Species Profile Australian Smelt

I went for a trip to the upper Reaches of Christmas Creek in Lamington National Park to film a beautiful little fish, The Australian Smelt, with a good friend of mine Nick from Keeping Fish Simple we spent all day snorkelling and admiring this little fishes habits, I thought I'd do a bit of a profile on it as although it's a pretty common fish in South Eastern Australia it's not often kept in the hobby, it can be hard to transport but once you have it established in an aquarium or pond it's a great little schooling fish, probably one of the choices for the southern states as it can handle cold water, in Southern Queensland east of the Great Dividing Range it is probably one fish that can be found in cooler water high up in mountain streams all the way down to the coast, so it seems to like a wide range of water conditions once established, I my self have kept it before but mainly in larger setups in schools and I think that's what it prefers as it is pretty high strung and loves to have a lot of space, something to consider as the weather warms up but remember not to fish in National Parks or Reserves and only take what you need, the bag limits in Queensland apply to this fish of a maximum of 20, you would have to check the laws in your state.
Thanks for watching, I hope you enjoy the video.

[@KeepingFishSimple]

Great video. I love that spot. Snorkelling with them was so awesome.

[@australianbiotopes4563]

Thanks mate! we will have to go back when it's really hot, heaps more spots around the area.

[@jokervienna6433]

Again, all these amazing angles, and about fish and plants I know nothing about. Simply great!

[@australianbiotopes4563]

Thank you! I'm happy you enjoyed it! 🙂

[@footagemissing]

Another great quality video, love the voiceover with species information. I have some curly leaf pond weed in a couple of tanks, i like it.

[@australianbiotopes4563]

Thank you! it is a great looking plant, I love it to 🙂

[@jeffkane4391]

Thanks for sharing sir! I really enjoy natural ecosystems from around the world. 😊

[@australianbiotopes4563]

Thank you for watching, I'm happy you enjoyed it 🙂

[@snells-window]

Another excellent video Jason, with great information

[@australianbiotopes4563]

Thanks Greg! 🙂

[@workerant7874]

Great work as always

[@australianbiotopes4563]

Thank you! 🙂

[@maurodoimo9235]

Complimenti per il bel video.

[@australianbiotopes4563]

Grazie mille! Sono davvero felice che ti sia piaciuto. 🙂

[@grbenavides]

Jason, Thank you so much for this. Like a breath of fresh air. I can’t say in words just how much I enjoy and appreciate these videos. Keep them coming!

[@australianbiotopes4563]

Thank you! it's a passion of mine and I hope to do it as long as I can, I'm happy you are enjoying them 🙂

[@IndoorEcosystem]

Another awesome video! I hadn't heard of this fish before. They look amazing!

[@australianbiotopes4563]

Thank you my friend, one of the most common fish in Australia but hardly anybody keeps them because they can be a bit tricky to transport, they are our version of a glow light tetra and look great in a school.

[@IndoorEcosystem]

@@australianbiotopes4563 I would never have guessed it! They are kind of like the Southern version of blue-eyes in a weird way. I love seeing all the different kinds of aussie fish getting around. Though we don't really have too many crazy colour ones. At least commonly.

[@australianbiotopes4563]

@@IndoorEcosystem I didn't mean they are related to Glow lights just something we can use that is native that serves the same purpose as a nice little schooling fish, but yeah they sort of fill that role in southern waters.

[@IndoorEcosystem]

@@australianbiotopes4563 Yep I know what you meant 🙂 Just our version of a similar fish.

[@UKFishCam]

They are such a beautiful species, great video

[@australianbiotopes4563]

Thank you! yes they are nice, if they were easier to transport I think they would be much more popular.

[@berkahjayafishingberkahjay1663]

Pemandangan bawah laut yang luar biasa 👍

[@australianbiotopes4563]

Ya itu tempat yang indah, Terima kasih! 🙂

[@NameName-do9hj]

Well done

[@australianbiotopes4563]

Thank you!🙂

[@TamalinTV]

Nice place, nice preservation indeed not like here in New Guinea most rivers are vulnerable of pollution due to high deforestation, plantation, mining, wildly settlement etc. Thanks for sharing Jason. Keep up a good work.

[@australianbiotopes4563]

Thank you my friend! you to, I love your stuff, it's very sad what has happened and happening to your country and others, richer countries need to stop exploiting countries like yours, I my self am ashamed at what mining companies from our country has done to yours, they won't be happy until there is nothing left, they have trouble doing it here as to many people would protest and people with money are buying back land and turning it into reserves.

[@aquilanowland3211]

It's amazing how smelt can be in high altitude creeks, obviously negotiating small waterfalls I live on a creek where they're at their limit. Where only eels and odd tandanus go further up CK

[@australianbiotopes4563]

Yes they can get into some strange places, this spot was probably not far for their limit as well, I did see one small Tandan but missed it on the camera, there was also some turtles but they managed to dodge us to.

[@NaturalBiotopes]

Wonderful nature of your country. I have a dream to someday visit a place like yours and contemplate the nature of a warm climate. How about poisonous snakes and wild animals? You have to go to places remote from a person. I myself also go to wild places and I am always afraid to meet wild animals that pose a threat to humans.

