Australia's Science Forum

Have lost a few fish here at our Aquaculture Research Centre over the last week or so and we've been testing the water and taking every type of reading imaginable to try and work out what's been going on.

Water temp is spot on for the types of fish we are currently stocking

pH is smack bang where it should be

correct amount of food given every 2nd day and all is being eaten

Do you know what it was? The remains of a few Noisy Miners and birdnest was found today by myself in the mesh dish on top of our 10,000 litre tank that we supply water to all our tanks from!!! Arrrrggghhhhh! I'm suprised anything could have lived in the water at all! I'm off to boil my head now.

Bit quiet here today. Anyone heard any funny jokes lately? Lots of new members I notice, surely they have a joke or two to share!

I hope it doesn't supply your drinking water as well!!

Hehehehehehehe! At least you figured it out eventually... Poor fishes! I only know swedish jokes, and if you tranlsate them they totally loose the punch, belive me I have tried many times with my finace... and NO Swedes dont have bad humor!

Hi SB

Bummer .. at least you found the problem.

I lost two of my Chinese sucking catfish over the weekend.
Searched the tank..nope. Gone.
Mystery solved when I saw a tail sticking out the mouth of one of our Sleepy Cod.
He must have swallowed it whole. I need to get a bigger algae eater next time.

Hi rainbow-sky!

Cods are masters carnivores, hehehe, and many species can swallow fish their own size whole, no problem! So when you get new algae eaters, try and get some that are larger than your cod, if not they will eventually end up as cod food, hehehe!

Hey Barb
I'm worried about sassi's sence of humour, poor fishies

A little off the track. But can someone tell me of any fish, living in an outdoor pond, that could do the job of a sucking catfish.
My outdoor pond has soooo much algae it would be heaven to a fish if I new of one. I also have some goldfish approximately 15cms ling.
Can anyone help? Please?????
Maree

Get some fresh water snails, they are hardy, so easy to keep and they LOVE algae!

Cheers, Sassi

PS. Ocker, hahahaha! O well I guess I deserved that one

Snails and tadpoles are great but for fish, golden perch (Yellowbelly) are perfect if you want to go for something native.

I don't like snails, because they are intermediate hosts to so many diseases.
As soon as I see one I remove and kill Jah Ha Ha

Our pond at home is a reasonable size. Our pond is probably 4 times the size, perimeter wise, of one of those large plastic shells used by parents for sand. How much water does a golden perch need.? How big is it? Would a golden perch each my goldfish?
Maree

Just got the information on 'golden perch' from google. I will not be putting them in my pond!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Maree

They're lovely! They do like the taste of smaller fish though. That's how they grow quite big!

I'd go for tadpoles. They LOVE algae and slime. Indication of a good healthy habitat if they exist.

Wouldn't the goldfish eat the tadpoles Richard?
Maree

I've never had that happen and ours have always mixed. How big are your goldie's? If they're big enough they'll try to eat most things.

Many of our goldfish are six inches long and getting longer!
Maree

Yes, I have ordered a LARGE algae eater. An aggressive one. I really was surprised that they ate these ones, as the sleepy cod wasnt that big. Obviously big enough!

I have tried the snails before, but the native fish think they are snacks.... they last 24 hrs in the tank if they are lucky.
Algae is a problem, I do have Algae Clear , but l usually prefer another layer of bio-diversity to fix a problem rather than whacking in some more chemicals.

I have noticed that my existing silver perch and bass are hogging the extreme left of the tank. The sleepy cods' lair is at the extreme right of that same tank.
Me thinks they feel the vibes....

Spelling edit

With the warmer weather coming up in Melbourne, our algae problem will become an even bigger if I do not get something started soon. Can I buy tadpoles?
Maree

Aquarium shops I believe aren't to sell native tadpoles but can unofficially 'bag' a few for you from an outdoor pond if they have one. Sometimes it pays to ask. I sometimes take a plastic fish bag and scout drying puddles for tadpoles on my walks. You can keep them without a permit until they become froggies in a tank. You must return/release native frogs when they fully develope which is no problem if it's an outdoor pond anyway!

Speaking of tadpoles....For all my northern friends: Did you know if you slap cane toad tadpoles onto the sunny side of a corrugated iron building (demountable classroom), wait exactly 3 mins, and then touch them with a stick they explode! They are noxious vermin after all! Some small boys were caught doing this, then chasing the girls with cane toad guts. Hard to keep a straight face while admonishing the little dears, apparently.

Cheers, K