Thinking of getting one for the new pad.

Steering away from the standard goldfish route, thought I might check if anyone knows of any native species that are encouraged to be breed and released (permits permitting I guess). You know, bring up a few bass fingerlings then throw them into the rivers to clear out the carp, that kinda thing.

Otherwise, I'm happy for this thread to turn into a bragfest of peoples elaborate fish tanks.

I'm not a fish fan (re; pets) but we've got a turtle...at first I thought "what a dull/stupid animal to have as a pet", but after it growing from about 40mm to >200mm (shell length) over the past couple of years & enjoying watching it stalk/wrestle with the odd garden worm dropped in, it's a pretty cool animal.

To top it off, each time I go near the tank it stretches out and follows me around. The kids get it out occasionally for a play and it chases them across the room.

theDoctor said...


I often have a turtles head poking

I've released a Brown trout or two.

I had a barra in a tank for a while, they grow bloody fast but this was a fresh water one salt water would be harder to keep I would think.

I've been in the aquarium industry for a while now and I can tell you not to bother with trying to breed and release native species, it takes way to much time and effort. Good on you for the thought though.

If your looking for an aquarium with a relatively native species in it, I would look into Rainbow fish. Genus Melanotaenia. They are found throughout Australia and SEA. There are some absolutely stunning species. Have them in a nicely planted tank and you will have a tank everyone will talk about.

If you do go down that path, ensure you fully understand their diet requirements and water parameter requirements (mainly pH and gH). They are not like goldfish where you can practically just add water.

Anyway, goodluck and if you have any questions send me a PM and I'll help you out.

Cheers

My two cents worth if you are setting up a tank from scratch...

Unless you are looking at a relatively small tank look at spending the bit of extra coin and get an external canister filter. My tank was only 200 litres and I could get by with a basic filter/pump submerged in the tank. When I upgraded to a decent external canister filter the water quality improved immensely and the need to clean/maintain the tank and change the water dropped away to almost nothing by comparison.

Spend an extra $100 now on a filter and it will repay you ten-fold in time and effort within 12 months.

Also consider using something like river stones in the bottom of your tank rather than some sort of gravel, especially if you have a decent external filter. Gravel catches all the poop and traps it for bacteria to break down but it's a pain in the butt to clean. If you go river stones and a decent filter like I ended up with - when its time to change 1/3 of the water I just drag the hose inside, siphon a couple of inches, turn the hose back on and blast the sediment under the stones to get it suspended up in the tank water again, start the siphon again and drop the level a 1/3. What gunk doesn't get siphoned out ends up going through the filter, then top the tank up again. All up it only takes ten minutes and you don't spill a drop.

Sailhack said...

Chris6791 said...
Also consider using something like river stones in the bottom of your tank...

If you do this - don't get a turtle! Ours constantly rolls them around the tank & a few times I reckon I've caught him trying to build up a pile of them in the corner in which to to escape from.

Funny you should say that. Long time ago, my little sister had a crazy crab that piled the larger rocks into a corner and did the Alcatraz thing.

Fish tanks are great but also expensive to set up and run. My electricity bill has literally halved since i moved and got rid of my 350ltr tropical tank. Since I am renting now I wouldn't bother with it again but if I buy another houseI would consider getting one again.

My preference is for lots of small fish - they are great to watch interacting, schooling etc.

As far as breeding is concerned - most fish need very specific water conditions and very clean environment. A lot of the time you would get rid off the plants, rocks etc to allow for breeding - this really takes away from the beauty of a nicely set up tank.

If you do decide to get one get one as large as you can afford. The bigger the tank the easier it is to keep the ecosystem balanced. Invest in a couple of large canister filters and don't overfeed and your maintanace hould be minimal. 10-20% water changes a fortnight. If you go for a planted tank get a CO2 system - it makes a massive difference.

Cheers

moohan said...

lightwood said...

Gizmo said...
How about Yabbies?
A friend of mine had some... Always VERY amusing for kids as they move stuff around in the tank.

http://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/better-homes-gardens/pets/articles/a/-/5828099/pet-yabbies/

My son bought home a yabbie, turned into a big bugger. 3 weeks ago he just dissapeared. I'm afraid.

I've had a few yabbies escape over the years. My wife moved the couches around not long after she moved in and found one that had been there for about a year. She was stoked

hehe We had one climb up our bed in the night, wife went a little bit mental and threw it outside... we found him on the road next morning.

I stood on one at night that was at the other end of the house from the tank.


Since been banned from having yabbies.



Although we did have yabby babies and they grew up to about small prawn size

what about catching some tadpoles!
raise them and then release

My dad has two freshwater Tropical fishtanks with Austrailan rainbows in it.
Injected co2 for plant groth looks good if you want a natural looking
fishtank