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#1 BlackHomunculus

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Posted 11 March 2020 - 11:27 AM

Hi, I want to stock a 1meter aquarium with pygmy perth, western galaxias and a nightfish. But how do you catch nightfish??

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#2 malawiman85

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Posted 11 March 2020 - 07:30 PM

Hey,

I’ve caught 2 - 4cm juvies in Ellen brook before. Usually hiding in long vegetation.
Not sure that pygmys would survive hungry nightfish as they get bigger but if they grow up with them they might not be so inclined to view them as food.
Just use a little scoop net and sweep in through the vegetation.

#3 pseudechisbutleri

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Posted 11 March 2020 - 08:48 PM

My time to shine :D

 

Nightfish are widely distributed across southwest WA, but within Perth, they're restricted to the upper reaches of rivers, think the Hills, or as malawiman85 said, the Ellen Brook area. I'm not too familiar with the Dawesville area, check it out this snazzy little website (http://freshwater.fish.wa.gov.au/) :). Juveniles are in abundance around spring, you'll catch more fish at night, by sweeping a scoop net through vegetation. Down south, they're quite common, especially in seasonal pools that dry out in summer, those pools are full of other native fish species too. I headed down south not too long ago and the pools at one site were full of baby nightfish. Unfortunately, most of them died on the way home, which is weird, because they usually handle transport well.

 

I've caught nightfish in the Moore and Canning rivers, plus a few more down spots south.

 

In regards to your tank, a large nightfish (they can get up to 15cm in length) will definitely eat your pygmy perch and also galaxias around the same length as the nightfish. I'd say a 1m tank is ideal only for a small group of nightfish in the long term. They'll eat anything smaller than themselves, including fish, shrimp and moulting crayfish, and anything bigger than themselves will be too big for the tank you have. A 6ft tank would be a perfect sized predator tank for nightfish and also large galaxias, a 4ft tank is also feasible but might be pushing it, in my opinion. Also, galaxias will get too big for a 1 meter tank, I'd say 4ft is ideal for small to medium sized galaxias up to 10cm long. They'll reach 15-20cm when fully grown. Galaxiella sp. are another kind of galaxiid that are much smaller than Galaxias sp. and will definitely go in a 1m tank with pygmy perch, no problem. Only problem is that they'd be wiped out by a single nightfish. Plus they're illegal to take from the wild, but that's another can of worms ;)

 

Good luck catching them :)


Edited by pseudechisbutleri, 11 March 2020 - 10:12 PM.


#4 BlackHomunculus

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Posted 12 March 2020 - 03:58 PM

My time to shine :D
 
Nightfish are widely distributed across southwest WA, but within Perth, they're restricted to the upper reaches of rivers, think the Hills, or as malawiman85 said, the Ellen Brook area. I'm not too familiar with the Dawesville area, check it out this snazzy little website (http://freshwater.fish.wa.gov.au/) :). Juveniles are in abundance around spring, you'll catch more fish at night, by sweeping a scoop net through vegetation. Down south, they're quite common, especially in seasonal pools that dry out in summer, those pools are full of other native fish species too. I headed down south not too long ago and the pools at one site were full of baby nightfish. Unfortunately, most of them died on the way home, which is weird, because they usually handle transport well.
 
I've caught nightfish in the Moore and Canning rivers, plus a few more down spots south.
 
In regards to your tank, a large nightfish (they can get up to 15cm in length) will definitely eat your pygmy perch and also galaxias around the same length as the nightfish. I'd say a 1m tank is ideal only for a small group of nightfish in the long term. They'll eat anything smaller than themselves, including fish, shrimp and moulting crayfish, and anything bigger than themselves will be too big for the tank you have. A 6ft tank would be a perfect sized predator tank for nightfish and also large galaxias, a 4ft tank is also feasible but might be pushing it, in my opinion. Also, galaxias will get too big for a 1 meter tank, I'd say 4ft is ideal for small to medium sized galaxias up to 10cm long. They'll reach 15-20cm when fully grown. Galaxiella sp. are another kind of galaxiid that are much smaller than Galaxias sp. and will definitely go in a 1m tank with pygmy perch, no problem. Only problem is that they'd be wiped out by a single nightfish. Plus they're illegal to take from the wild, but that's another can of worms ;)
 
Good luck catching them :)

How and where do you catch Galaxiella sp?

