Australia Collecting License and fence/barrier nets   1/17/06
Hi Bob am looking to buy a fish collecting licenses in Australia what do you think and were can you bye fence nets etc Hank
<Mmm, licenses in the "Land Down Under" are closely numbered and regulated. Likely you would have to become a citizen, and either buy into an existing one, or add your name to a list, lottery to win one if/when same became available. Fence nets can be made (I used to do this... don't!), or bought from outfits that make them by machine... Look to the aquaculture industry, magazines... I used to get mine from Memphis Net & Twine. Bob Fenner>

Greetings again from South Pacific 7/7/05
Hi Bob,
Nice to know that vast stretch of water has not deterred you in visiting this
side of the Pacific. Heron is still on the to-do list as with Lady Elliot and
many others.
<Very worthwhile>
If you come this way again don't hesitate to get in touch; the
reefs here are not as exotic as your probably aware; but has many
interesting critters all the same. I've been traveling to the Solomon
Islands this year with another 3 to go.  I'd be interested if you had any
recommendations. Regards Ross
<Thank you for this. Nothing like knowing folks locally who have "been there, done that". Bob F>

Australia nets slippery passenger There was something decidedly fishy about one female passenger arriving at Melbourne International Airport. Customs officers found 51 live tropical fish hidden under her skirt. While examining the 43-year-old woman's bags on Friday, officials reportedly heard "flipping noises from the vicinity of her waist". "An examination revealed 15 plastic water-filled bags holding fish," the Australian Customs Service said in a statement. The fish were allegedly concealed inside a purpose-built apron. Experts have yet to establish the exact species of the fish, but if the woman had successfully brought them into Australia, they could have posed potentially serious quarantine, environmental and health risks, customs officials said. The woman could face up to 10 years in jail and an $80,000 fine if convicted of smuggling wildlife. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4613985.stm Published: 2005/06/06 12:14:43 GMT © BBC MMV

The fish were concealed in a special apron

Great Barrier Reef Dive Business
dive boat brokers
<Neat concept. Will keep on file. Bob Fenner;
Ph:;+61 7 55345972
Fax:;+61 7 55250575
Address:;Box 63/955 Gold Coast Highway
Palm Beach, Queensland, 4221
Australia.              
Email:                <mailto:enquires@diveboatbrokers.com>
enquires@diveboatbrokers.com
Web Site:          <http://www.diveboatbrokers.com/> www.diveboatbrokers.com
Dive Boat Brokers provides operators in the dive industry with a
professional service to source second hand and new dive vessels to match
operational needs. We also represent business owners looking to buy or sell
their operations.
Through our 8000+ contacts in the industry and our focus on the world dive
fleet, we provide dive vessels to meet your needs. With over 30 years
experience in the finance, commercial, design and project management aspects
of the Marine Industry we can confidently and comprehensively cover all your
needs in buying or selling liveaboard and day operational dive boats. Our
company web site is www.diveboatbrokers.com
<http://www.diveboatbrokers.com/>   so please take the time to visit, as it
provides guidance in support of your enquiries.
Dive Boat Brokers is pleased offer for immediate sale the attached day dive
vessel.
If you have further interest in this vessel please contact us. If you would
prefer not to receive any further emails from us please let us know.
Best Regards
Dive Boat Brokers

How do I get live sand in Australia?
Dear WWMCrew, << Blundell here. >>
How do I come across live sand, as in Australia we don't have this in the shops. Would it be as simple as going to the beach with my bucket. << First of all let me say I have no idea what the laws and regulations are in Australia.  If it is legal to do so, then yes I would just walk out into a bout waste deep water and scoop up a bucket of sand.  That is it. >> If so what do I need to do before using, if not how do I make some. << You can make some by using some other sand, and seeding it with ocean water (live water) and a small amount (few handfuls) of live sand from another aquarium. >>
Thank You Chris
<<  Blundell  >>

Metal halide in Australia 9/21/04
Hi,  How much would a good metal halide bulb cost AU as cheap as possible??  Thanks
<I really have no idea.  In the US, the range from about $60 up to about $100 USD.  "industrial grade" lamps can be purchased as cheaply as $15 USD.  Simply figuring the exchange may not account for different shipping rates, tariffs, etc.  Do look for one of the Aussie marine aquarium message boards for more help.  Best Regards.  AdamC.>

