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Catching fish for a aquaruim

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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miles

BORN WILD!!!
Supporter
Jun 13, 2003
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Hiya

Quite a few months ago, i bought my wife a small marine aquaruim and housed it with two shripms and the obligatory clown fish (NEMO!!!) as well as a couple of smaller fish. Everything was going fine for the past few months until our area started having severve power cuts. Two weeks ago, all her fish died in the tank!!:waterwork :waterwork

So, yesterday, the wind was blowing at 30knts plus, with rain pelting down. Sea is too rough to go out in, wind is too strong to go fishing. I suggested to my wife that at the next spring tide, we can go catch some small fish in the tidal pools on low tide. STUPID MISTAKE!!! Wife MAKES me take her to the beach!! We stop at a local shop at the beach and buy two small nets that the kid's use!! rofl

So we end up knee deep in the rock pools, being drenched in the rain and howling wind, catching little shrimps and rock fish!!! Since our water is much colder than the tropical waters clowns live in, i reckoned these fish will be able to survive in the tank with-out the need of a heater. Well, so far so good!!

Now, whilst spearing, i've often seen beautifully coloured small fish, maybe 5cm MAXIMUM in size. Any idea's on how to capture a few for the aquaruim??

Regards
miles
 
Hey Miles,

this is what Ive been doing for uni for the last 3 months!

To catch fish in the open ocean, find where they hide when you spook them, and surround that with a large net, then shift the rock or weed that they are hiding in.

Or use a baited trap net.

If you are catching temperate water fish, where the water temp is 15-22 degrees, you will need a chiller or the fish will die in summer as the room temp in your house gets to 24-26 degrees.

Also make sure you feed them a varied diet, not just fish flakes. Catching small shrimp, or using live brine shrimp is ideal.

If your power failures continue, the fish will most likely die anyway, as the water quality will fall rapidly if you are not circulating it. Try changing 25% of your tank water each week, and replacing it with fresh saltwater from the ocean.

Does SA have any rules about taking aquarium fish? I have to pay $50 for a yearly license here.
 
Miles,
You could try using the same nets whilst diving as you did in the pools- maybe easier on scuba.
I have caught a few small fish of all types in a bait trap -a cylindrical pclear plastic tube with funnell type entrances these are available at fishing tackle shops here in Australia they are made by Ausplas just put a sinker in them to keep them down and a bit of bread or peeled prawn inside for bait and a bit more dropped outside for burley.
If you cant find one there you can make them from an old plastic soft drink bottle or 2 cut off the neck and fit it in reverse with the open end cut off a bit to make a decent entrance diameter.
I made one froma 20 ltre plastic water jug but it doesn't work as well as the smaller ones although once it was full of small bream and snapper - not what I wanted for bait as they have legal length limits and are top eating and sporting fish so they were released.
if you wre to swin down to where you see the fish you want and set these you should have a fair chance of getiing one or two.
Peter
 
Hiya

Thanx guys!!

poacher, i know EXACTLY what you're talking about!!! I used to catch mullet like that many years ago. Completely forgot about that method!!!

shadow, you do need a licence. Cost the same as a normal spearfishing licence. Have already checked on the legalities and size and specie limitations. Our water temp is usually between 13-20 degrees. How-ever, in summer, the rock pools heat up to well over 28degrees and thats why i thought on trying it out with those hardy species. Anyways, look like i probably WILL need a chiller. Any ideas on a budget DIY chiller using a 'fridge?

I once saw a school of mahi-mahi/dolphin fish that were about 10cm big!! Wonder if they can be kept in a home aquaruim!! They look simply stunning!!!

Regards
miles
 
Hiya

naiad, thanx for that link!! Was quite funny to read!! rofl

I've had tanks ever since i was a child. My mom always tells of how they'd leave me sitting in front of the aquaruim for hour on end. Looks like i was mesmerised by aquatic life from a very young age!!

I've also always had tanks of some sort through-out my life. When i got married and moved out, i wanted to take my tank with me. My mom flatly refused as my 6 year old Oscars were considered HER children!! rofl One of my favourite tricks was to catch small mullets and then put them into the tank with my oscars. CARNAGE!!! How-ever, one day i threw in about 15 small mullets. They formed a small school and evaded my oscars for more than a month!!! rofl The oscar would chase them until they reached the end of the tank, where the school would spilt in two, confusing the oscar!! Was very funny to watch.