[@australianbiotopes4563]

It probably doesn't matter where you go in this country, there is always something nice around not to far away from the city limits, it is like most countries, there is always something that can be dangerous but mostly you have to be pretty unlucky or doing something stupid for something to happen, there are venomous snakes common all over our country but when I was young we used to walk and play in the bush bare foot and none of me or my friends ever got bitten or even saw many snakes unless we were looking for them, they don't really want to be found so they normally stay away from humans, most of our other wild animals are pretty harmless, Crocodiles up north would be the most dangerous but there are signs everywhere to let you know where they are, the ocean can have a few dangerous animals but the same thing, there are warning signs at most beaches if they are around, there is a stigma attached to Australia that it is a dangerous place and yes it can be if you ignore things but it is just as easy to get hit by a car in the city and you wouldn't stand in the middle of the road for no reason, we have a lot of beautiful places but you just have to be aware of your surroundings, like you wouldn't choose to travel into the desert in the middle of summer, you do it in winter and make sure you have more then enough water, it's just common sense, I'm sure like most people you would love it. 🙂

[@88njtrigg88]

N9 body owns this.

[@australianaquarist]

Hey Jason You nailed the collection details. The only time I’ve had reliable success collecting smelt is at night, with cold water. Maybe some air. The ones I brought back home by mistake amongst the rainbows, are still going strong in the turtle tank

[@australianbiotopes4563]

Yeah they should thrive in there, you might even breed them now the weather is warming up, I've only ever had luck with them in a large tank, last time I kept them it was in a well established 8ft, I think in small tanks they stress to much, they are such a high strung fish, I look forward seeing how that tank of yours is going, I'm so jealous of it, I was at one stage thinking of making one out of steel, but it passed by and now I'm building a finch aviary in that spot, I got to many hobbies 🙂

[@australianaquarist]

I’ve been on the hunt for Java Finch!! Did you get my message about me heading north next weekend?

[@australianbiotopes4563]

@@australianaquarist No where is the message? Java finch are cool, I used to keep them, I haven't seen any for awhile, I'm heading west next week, to see what's about with a mate, send me an Email and I can exchange details with you, [e-mail]

[@ronlafond5288]

Thanks Jason. It's really nice to see bits of Australia - both above and below the water's surface. I don't know if I'll ever be able to make it there from Southern California, so I'm really grateful for your shares. Have a fantastic week!

[@australianbiotopes4563]

Thank you! same to you, I'm happy you enjoyed it 🙂

[@drblack66]

I was thinking smelts for my newish 6ft tank .... curly leaf pond weed would look tops too... nice one.

[@australianbiotopes4563]

If you get some you won't be disappointed, they look really nice and the plant to 🙂

[@drblack66]

@@australianbiotopes4563 fingers crossed I can find some curly gear in my local creeks

[@tysont2380]

Love your videos. Do you know much about freshwater mullet? Hard to find info on what species they are. And I'm talking mullet that can be found way upstream. For example in yabba creek on the Mary River system where they use to dynamite fish for them

[@australianbiotopes4563]

Thank you! no I don't know much about them, I'm into the more smaller species popular in aquariums, I know there are a few species up and down the coast after researching them a little bit but like most in this country, it's always hard to find good info.

[@dannywalker2744]

There's thought to be a few seperate species maybe 5 just needs the taxonomy work finished. (One-day. Too many species not enough scientists)

[@australianbiotopes4563]

Yes it would be a pain doing field guides in this day and age, but I guess it allows for revised editions 🙂

[@malayalimgtowmonk]

Is there anyway you can import them to india or is it available in any online aquatic websites

[@australianbiotopes4563]

No sorry.

[@MrCites1]

Decent video, the preamble about respecting a pack of drunks is laughable though, and lame.

[@australianbiotopes4563]

Thanks mate, but every race has good and bad, I've been around the world a couple of times and have seen a lot of drunks 🙂

[@MrCites1]

@@australianbiotopes4563 that’s true, but we don’t blindly honour them, quite the opposite.

[@australianbiotopes4563]

@@MrCites1 I think you got me wrong, I don't blindly honour any one, but a little bit of kindness goes a long way, I respect everyones culture and find them all equally fascinating, if we all respected one another the world would be a better place, putting a kind word at the front of a documentary doesn't hurt anyone, us as humans are getting to cut up about little things that don't really matter, if I filmed in another country I would put the same thing down thanking them as well, you never stop learning and I think we could all learn a lot from each other.

[@knabdank]

i do not recognize any traditional owner of this great land we are all australian, treating another race as though they are a chosen people are what the germans did during WW2.

[@australianbiotopes4563]

One of the differences is the nazi's went to other peoples lands and slaughtered millions of people, the reason I say nazi is because not all Germans were involved and every race has good and bad, I'm not asking you to recognise but it's something I am in my videos, my family had nothing to do with the first settlements but from history it was something similar to what the nazi's did did in Europe, I personally think we are all equal humans just trying to get by with different cultures, I think it would be nice to get along and appreciate what other cultures have to offer, maybe if we ever get invaded you will understand, I have visited old concentration camps many years ago in Eastern Europe when it was still under communist rule and it wasn't a pleasant sight seeing rooms full of little kids shoes, human hair, reading glasses ext. from people like you and me that had been slaughtered for no real reason, I wouldn't wish that on anyone, sometimes a bit of kindness goes a long way, Thanks for watching.