Flying fish in the Land Down Under
Hi there Mr. Fenner
While on the internet looking for information on flying fish in the Great
Barrier Reef off Australia, I came across your email address on a site. I
wondering if you could recommend any sites with information as we are
having
a lot of trouble locating any with much information at all on flying fish.
It
is for my grandsons assignment due this week. We have been searching for
weeks, but cannot hit on much info. I have looked under Exocoetoidei,
flying
fish and atherinforms. At this stage we are looking for the life cycle and
reproductive system with pics if possible & the internal structure of the
flying fish. We have also tried the encyclopedia etc.
Hoping to hear from you soon,
Joan Christie
<Flying fishes are important commercial fisheries organisms in a few places in the world, so much of their natural history has been studied. I would start with fishbase.org in your online search for information, and once you have the scientific name/s of the species you're interested in, go back and plug this/these into Google, other search engines for more... and if this doesn't get you enough of what you want, utilize the services of a reference librarian at a large college library. Bob Fenner>

Re: freshwater Jawfish???
hello bob,
thanks for your quick response. I'll try to go in that direction you pointed out. i will be happy if i find something native. I'll let you know. Silvia
<Hotay, real good... there are surprising (at least for me!) many interesting, odd-ball fishes in "the land down under"... You may have to dig a bit, perhaps even go collecting, but well worth the effort. Bob Fenner>

FW fishes down under
hi bob,
<Silvia>
i know that we have a lot of interesting species out here. but i just
started to learn by scratching the surface. i started with a guide about the
local wildlife and joined the angfa( Australian new guinea fish association)
2 months ago because you don't find many native fish in the shops around.
last month i went on a field trip with them to an area half an hour away
from my place and i was amazed about what we found. i mean it makes a real
difference to see a picture of a fish in your creek in a book and than
actually find it. it was really exciting!
<Does sound like it!>
last year i found a fish magazine in our local library. i borrowed the whole
year's subscription and read it during my kids Easter holidays. they haven't
been very happy because they had to prepare dinner by themselves.
<Hee hee! Good practice for them and holiday for you>
but that
bugged me. it took a while and i found a different magazine at a newsagent
which i now subscribed. often there are stories or questions about fish that
are not available here in Australia but nonetheless it is interesting to
learn. and if i find something i really like i start asking questions and
keep looking around. often one way led to another and you find things you
never expected.
Silvia
<Glad to find you enjoying locals so much. Folks are wont to consider what is "just" around them it seems. Bob Fenner>

Aussie livestock locals
hi bob,
<Silvia>
you're right with the locals. you hardly find them here in aquarium shops
but probably overseas. sometimes i read in an article in an American
magazine that someone keeps an Australian rainbow. i then wonder what species
it would be. i am with the Australian new guinea fish association (angfa)
and we take great care to recognise every species. and we even separate the
different strains and try to keep track of them.
<Yes, very important... for breeding, identification... many are quite different>
when you are into it is
so interesting. depending on from which creek you select the colouration is
very different. we have people in the group who can tell by the colouration
from which creek/ area the fish come. i find that amazing.
<Indeed>
people often don't appreciate the environment they live in. it is a shame.
we had visitors from overseas over the xmas period and they were stunned.
just what we have in our backyard! they only find it in the supermarket in
the exotic area and the wildlife they only see in the zoo, just if. here
there are so close you nearly can touch them. sometimes you can.
<Well put>
there is so
much beauty in the little things. people often don't see it and don't take
care of the environment. sometimes things are destroyed before we even got
to know them.
<Amen>
because the natives are quite hardy they make good beginners fish from my
point of view. i don't know why so many people start with goldfish in a
little bowl. i like them only in a big pond outside.
and the locals are really colourful too. but i was always a fancier of the
"wild type" fish.
Silvia
<Keep on "beating that drum" Silvia. Bob Fenner>

