Before I make my first serious posting as a RML member, I thought I would
follow the example of most list members and introduce myself to the list :
My name is Chen Leong, and away from fish-keeping, I am a chartered
accountant, married with one daughter, Sarah (18 months). My fishkeeping
passion started four years ago, when my wife and I inherited a secondhand
tank from my father-in-law. I "discovered" rainbows one night whilst
watching Dr Harry Cooper's program "Talk to the Animals", wherein, a member
of ANGFA (the name escapes me) was interviewed and the cameras allowed into
his fishroom. The spectacular colours of the rainbows caught our eyes, and
we were hooked on their beauty and graceful swimming. I had to find out
more !!! I joined ANGFA after speaking with Noel Harcourt. From the humble
beginning of one tank of rainbows, we now have 6 tanks, spread throughout
the house. The interest in rainbows has slowly developed into an interest
in other Sahul natives, and I have recently started keeping gudgeons. I
joined the RML to obtain further knowledge and to gain other people's views
on general fishkeeping issues.
Anyway, enough of me, and onto a serious question to list members. After
reading with envy in FOS of our Qld counterparts' various collection trips
in Qld and NT, ANGFA Vic members decided that in 1997, regular collection
trips would be organised for members to participate in. In January and two
weekends ago, Glenn Briggs and Alex Caughey led a group to various parts of
the Goulburn River system (north Vic), and we collected tons of Gambusia, a
few Smelt, Pygmy Perch, Western Carp Gudgeons and M.Fluviatilis. The
majority of the fish collected survived the journey back to Melbourne,
however, almost all the Smelt I collected perished either on the way back,
or shortly after arriving home (other Vic members have expressed the same
comments). They obviously did not handle the stress well.
Have any members collected this fish and been able to transport them back
safely? If so, what are some of the things they have done to acclimatise the
fish and/or reduce the stress ?
Apologies for the long post !!
Chen Leong
<cleong at btr.com.au>