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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

spawning a gogo

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23 Jan 2014 20:21 #1 by Miamiheat (Stephane Lemaire)
My breeding pair spawned again last week: they were in the main tank and i don't have the time to set them up in a new tank and to mind babies for now. They spawned again today.. Still in the main tank.
I think I will be ready to really look after small ones in March.
The question is am I going to ruin their potential parental skills for lack of a better word by letting them spawn and spawn and always eat the eggs?

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23 Jan 2014 22:32 #2 by anglecichlid (ciaran hogan)
I've never kept discus,
But I believe if there comfortable and happy in there tank they
Will get it in time
If you take the eggs,chances are they will eat them before you take them the next time
It's easier said than done telling you to leave them,
But a wise man once told me fish are far better caregivers to there little ones than us humans could ever be!

Anyone with a aquarium can keep fish,
But it takes real skill to be a fish keeper,


And it's spongeBob,
SpongeBob lives in a pineapple under the sea
BLANCHARDSTOWN

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24 Jan 2014 06:46 #3 by Homer (Kevin)
Replied by Homer (Kevin) on topic spawning a gogo
Put in som dither Fish, not Cardinals though as they are mini Piranha and will eat the spawn in a flash, this will spur the protective and nurturing tendency

If you remove the eggs there is a risk that any resultant fish will also eat the spawn, let them continue, I am sure they will come good.

H.

The Glass is always greener on the other side.


It's NOT "Chee lick", NOT "Chee Chee Licks"!!! Cichlids is pronounced as "Sick Lids"!!!!!

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24 Jan 2014 11:48 #4 by JohnH (John)
Replied by JohnH (John) on topic spawning a gogo
As I understand it you have the Discus in a community tank at the moment?
If this is correct then the other inhabitants should - as suggested by Homer - act as 'dither' fish.
Are the adults the egg-eating culprits for certain?
If this is the case then they mightn't yet have 'worked out' that they aren't supposed to.
Quite often the presence of other fish will help to strengthen the parental instinct, which is why I'm kind of wondering if the eggs aren't actually falling prey to other occupants, especially if the tank lights are switched off - Catfish, especially Plecos and the like, are very adept at egg-stealing when it's too dark for the parents to see before it's too late.

Did a] you buy these as a breeding pair?
If so, b] were you given any assurance that they had reared fry previously?

I'm asking because if they have bred previously, but not reared any offspring they aren't really - in Discus terms - a true breeding pair. Under most normal situations removal of eggs will not guarantee much in the way of healthy fry, in my experience - I've tried this on a few occasions and although the eggs hatched the resultant fry died off pretty rapidly without the parental mucus to start them off.

Let's hope that once you get your dedicated breeding tank up and running success will follow.

Please let us know how things go.

John

Location:
N. Tipp

We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.


ITFS member.



It's a long way to Tipperary.

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24 Jan 2014 12:45 #5 by Miamiheat (Stephane Lemaire)
Thank you all for answers. I wasn't clear in my explanation/question so here goes more:
Some facts:
- proven breeding pair as they had at least 2 batches of fry and i bought them with some fry (have 3 babies with them in same tank as of now).
- they are in an "all discus" tank with some juvies - i guess the heavy water changes are inducing them to spawn.
- they protect the cone and stay alert and eat the eggs that turn white like they are supposed to, then they end up eating the eggs ==> in my understanding because conditions are not perfectly suitable for fry (filtration and presence of other Discus fish)?

As I am not ready to be a "minder" for potential fry, I am not really bothered by the fact there is no fry hatching. But I was wondering if letting them go on like this (spawning and spawning) was going to affect their behaviour in a way that when i do want some fry they will have learned to always eat the eggs... Am I overcomplicating things here?

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24 Jan 2014 13:14 #6 by JohnH (John)
Replied by JohnH (John) on topic spawning a gogo
That clears up a few questions then.
I think it's really 'in the lap of the gods' since they have raised fry before.
I feel certain that, in time to come, they'll revert back to the parental habit - they've done it before, so should revert back under more favourable conditions.
Discus - like many other Cichlids - seem to have a 'breeding phase' during which they'll breed almost like clockwork, then seem to go into a decline for an even longer period.
If you're worried about them learning to eat the eggs and that becoming the norm, why not just remove the cone after they've spawned (after dark preferably) and replace it after you've cleaned off the eggs?

Just a thought - it would save, at least, the parents eating their eggs.

John

Location:
N. Tipp

We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.


ITFS member.



It's a long way to Tipperary.

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25 Jan 2014 10:54 #7 by paulv (paul vickers)
Ive never kept discus so this may be a silly suggestion but as your not properly set up yet to raise fry why not remove the cones and stop the pair from spawning until you are set up.

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25 Jan 2014 14:46 #8 by Miamiheat (Stephane Lemaire)

Ive never kept discus so this may be a silly suggestion but as your not properly set up yet to raise fry why not remove the cones and stop the pair from spawning until you are set up.


I think if they feel the urge to spawn they will spawn, on plants of on heater: that latest option i'd like to avoid.

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25 Jan 2014 17:00 #9 by paulv (paul vickers)
So the heart shaped candies and mood music are not needed with discus :angel: . Hopfully you can sort it out, discus are truely amazing looking fish.

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06 Feb 2014 00:29 #10 by Miamiheat (Stephane Lemaire)
so i have reached a new milestone: a new spawn turned into wigglers tonite. fish in main tank so i don't expect them to last but its nice to reach that point.

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