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Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)

Hi,

John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.

I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.

With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.

I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.

If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.

I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.

I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.

Thank you
Darragh Sherwin

New Malwai Cichlids dont seem to be feeding?

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22 Jul 2008 08:47 #1 by paddykelly6 (Paddy Kelly)
So I added three new fish to my tank last week and two of them do not seem to be feeding.

I added a melanochromis johanni, a cynotilapia Afra Jalo and another i haven't been able to id yet.

The johanni is getting along great but the other two seem more interested in digging caves than eating. The rest of the fish all rush to the top of the tank when I approach and its a feeding frenzy but the afra jalo and the unknown seem to hand around the bottom oblivious to the food above.

I have been feeding them Nutrafin Tropical Flake food and the odd bit of cucumber so I'm wondering if maybe there something else i should be feeding?

Heres a pic of the unknown if anyone can help with an id?



The other fish I have are yellow labs and blue zebras which are smaller than the new additions

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22 Jul 2008 09:03 #2 by serratus (Drew Latimer)
It looks like a melanochromis species, pos. northern blue or simulans????????? most look the same!!!!!!!!!! where did you get it they should know!!!!

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22 Jul 2008 09:34 #3 by paddykelly6 (Paddy Kelly)
Cheers for the help. I bought em in Petstop in Blanchardstown but the girl working at the time couldn't id him for me.

If he is a melanochromis northern blue or simulans do they have specific dietary requirements?

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22 Jul 2008 12:08 #4 by serratus (Drew Latimer)
Northern blue are considered a micro carnivore, small crustaceans (krill, brine shrimp etc is fine) simulans is more an omnivore (everything) Both will do well on a mixed diet though of veggie flake and mysis, krill, brine shrimp etc.... as with all Malawis feed sparingly!!!!

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22 Jul 2008 12:18 #5 by serratus (Drew Latimer)
Forgot to mention, mixing conspecifics (same family) is usually disasterous!!!! They will usually fight especially when adult and also crossbreed, so keep an eye on them!!!!!
All depends on the size of the tank though!!!

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23 Jul 2008 01:57 #6 by sheag35 (Seamus Gillespie)
colouration reminds me of Copadichromis geertsi, or Copadichromis jacksoni, and if i'm right in my identification (heres hoping) then they are zooplankton feeders in the wild, so spirinula etc could help
Seamus

Fishkeeping the Only way to get wet and wild

currently 25 tanks, and breeding is the aim of everything i keep
location:Limerick

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23 Jul 2008 10:38 #7 by paddykelly6 (Paddy Kelly)
serratus:
Cheers for the info, i've got a 240 litre tank and the two melanochromis (if thats what it is) dont seem to be bothered by each other in the slightest. I'll defo keep an eye on that tho and pick up some of the food you suggested to try it out.

sheag:
Nice one, i'll try out some spirinula aswel to see if that helps

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23 Jul 2008 14:29 - 23 Jul 2008 14:43 #8 by stan (stan)
sorry for the hijack,
i have a very similar looking melanochromis, it was identified to me as mel chipoke, and it devours any food that goes into the tank, has this fish been identified wrong to me???


cheers

stan
Attachments:
Last edit: 23 Jul 2008 14:43 by stan (stan).

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24 Jul 2008 00:55 - 24 Jul 2008 01:01 #9 by sheag35 (Seamus Gillespie)
Stan yours is definately a better picture on my pc, so i would now change my original guess and say with 99% certainty that it is a melanochromis chipokae, looks like the chidunga rocks version.... although both of your fishes have much more yellow in the fins which would strongly suggest they are female chipokae as the male is more strongly lilac there with yellow edging... as for feeding they are omnivorous, tending to be slightly more predatory,so do add some veg matter to their diet..and they top out at about 17cm long

Seamus

Fishkeeping the Only way to get wet and wild

currently 25 tanks, and breeding is the aim of everything i keep
location:Limerick
Last edit: 24 Jul 2008 01:01 by sheag35 (Seamus Gillespie). Reason: got more info, so correcting an error

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24 Jul 2008 08:29 #10 by paddykelly6 (Paddy Kelly)
Yeah that image is a lot better and I would say that mine is also a melanochromis chipokae. The horizontal stripe on mine is less defined but a gorgeous looking fish either way. Mine is digging up the tank like theres no tomorrow! Its a pity hes gona grow so big as my tank is only a 240 litre...will prob have to move him on at some stage.

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24 Jul 2008 23:00 #11 by sheag35 (Seamus Gillespie)
your just gonna have to use the chipokae as an excuse to get a bigger tank :)

Fishkeeping the Only way to get wet and wild

currently 25 tanks, and breeding is the aim of everything i keep
location:Limerick

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25 Jul 2008 08:09 #12 by paddykelly6 (Paddy Kelly)
Fantastic, I love where your heads at on this one!

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