Hi from Australia

He's been with me 9 weeks he was one of my first fish in the tank after I cycled it ,Im guessing he's about 12 months old from his size 5cm/ 2 inches the adults get to 15-20cm 7-8 inches

Quick summer update ,Hope all had a good break over new year etc ..

Ive been very busy and have only had time to maintain and collect food ,I have added a small Juvie Horse shoe leather jacket ( bright green with blue strips) and lost most of my strawberry Anemones due to his introduction .I will have to resettle any to a safer spot, he's to nice to get rid of . I have had a green blue algae break out in my local lake system and also in my system due to collecting shrimp in the area called off limits the next day which turned the DT into a cloudy mess and took a long time to clear ,didnt cause any problems other than this.. My fish have grown and I may have to return a few to nature due to over crowding ( Im out of luck getting a bigger tank due to me overtaking areas of the house with aquarium stuff now) all my Oysters and mussels are all settled and doing well...,I have just finished restoring a F/G canoe I found for $25 and Im adding outriggers and a weed wacker motor ( Whippella give it a google and have a laugh) so I can get to shallow seed beds that are too hard to access by land or larger boat and see what I can find....That the sum of it chat soon.

Is this the fish you collected? That is freaking AWESOME!

Seriously, you and me need to figure out some kind of pen pal fish trade situation. If you can figure out how to legally collect and sell temperate water Australian species I am able to collect and sell Northeast Pacific species now. I'm sure we can figure out something that would be mutually beneficial

Thats the one ,Its still mostly bright green as its a juvenile with very small blue and black marks ,Its little horn got stuck in the fine net (insect screen Net) when I was out getting food ,its very strange to get them at this time of year in shallow weed beads ..

Im working on the permit to collect in this loverly red tape State I live in ,Every door I force open is meet with a bigger door wedged closed . I have to speak with the minister of commercial fisheries later this month .So far I have meet all there entry guidelines and education requirerments had multible meetings etc etc, but Im sure there will be more to come ..The way I work it, is if I keep hassling them on a regular basis they will get sick of reading all my letters and start helping me..On a good note I have managed to block the huge licence fee they threatened would end my endeavours...Still a work in progress ..

I feel ya on that.

I just got done paying the huge licensing fees I thought would end my endevours, lol. Total out of pocket now before I can even make an honest cent in permits will be a little over $700. Not to mention getting the business side up and going, and the $1000 bond I had to take out through my insurance company to back my licenses.

Update...

Puffer is going strong (still wont eat dry pellets) the leather jacket has grown and settled, still have all my fish with very few loses, DSB is over run with critters and worms ,my scrubber produced too much heat and not enough algae to feed the fish, so I have to look at a new chiller upgrade if I want to run it and more coverage..

I had my first collection trip a few days ago to stock up on live and frozen food. I am running a second sump for live shrimp now so I have a steady supply and I feed them high nutrient food before I offer them the the tank (one way to get the good stuff into the Puffer..

This time collecting I have found a Cowfish ,he is the size of a bady pea and the first time Ive seen one in the estury and 2km inside the entrance it was hidding in a small weed bead packed with glass shrimps ,he nearly went back with the weed when my Daughter spotted it..

Well I hope to be on a bit more often now easter is over and the winter is setting in early ,I am thinking of running a night sump out side with the shrimp in it ,just to help cut down on cooling costs while the heater is on and take advantage of cooler days ( drilling holes in the wall is my wifes only issue) ...Also have a few other ideas I might run past you that Im thinking of building..

Permit to collect has been knocked back by the enviroment minister ...case closed until there is a polictical change..

looks good mate nice size tank

Sorry about the permit.. What species of cowfish did you spot? That's great that your aquarium is running smoothly.

What are you using to cool your water and at what temp are you keeping it at. ? That Leather Jacket is magnificent.

I have no idea what species the cowfish is ..Its too small and lime green.. Im hoping it grows enough so i can tell..

Aquamans Hi,,I use a Resun at the moment only in summer as mine are Esturine fish so preferr 15-22°C I find if I run it colder they eat way to much to keep warm I also keep all my filtered top up water in the fridge..

Thanks for th reply, I have been looking at doing a diy chiller just using an esky and ice for the time being and buying a chiller after tax time.

I will be trying to keep my tank between 15-22c so pretty much the same as yourself. In a few more weeks I should be able to start it cycling. And the fun will begin lol

DIY cHillers...not easy to make Ive tried myself and in the end the costs and the cost of running them out weight a mediam priced chiller..

The transferr of heat has to be with titanium tube, plastic,silcone or pvc doesnt work fast enough ..

Insulate as much as you can..and try the resun chiller you can always upgrade and sell it on ebay later..

What fish are you aiming for and what sized tank?

Hi mate, My tank is a 270ltr bow front tank but with when I add my back ground rocks sand etc it will have about 220ltrs. Iam going to try and keep tank as natural as possible with predator and prey to gether I have made my back ground to help with this. I am looking to keep a flathead and a leather jacket a few mussles, oysters barnicles shrimp etc what ever I can find really.

Cool..

Update...My Horse shoe leather jacket Juvenile is not a horse shoe at all ...I noticed it was changing from light green Juvenile colors and starting to get its marks and strips ,so out with the Book again...

This is what He is..and not common to my esturine area at all .



Sixspine Leatherjacket, Meuschenia freycineti

This is the stage he is in now..

I want one sooooooo bad.............

so do I, winder why the colour change that is one remarkable fish Im quite happy to go with out molluscs to keep something like him

Great looking fish mate

that is an amazing fish! very cool that you get to watch it go thru the color change as well

LATEST UPDATE..Collecting on the weekend (Beat the floods in east gippsland ATM ) and picked up another SMOOTH PUFFER for my collection..

Yet to be named this little fellow is only 1 1/2inches (35mm) long and very cute(same as profile pic but tiny) He has settled in and started eating brine and the small dry food bit ( also less fussy than his larger room mate who still hates the pellet food) Im looking forward to watching him grow.

I have little chance of collecting for awhile due to large down pours of rain in my area of Victoria ,all the rivers broke banks and the lakes have overflowed with king tides backing up the entrance.. Water changes will be my back up red sea salt mixes for sometime and extra kent food .

yeah I was watching the news last night and saw that the lakes got flooded its a bummer for the short term but a good flush can add new life to the eco system or ruin it just hope all the silt got washed out.

This is the 3rd flood in less than 12 mths , its knocked the sea grass beds around and and caused a blue green algae bloom from late nov to feb ,it was just starting to recover and the swans wiped it out in the shallow, and this time a large flood again..

Getting hard to collect anything of late..