My oscar tank is HUGE. Just under 2m long and a meter high. What really amazes me is that when-ever we have children visiting, they're ALWAYS mesmerised by the tank. What a better way to get kids involved in finding out what happens beneath our seas!!

Regards
miles
 
Reactions: Mr. X
So even SA isnt exempt from the red tape... *sigh*

Re: Mahimahi: 10cm now, 20cm in a month, 60cm in 6 months... plus the tank needs to quite large so they can establish swimming patterns.

Rockpool fish are tough as. But some of the results from my study are kinda pointing towards increased death rates as temps go up. Even an extra degree for a week will kill some fish.

Its all very confusing... :head

Do you get tropical juvis around your home? The ones we get die over winter, so I have regret about catching those. They live a long life in my tank, or die in the wild...
 
Hiya

No idea what a "juvis" is!!

I can't seem to find a old post on how to make a chiller using a 'fridge!! Help!!!

Regards
miles
 
Re: Catching fish for a aquarium

Hey Miles good on you for planning a "Local Marine Tank"
Fish keeping is a massive industry throughout the World, there are hundreds of internet sites on the subject. Interestingly a lot of people who keep marine tanks are not always successful! Recently technological advances have revolutionised the lay persons ability to keep marine fish in captivity. You can find all the relevant info on the internet. Basically, to succeed you need some form of temperature control IE a cooler, yes you can modify a small freezer but this is not the best long term solution. Purpose built "Chillers" are the best way to go. Lighting is another goal to success as is water purification when topping up your tank to counter evaporation. It may all sound a bit complicated & daunting but once you have grasped how the system works it is very straightforward. You are right to start with creatures that live in exposed rock pools as they are indeed more resilient to water chemistry & temperature. However these conditions are only temporary as obviously the incoming tide completely refreshes their environment. It would not be convenient to refresh your tank water every tide! Unfortunately this new technology dos not come cheap but at least you wont have to pay for the live stock. I have worked in the profession most of my life & it saddens me to witness so many hobbyist loose interest when things go wrong. Best do your homework, spend the money on the right equipment & make your tank the envy of you friends. Check out the net for Live Rock, Metal Halides, RO Units, Live Sand Beds, Protein Skimmers & Chillers. Good luck.
 
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To convert a freezer for cooling a fish tank requires drilling 2 small holes in the side & installing 100mts of coiled aquarium air hose. Pass the ends of the air line through the holes & connect to a small power head. It is possible to lower the temperature a few degrees but the freezer will be running full time. If the flow through the air line is to slow it will freeze the water inside. Freezers do not last that long under continuous running.
 
I used a Slurp gun with great sucess when I was living on the gulf. great fun
 
Miles, I would recommend a battery powered back up air pump for when the power outages occur. Fish can survive several days without filtration as long as you do not feed them too much. However they can only survive a short amount of time with little or no oxygen in the water. My backup pump has saved me hundreds of dollars worth of fish many times during storms. Buying a cheap battery powered pump to have on hand is essential to fish keeping.
 
Hey Miles and shadow I know what your talking about with the legislation, my 13 year old boy caught a lizard at the creek and brought it home and kept it in a tank for a while till it escaped ,then we got a visit from the National Parks officer one of my sons Mates? had dobbed him in to them. my son told the guy he had found out you need a license so he released it.
luckily the Ranger was cool and just told us if you want to do it again please get a license.
I wanted to tell my son to work over the little Rex Hunt (rhyming slang) that dobbed him in but opted for the just don't have anything to do with him if he;s like that method to give the kid the message.
Peter
 
and remember, the bigger the sump, the better, you can never go to big
 
Hey guys anyone that is keen to catch some fish and has time to spare could try making one of these and let me know how it works.
Peter
 

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I bet you could cut some nice holes in fish with one of those!
 
Ha ha no Huan the idea was to use a small rubber like the 10mm stuff used on hand spears (pole Spears) so it will pull back the piston just quick enough to hoover up the little fish
 
Miles, try to get a used cryostat from ebay.
These devices are usualy used in laboratories to cool stuff and are perfectly suited to be used for aquariums. They keep temperature on a constant level and most of them (if not all) can also be used for heating.
 
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