suprised if there was something lurking in the karori stream, especially given that the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary has a heap of natives in it. We build em tough in NZ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted March 3, 2012 Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 Hopefully they won't mind me bringing a net at the next Karori Sanctuary open day :thup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishkeepa Posted March 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 Hopefully they won't mind me bringing a net at the next Karori Sanctuary open day :thup: I'm not sure what they will say, I'm not sure if that quite fits with the notion of a sanctuary, but it would be worth a go, Stella recently posted saying that they had eradicated the trout from in there and the galaxids had benefited greatly Meanwhile we went out to the Kahuterawa stream to try find a spot where a friend said she used to go with her brothers and find crayfish all the time so we would no where we were going if we went back at night. Because the stream ran between private properties we explained to one of the house owners closest to the stream what we were doing when she saw us. She proceeded back to her house to watch us with binoculars from her window until we left a while later, we were slightly creeped out by this so most probably wont be returning there any time soon. The stream was quite high so didnt make for good fish spotting anyway We also returned to the Turitea stream last night looking for a new crayfish to test out our new crayfish proofed tank and a femle redfin to partner our male. We thought we caught a female redfin bully, it was really washed out so hard to identify but looked like it had the right markings we brought it home but it turns out it is definitely a male. Either Cran's or common. We were way off the mark there :facepalm: We didnt spot any koura, but there was bullies a plenty and heaps of perch and trout. We even saw two small eels. It didnt help that although the stream level had dropped it was flowing very quickly still. The new bully that we are pretty sure is a crans I like watching the tank at night, I have chucked in a some leaf litter and let it settle wherever it wants, it looks quite natural and it changes whn the fish disturb it Side shot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heir Posted March 9, 2012 Report Share Posted March 9, 2012 This is a great thread. Thanks for sharing! :nfs: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted March 9, 2012 Report Share Posted March 9, 2012 That tank is just so beautiful!! Probably the nicest-looking native tank I have seen :love: Yeah, the fishie looks kinda Cran's-y, second guess would be a common, but I think it looks a shade more Cran's. Just got back from spotlighting a stream in Egmont national park. Lovely big (20cm) koaro and small-medium longfin eels. I can't believe they are paying me to do this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amtiskaw Posted March 10, 2012 Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 Wow, that tank is stunning :love: I love the almost black and white aesthetic :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey Posted March 15, 2012 Report Share Posted March 15, 2012 I love the look of that tank, overall it just looks fantastic... thank you for sharing... I really need to get off my backside and re-scape mine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishkeepa Posted March 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2012 Thanks everyone for your support and compliments, hopefully we can keep it looking as nice as this as it matures, with the lights seldomly being used for more than an hour a day I'm hoping we won't run into any algae issues provided we maintain the water quality. On the tank front, have got a new koura and are thoroughly enjoying watching it feed, it lives mainly in a cave on the left of the tank but seems to make it all around the tank judging by the disturbed gravel. Will try take some photos in the near future. The bullies are a lot more settled now and the Cran's bully is definitely the boss of the tank, followed by the redfin. I'm not sure if we will look for a female redfin or even a just common bully, I think at the moment our stocking level is fairly realistic without being boring Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishkeepa Posted April 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2012 The tank has been going well in general, with the change of seasons it is much easier to keep the tank temperature at an acceptable level, our second koura has been with us now for over a month now and hasnt escaped the tank :thup: they are suprisingly quick creatures and I think the small upland bullies may have fallen prey to him, because all three have disapeared without a trace We have since brought home our largest bully, a female redfin, she is quite shy, but the male must know she is around because he is going very dark at times. I have seen her pop out from the maze of rocks, usually when the koura is moving about and at feeding times. I guess I thought she would settle into the tank quite quickly, especially if she is making friends with the male, but this doesnt quite seem to be the case yet. We also have decided to try with a small shoal of inanga now that it is much easier to maintain the temperature, we have collected three and they fit into the tank very well, they are eating very well, and are much better at chasing down waterboatmen than the bullies although you cannot fault the bullies for their persistence. They are slowly getting more accustomed to people being around the tank but I havent been able to get any semi decent pictures to share other than one because they do tend to move quite quickly. Now that it is getting colder the chances to go spotlighting will be rare so I think we will be concentrating on the fish we now have until the next summer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueether Posted April 17, 2012 Report Share Posted April 17, 2012 Nice fat (gravid?) inanga, the only problem that I can see with catching them this time of year and as mature adults is that they may be too sexually mature and will die of being egg bound etc. In the last 4 weeks i have had atleast 3 of my largest inanga die, all coming to the end of their second summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishkeepa Posted April 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2012 They havent noticed them getting any fatter than when we caught them a couple of weeks back, we may have to cross that bridge though. I did read an interesting post that if one fish dies from being egg bound then by forcing the eggs out it can trigger the rest to release their eggs Here's hoping they are all boys... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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