Fortesque

[fuegan13]

hey everyone...

i was just wondering if anyone keeps the fortesque fish ???
or does anyone know if your allowed to keep them ??

the reason that i ask is because my dad got stung by one last sat. (they are in the scorpion fish family so if your wondering very very very painful sting...)

and being sick and twisted like my family is i want to give him a tank with a fortesque as a present for a joke....

 

[salebrosus]

I use to catch them all the time down off Jervis Bay and the South Coast of NSW. They eat anything and seem really easy to keep. But as you say be warned the sting is painful. I got spiked by a Butterfly Cod (also known as Fire Fish) years ago and yes your hand does feel like ti is on fire.

Simone.

 

[warren63]

Yes kept a couple years ago when i had a tank setup for just local Sydney Harbour fish. Pretty easy to care for once they settle in. And yes caught them in Sydney Harbour. I actaully didnt know they existed till a girlfriend actually stepped on one in the Hawkesbury river and then carried on like a shark had bitten her. Funny that episode ended that relationship LOL Hope your dad gets a laugh out of it

 

[fuegan13]

Yes kept a couple years ago when i had a tank setup for just local Sydney Harbour fish. Pretty easy to care for once they settle in. And yes caught them in Sydney Harbour. I actaully didnt know they existed till a girlfriend actually stepped on one in the Hawkesbury river and then carried on like a shark had bitten her. Funny that episode ended that relationship LOL Hope your dad gets a laugh out of it

thats where dad got stung as well.... he was pulling the boat out of the water to go home.... he didnt find it very funny at the time but now that hes out of hospital he can laugh about it...

so you are allowed to keep it if u catch it ??

 

[Riley]

meh. my sister got stung by one in the hawkesbury river a few years ago and she was in agony for heaps long..

 

[jake61]

is it aka Bullrout, seen one in native display tank in aquarium store and seemed a very tame and intelligent fish. no you couldnt pat it but would eat prawns ouy of owners hands. he said they can travel from full seawater to quite fresh water in the top of estuary. i think theyd be a cool pet fish sort of like an oscar.

 

[abbott75]

"native fish cannot be collected from the wild to keep in ponds or aquaria without a specific permit" - http://www.fisheries.nsw.gov.au/aquatic_habitats/aquatic_habitats/aquarium_fish

Oww... I wanted to keep a few of the young fish that get caught in the prawn nets...

 

[warren63]

so you are allowed to keep it if u catch it ??

i used to catch 90% of my marine aquarium fish, scuba diving with a hand held net with no dramas but thats a few years ago and possibly the laws have changed. I do know the laws are different for freshwater and salt water fish and best to check that out then.

 

[norris]

The Fortesque is a marine fish only, where as the bullrout lives in fresh water and moves into salt water as they mature -but can remain in fresh water. I knew someone with a fortesque, I think it ate small shrimp etc.

 

[norris]

Some fish have size limits and these don't just apply to fisherman, they also apply to people who are collecting them for fish tanks. (I'd doubt there'd be any problem with taking a fortesque but I may be mistaken).

 

[fuegan13]

The Fortesque is a marine fish only, where as the bullrout lives in fresh water and moves into salt water as they mature -but can remain in fresh water. I knew someone with a fortesque, I think it ate small shrimp etc.

are you 100% sure on that ??
coz from what i have read it is brackish / marine

the thing is where dad got stung it is freshwater.... so im a bit confused...

 

[norris]

Ok, brackish too, but not not fresh.
In fresh water it would be a bullrout. In brackish or marine you'd get bullrout and fortesques.

 

[lector]

Hey if ur getting one i want 1, u can just send it to me

 

[norris]

Lector old friend, how are the "experiments" going. Any new species yet?

 

[lector]

That wat i need this fish for - i was thinking it might hybridise with one of my nephrurus asper x lace monitor prodgeny. I thought id love a giant gecko that could live in water and sting people

 

[norris]

lol giving nature a "helping hand"