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#5 pseudechisbutleri

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Posted 12 March 2020 - 10:44 PM

Galaxiella munda is found between Margaret River and Two Peoples Bay, in shallow streams and occasionally seasonal pools. An outlier population exists in the Moore River. They're a little difficult to catch, you'll have to sit there and watch for them, once you see them before you swipe at them with your net.

 

Galaxiella nigrostriata is found between Augusta and Walpole, with outlier populations in several locations. They occur almost exclusively seasonal swamps and pools. In small enough pools, they can be caught by driving a fine net through, and depending on the time of year, you'll catch loads. Otherwise, use the same technique as G. munda.

 

Both species only live between 12 to 24 months and require soft, acidic water, tap-water isn't recommended. As they are both threatened species, not only will you need to be cautious of rangers but also justify your illegal fishing by trying to breed them once you get them home :)



#6 BlackHomunculus

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Posted 13 March 2020 - 08:21 AM

Galaxiella munda is found between Margaret River and Two Peoples Bay, in shallow streams and occasionally seasonal pools. An outlier population exists in the Moore River. They're a little difficult to catch, you'll have to sit there and watch for them, once you see them before you swipe at them with your net.
 
Galaxiella nigrostriata is found between Augusta and Walpole, with outlier populations in several locations. They occur almost exclusively seasonal swamps and pools. In small enough pools, they can be caught by driving a fine net through, and depending on the time of year, you'll catch loads. Otherwise, use the same technique as G. munda.
 
Both species only live between 12 to 24 months and require soft, acidic water, tap-water isn't recommended. As they are both threatened species, not only will you need to be cautious of rangers but also justify your illegal fishing by trying to breed them once you get them home :)

Are you aloud to breed and sell them?

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#7 pseudechisbutleri

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Posted 13 March 2020 - 09:26 AM

Definitely wouldn't be allowed to sell, they're both endangered and wild caught. Breeding them is encouraged though.



#8 ice

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Posted 16 March 2020 - 03:26 PM

To be honest unless you're very experienced with keeping fragile natives that are very fussy with water quality I wouldn't entertain the idea of taking them from the wild. Its not only illegal but you'll probably end up killing them which just sucks for everyone, most of all the fish.



#9 pseudechisbutleri

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Posted 16 March 2020 - 07:10 PM

Speaking from experience, I agree.



#10 BlackHomunculus

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Posted 16 March 2020 - 07:15 PM

Speaking from experience, I agree.

I won't catch any than since I don't have any experience with keeping them and I don't want to accidentally kill em

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If anyone can send me a link to how to care for them that I could study, i would really appreciate it. I'm building I large pond and if I could keep them with no problems than I would love to stock it with some since they are pretty cool fish

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#11 pseudechisbutleri

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Posted 17 March 2020 - 02:44 PM

Info is scarce, since they are rarely kept.

 

Here's something to get you started: http://www.aquariuml...age2?highlight=



#12 BlackHomunculus

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Posted 18 March 2020 - 10:40 AM

Hey guys, I'm heading up to ellenbrook to look for nightfish. What lake do yous find em?

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#13 malawiman85

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Posted 19 March 2020 - 07:58 PM

End of Ellenbrook Drive... Google maps it... good easy access.
Attached File  CB2E53AB-9A20-43C2-A652-DB4D4F49262D.jpeg   187.79KB   4 downloads

#14 BlackHomunculus

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Posted 19 March 2020 - 09:52 PM

End of Ellenbrook Drive... Google maps it... good easy access.
attachicon.gifCB2E53AB-9A20-43C2-A652-DB4D4F49262D.jpeg

Thanks I hope I catch one
And the attachment you sent, I don't know how to view it so I'm hoping your looking at the same place as me

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#15 BlackHomunculus

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Posted 05 April 2020 - 07:16 PM

Hi Malawiman85, I just visited your suggested location. I sadly didn't catch the nightfish I was after. There was however an abundance of differant species including Carter's freshwater mussel, swan river gobys, mosquito fish, pygmy perch and pearl cichlids. I only found 1 pygmy perch which was very worrying to me and the nightfish seem to have just disappeared, I dont know if its because of the cichlids but I think it might be, however it did get much deeper than the places I was searching which could explain it. I appreciate the help everyone and i will continue my search until I finally find this amazing and elusive fish :)

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#16 malawiman85

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Posted 07 April 2020 - 07:32 PM

Just a timing thing.
I never caught a heap of Pygmys there but always a few. When the nightfish spawn, you tend not to see many mosquitofish. Presumably the nightfish fry start preying on the Gambusia fry in the shallow vegetation.
Best bet is to have a crack around spring time.




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