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Aussie Tankbusters


fishguts

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As you can see, cold water doesnt mean boring!

This is my 8x2x2 which is housed in a cold garage with no insulation.

I previously had this tank full of big central americans, with 3 x300 watt heaters sucking the juice like you wouldn't believe.( i also had several other tanks going as well) It was costing me $690 per quarter to run. And I just could'nt blame the wife's hair dryer any longer.

So, i bit the bullet and sold all my precious big fellas, and went "Aussie Coldwater".

Well, The first problem was stocking this tank. I didn't want to have a big tank full of little fish. so i looked around and found a guy who had some Australian bass for sale. I bought 7 for about $10 each. then i discovered a place were i could catch them. They were all juvies at about 12cm, but they did make the bigger ones feed better. so i caught about 25 of em. They looked great, but i did think i needed some variety. So i found a seafood shop in campsie, that had live silver perch and jade perch ($23/kilo!!!) and they are the bigger perch in the pics.

This tank is great fun at feeding time! I give em chicken hearts and livers and fresh sea mullet and they go off! I didn't reallise Australian Bass were such varacios eaters. Anything live is smashed! I mean we have all seen those videos of peacock bass doing their thing.... this is the same.

Sure, i would love a tank full of PB boiling at feeding time but in the current state of the economy i have to justify any money that i spend.

Anyway, I just thought id share a fewphotos and give you some idea of what the aussies can look like and show that even that big tank in that cold garage doesnt have to be empty any more.

Let me know what you think.

Jeff

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so you dont heat the water at all, just do water changes are as normal?

do you use water conditioner - like prime? or just tap/rain water?

awesome tank setup btw. looks like one of those big wildlife aquarium tanks... defnately interesting to watch im sure

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thats right, no heaters, no conditioners, no water ager, just straight from the tap :thumb

I probably do a half water change every 2 months. But i do throw in a couple of hand fulls of salt.

Im trying to track down some Redfin Perch, just to add a bit of colour, but there is no shortage of action at feeding time. (watch your fingers).

im also in the market for a murray cod. he'd have to be pretty big though. these things will eat whatever they can get in thier mouths.... Maybe a big yellow belly??.

I've just added a couple of fairly large tandanus catties and they seem to be going alright.

yeah, it costs nothing to run and looks pretty good (i reckon). Especially at night, just sit back with a couple of beers and check em out!!

I did try to get the "River bed" look and i think it works. The timberwork adds a bit of depth and they love hunting around in and out of it.

if you know were i can get hold of some of those bigger species, let me know and ill post a few more pics :thumbup:

Jeff

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wow! i gotta say.. its very impressive.

do you need to filter the water? with a sump or canister?

i was gonna say, ask mr native - his fish list is a good collection. but you know him already

the other species your talking about sound great too. i wouldnt want to stick my hand in there, maybe a fishing line with a prawn though :lol3: hahaha

thumbs up!!!!! :thumb:thumb:thumb

take some feeding time pics :lol1:

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You might want to rethink before adding a Murray cod.

I had a larger Bass & smaller Murray cod together and the bass copped an absolute flogging overnight till it died. Murrays are very territorial.

Also your tank looks over stocked as it is as Bass are also territorial prefering their own little snag. JMO and I hope you don't take offence...

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Jade Perch or Barcoo Grunters I think they are sometimes called are the piggest pigs of fish I've ever kept. I kept one with Large American cichlids such as trimacs, freddys and jags and they couldnt compete for food with the jade perch. Great looking tank you have there! Maybe a large Eel Tail cat or short finned eel would be cool additions.

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it probably is overstocked, but they seem to get along pretty well. the silver perch can be d/heads from time to time, but not the bass. I will have to thin them out a bit when shannon gets me the redfin, but i can wait till then....when you have so many they dont seem to want to pick on just one fish...

I also made sure that there was plenty of room in and around the logs, so that a fish that was getting hassled could duck around a log and be momentarily out of sight. as long as they have the room to be able to flick away without smashing into sharp rocks or timber, they are fine...as for the jade perch, the seafood shops keep em pretty cold so that they dont have to feed them and mine hardly eat at all, but who knows what summer will bring. Besides, they aren't meant to be pets in the seafood shops (more like fresh fillets)

as i said, i never knew that aussie bass were such varacious eaters :shock: They just smash any thing that wriggles.they have actually taken my fingers up to the second knuckle...I could feel thier gill rakes on my fingertips...

I have a 2foot tank as a sump filter which is powered by 2 1000ltr/hr powerheads but thats all.

I feed em chicken livers and hearts and sometimes mullet and yabbies and carp... but i do only feed em twice a week. I made the mistake of overfeeding one weekend and the water went pretty sour with all the blood and chicken bile from the livers...but a quick water change soon fixed that ;)

I'm actually pretty proud of it, and the missus leaves me alone about money, cos she sees the power bill! so its a winner... I mean, don't get me wrong, i'd love to have it full of "emperor cichlids" or peacock bass and god knows i've tried... but i have to live within my means these days...

I will post some pics when i get the redfin.

ive just cracked a beer and im heading up the back to the shed

Cheers

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Hi Jeff.

Looks great.

I love the idea.

Makes me wanna build a big pond and fill it with fish that can live outdoors.

Next time you crack a beer in the shed, try cracking a windex or metho bottle on that glass.

It would liook even better in the pics.

Just 1 question.

Do they splash and tailwhip when you feed them?

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G'day Dave,

I just came back to get another beer.

Yeah mate, you need a raincoat sometimes and I could do with some windex on my glasses. These photos were just after a water change and I took them with my phone camera so they are crap but you get the idea. It should look pretty good with some redfin perch to add a bit of colour and if worse comes to worse i've got a couple of nice fillets to put on the bbq. ;)

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here are a few better quality pics for you check out...

IPB Image

check out this Australian Bass.. hes a carps worst nightmare

IPB Image

this is a "jade perch" that i bought for $23/kg.

IPB Image

tell me what you think!!

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Thumbs up from me too!!!

As an avid fish-o, i love the idea of a Bass filled tank. Unreal to keep and watch.

I think a lot of forum members have had a little "light bulb" turn on and are now in the planning stages. hehe.

Well done, great looking tank and thanks for sharing. :thumb:thumb:thumb

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yeah that bass is one of 5 bigger ones (about 30cm).

He is a weapon! anything that wriggles!!

Most of the fish in there were "wild caught" so ive stocked it for next to nothing.

And it costs next to nothing to run, so everybody's happy.

I'm trying to get some redfin perch, so when i do, i'll post some more photo's.

thanks for the compliments.

just one question, Are the photos coming out ok?

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The last set of pics came out pretty good.

The good thing is when you click on them it takes you to the host site and then they can be enlarged.

It would be good to see some more and also some full tank shots.

Just make sure you are fully dressed so that your reflection does not scare off the kids.

:8

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