Hello, Newbie wanting to get into some fish!

[The Government]

Been lurking here for a little while, what a cool website you guys have!

Just thought I'd say hello.

I’m looking at getting into my first aquarium, but really unsure how to get started, there is ALOT of info and its hard to digest!

What I’m wanting to do is have a cold freshwater tank (small), and catch some natives to put in there.

I would also like to have a turtle in the future (separate tank - they eat fish lol).

At this stage I think I’ll just get the tank setup and try to get the landscape set and figure out pumping and filtration etc,

Once i get the water quality to a level that won’t kill the fish I’ll try my hand at catching some natives

Thinking about getting a cheap tank off trademe and fixing it up - is this a bad idea? Probably will get everything else (pump filter lights etc) new.

Anyways, its nice to be here, and I’ll hope to add some pics etc of my learning process soon!

[v8jaggy8]

Welcome!!

[calculator]

Welcome.

There is nothing wrong with getting a tank of trade me, good luck with keeping fish.

[Caryl]

Hi and welcome. You will see we have a native section and there is a lot of information there on setting up cold water natives, with pics too! Have a good browse, as most of what you need to know is there.

Main thing with natives seems to be temperature requirements.

Stella brings out her new book on native freshwater fish in December. I suggest you buy it and read voraciously!

[alanmin4304]

Welcome and enjoy your time here.

[blueether]

Welcome along to the native side

Have a good dig around the native section.

Most natives aren't that suitable to 'small' tanks, so ask about what you want to keep and what the ideal size is - even little whitebait grow to atleast 100mm (inanga) and some will grow to 300-450mm (all the kokopu and koaro) and they are all powerful swimmers. Bullies may be more suited to smaller tanks but will still grow to around 100mm depending on species.

The problem with a tank that needs fixing is that it would almost be cheaper to buy one that doesn't need fixing...

[livingart]

Welcome, you have a good build project to manage there

[The Government]

Welcome along to the native side

Have a good dig around the native section.

Most natives aren't that suitable to 'small' tanks, so ask about what you want to keep and what the ideal size is - even little whitebait grow to atleast 100mm (inanga) and some will grow to 300-450mm (all the kokopu and koaro) and they are all powerful swimmers. Bullies may be more suited to smaller tanks but will still grow to around 100mm depending on species.

The problem with a tank that needs fixing is that it would almost be cheaper to buy one that doesn't need fixing...

Thanks for the heads up, i'll try and buy the largest size tank I can afford. What would you deem as a good size tank for natives?

[Sophia]

[blueether]

Thanks for the heads up, i'll try and buy the largest size tank I can afford. What would you deem as a good size tank for natives?

For bullies I would say you could keep 3 or 4 adults (1:2 or 1:3 or 2:2 m:f) in a 2x1x1 ft tank, you might be able to get away with 3 males with well placed caves rocks but it would be better to keep the male population lower so the dont bicker too much.

for any of the galaxiids I would say a 3ft length is the minimum. I have an inanga that is very deformed after swimming into the end of the 4 ft tank at high speed. any of the large galaxiids I would say 4ft would be the mim (banded kokopu, giant kokopu [even these will outgrow a 4 tf], koaro, shortjaw kokopu [i wouldn't recommend keeping shortjaw as they are much harder to keep and there are they are in serious decline])