Great Barrier Reef Corals mostly dead by 2050
Have you seen this article? I guess our hobby is actually a good thing. If this is true I guess taking coral out
<No. Thanks for sending it along>
of the ocean and bringing to a more stable environment is a good thing. Maybe that is the only chance for survival?
<Umm, no... as the planet goes, so do we. Bob Fenner>
SYDNEY (AFP) - The brightly-coloured corals that make Australia's Great Barrier Reef one of the world's natural wonders will be largely dead by 2050 because of rising sea temperatures, according to a report released Saturday.   
Instead of the rich environment depicted in the recent movie Finding Nemo, the coral reef will be bleached out and replaced by ordinary seaweed, costing the tourism industry billion of dollars, the report into the impact of global warming says.
Authors Hans and Ove Hoegh-Guldberg -- the head of Queensland University's marine studies centre and his economist father -- spent two years examining the effects of rising sea temperature on the reef for Queensland tourism authorities and the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF).
Their 350-page report found no prospect of avoiding the "chilling long-term eventualities" of coral bleaching because greenhouse gases were already warming the seas as part of a process it said would take decades to stop.
"Coral cover will decrease to less than five percent on most reefs by the middle of the century under even the most favourable assumptions," the report said. "This is the only plausible conclusion if sea temperatures continue to rise."
Warmer sea waters make corals suffer thermal stress, eventually making them bleach and die.
The report said this could occur if temperatures increased by as little as one degree centigrade, well below the two to six degrees water temperatures around the reef are expected to rise by over the next century.
"There is no evidence that corals can adapt fast enough to match even the lower projected temperature rise," it found.
Organisms reliant on coral would become rare or even face extinction, the report said.
It said the bleaching would cost the economy up to eight billion dollars (6.24 billion US) and 12,000 jobs by 2020 under the worst-case scenario.
Even under the best case scenario, about 6,000 jobs would be lost and tourists would be forced to visit "Great Barrier Reef theme parks" offshore to view the remaining coral.
The reef covers more than 345,000 square kilometers (133,000 square miles) off Australia's northeast coast, making it the world's largest coral reef.
Consisting of 2,900 interlinked reefs, 900 islands and 1,500 fish species, scientists consider it the world's largest living organism.
Yet the delicate habitat faces numerous environmental threats, including chemical run off from farms, over-fishing, bleaching and the parasitic Crown-of-Thorns starfish, which attacks coral.
The government announced plans in December to reduce farm run off and ban fishing in about a third of the reef in a bid to protect Australia's number one tourist draw card.
But the report's authors said the government needed to do more, recommending Canberra ratify the Kyoto protocol on reducing greenhouse gases and take the lead in emission reduction.
The WWF said urgent measures must be put in place to minimize reef damage and reduce greenhouse gases.
"The argument for instant action is undeniable," WWF said in a statement. "Major reductions in greenhouse gas emissions must occur now, not in five or ten years time. This is likely to deliver major benefits to our societies both in the near-term and at times beyond 2050."

Great Barrier Reef Questions   5/5/03
Why do the Great Barrier Reef is referred to as the world's largest living
organisms?<Well... in short.  Everything on the reef is dependent.  The marine fish require the corals to live.  The corals attract small fish which in turn attract larger fish.>
Describe 3 major threats to the health of the Great Barrier Reef?<Global Warming, overfishing, pollution.>
What do you think might be the wide-ranging effects on other living
organisms if White Syndrome cannot be eradicated and the Great Barrier Reef
is destroyed?<My gosh.. a LOT would happen.  Mass deaths of marine animals would be the biggest result.  Try a google search for more info on the reef.  Hope this helps!  Phil>

Book: Sea Urchins of Australia and the Indo-Pacific
It's finally available!
Sea urchins of Australia and the Indo-Pacific
Ashley Miskelly
December 2002
180p.
soft cover
full colour throughout
ISBN 0 9577455 6 7
The first full colour book ever published on Sea Urchins of Australia and
the Indo-Pacific, this book describes and illustrates 85 of a known 220
species  that occur throughout Australia and its offshore territories. Most
of the species likely to be found from low tide to about 20m deep are included.
Discover the variety of sea urchins that inhabit Australia and the
Indo-Pacific as each sea urchin is described in a format that is not
over-scientific nor too simple. Beachcombers, naturalists, divers,
professional and amateur marine enthusiasts will all find this book useful.
Each species is described in detail and illustrated with a number of colour
photographs, showing, in most cases, the live urchin, and four different
views of the test
If you have previously ordered a copy, you do not need to do so again
regards
Patty
****************************************************************************
**********
Worldwide postage A$10 per order!
Bookshop: http://www.booksofnature.com
****************************************************************************
****************
This is a once-only mailing to people dealing with the study of sea
urchins. I am sorry to have disturbed you if you do not appreciate this
information
Dr. Patty Jansen
Bookshop: http://www.booksofnature.com
Publishing and info site: http://www.capricornica.com
Books of Nature
P.O. Box 345
Lindfield NSW 2070
Australia
phone/fax: 02 9415 8098 international: +61 2 9415 8098
E-mail: capric@capricornica.com or books@booksofnature.com
<Thank you for this notice. Will post on our root web. Bob Fenner, WetWebMedia.com>

Re: 600,000L display tank in Australia
<Now that's a tank! And worthwhile visiting... even if you might slip into the water yourself... Bob F>
Cheers, Pete!
> All is well over here in Australia.
Excellent to hear :)
Our new tank is
> still going up slowly.
> Thanks very much for your previous thoughts on our
> project.
A pleasure, my friend.
> Having not been on the net long I've been
> familiarizing myself with some
> marine-based sites and have been most impressed with
> coralrealm and
> wetwebmedia. Are there any other sites you consider
> essential viewing?
Wow... so many great places to visit. Photography, ID,
etc
I like fishbase.org for fundamental taxonomy/ID... and
even some of the big message boards like
reefcentral.com can offer a nice pulse on the cutting
edge techniques by aquarists in the hobby (a lot of
amateurs there as well... but some really good stuff
too). The e-zine Advanced Aquarist
(http://www.advancedaquarist.com/) at reefs.org is
pretty good. And if anyone in your company can read
German, Daniel Knop's articles and work have been
quite good (fascinating recent article on Entacmaea
quadricolor imposed propagation in captivity).
> For a very large tank such as ours, what would be
> the best quarantine
> procedure for fish we have just caught?
Do follow zoological protocol: 4 weeks bare-bottomed,
dim lit display. Sponge filtration (easily
maintained/sterilized), non-porous artifacts (PVC pipe
fittings) for hiding security and sterility
(non-absorptive to meds if necessary). Medication is
optional but recommended. I'd suggest freshwater dips
coming in and/or going out. Formalin for all for first
several days to one week. Malachite green in concert
with Formalin for those that can/will tolerate it
(large scaled fishes yes... but never scaleless,
elasmobranchs or small scaled species).
I do not care for copper at all... there are very few
things that it is truly effective against. More often
it is inconvenient and ineffective. Anything if can
kill... formalin can kill as well or better
(especially with malachite). Still... it is an
industry standard for controlling "Ich". If you choose
to use it... please dose and test for concentrations
twice daily... critical to maintain therapeutic
levels.
My best advice for controlling parasites in QT is a
daily water changes siphoned from the bottom every day
for the first 8 consecutive days. It has been proven
to "cure" Ich without any meds by breaking the larval
(tomite) cycle. I learned this from Blasiola and
Gratzek (fish pathology at U. Georgia/Athens)
Do
> individuals need to be held in
> separate tanks, or could we put through say 20 green
> Chromis in one tank?
For most fishes it would be best to keep one per tank.
However in this case (with so many tiny fishes of the
same species) I could live with the group QT if you
are strict with the 4 week QT.
I cannot emphasize strongly enough how critical the
full 4 week QT is. While most diseases will be
expressed within the first 2 weeks... some can be
dormant for nearly one month. Be strict my friend.
> Is a freshwater dip followed by four weeks
> observation and bottom-siphoning
> the best treatment?
Right on, my brother!
Would you recommend combining
> methylene blue with the
> dip for newly captured fish?
It is a good idea for most fishes... but some small
scaled (Chromis) and scaleless species are quite
sensitive to it. Yes... a little M. blue is good.
> Similarly with corals and other invertebrates, can
> we hold more than one
> specimen per quarantine tank?
Definitely in this case... with inverts infectious
diseases are expressed quickly as a rule. Qt with
inverts is really for screening pests and predators
(bait for hitchhikers in the tank by suspending corals
on racks or tiers and leave meaty foods on the glass
bottom to lure predatory crabs, mantis, etc from the
rocks. Many great tips and tricks here for screening
corals of problem worms, crabs, shrimp, etc.
We have some 4600L
> fiberglass aquaculture
> tanks with the floor sloping to a centre drain that
> we could use for this
> purpose.
Excellent... just try to do small batches to reduce
the impact if an infectious disease should manifest.
> I'm happy to ask these questions via a site such as
> wetwebmedia if you
> prefer, so that others may also benefit from your
> wisdom.
Actually... that would be great, my friend! Many
aquarists around the world would love to hear of your
facility and learn from our exchanges. Always feel
welcome to e-mail me privately just the same... but
please to submit husbandry queries to WetWebMedia.com
And I thank you for your consideration :) I will
forward this to Bob just the same so that he can post
it.
> Regards, Pete McKenzie
Best regards, Anthony