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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

blue ram pair black stripes on the body

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13 Apr 2014 10:33 #1 by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne)
Hi guys
I moved last week my blue ram pair in a tank of their own.
Since then they are displaying black stripes on their bodies, more prononced on the female and the female is constantly chasing the female around the tank.
Should i be worried ?
Here is a picture of the female


Thanks
Anthony
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13 Apr 2014 10:42 - 13 Apr 2014 10:45 #2 by gunnered72 (Eddy Gunnered)
If it's that persistent kind of chasing in bursts I would be inclined to seperate them as the fish that's being pestered might get sick from the stress and the fish that's doing the chasing may be doing it because it's stressed itself..I've seen this alot with German Blue Rams..They are territorial cichlids after all even despite their so called peaceful nature..What I've learned over the years about cichlids even dwarf cichlids is that changing their environment can alter their behaviour..It can be alot of trial and error..

Also cichlids showing stripes when they don't normally can be a sign of stress....

Something to consider aswell is the water chemistry..Is it different in their new home compared to their old one
Last edit: 13 Apr 2014 10:45 by gunnered72 (Eddy Gunnered).

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13 Apr 2014 10:56 #3 by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne)
The tds is a bit higher in their new tank.
I use the same mixture peat filtered water/tap water, have the same wood, substrate and floating plants but the lighting is much stronger.
The major difference is there are no other fishes with them.
I m abit reluctant to had other fishes but if it is wat it takes i will.

Anthony

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13 Apr 2014 11:18 #4 by gunnered72 (Eddy Gunnered)
Something that has worked for me in the past is to take the aggressive fish out and let the submissive one settle in better say for about ten days..During that time rearrange the decor to feck up the aggressors established territories..Add a small school of dither fish (dither fish can help keep cichlids occupied and feel more secure)

After about ten days (2 weeks maybe) reintroduce the aggressive fish...

All this gives the chasing fish time to calm down..the chased fish time to recouperate and establish it's own territories in its new environment and thus you will avoid the possibility of a dreaded stress related illness outbreak

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13 Apr 2014 11:26 #5 by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne)
Thanks, i m going to try it now and get more plants inside the tank.

Regards
Anthony

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13 Apr 2014 11:38 #6 by gunnered72 (Eddy Gunnered)
Rearrange the hardscape too Anthony..and maybe add some extra caves and hiding spots..taller bushy plants help too to break up sight lines...

Basically your trying to confuse the hell out of the aggressive fish while establishing comfort for the submissive fish

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13 Apr 2014 12:11 #7 by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne)
I dont have any caves at the minute.
Here is a picture of the tank, i thought the wood would have helped creating territorie.
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13 Apr 2014 12:29 #8 by JohnH (John)
If you have anything appropriate, you could try adding some innocuous fish for the female to take out her aggression on.
I think the one in the first picture is showing signs of getting into 'spawning' garb and, quite possibly your other Ram (not female, hopefully - as in first post) isn't quite as 'ready'.

Any other suggestions for Anthony?

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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13 Apr 2014 12:33 #9 by gunnered72 (Eddy Gunnered)
How big is the tank..It kinda looks a little small for a pair of Rams..Tank size could be your main problem but at the same time taking the aggressor out for a couple of weeks may still work..

I honestly think a pair of Rams should be in at least a 70 litre aquarium

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13 Apr 2014 13:00 #10 by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne)
The tank size is 30l.
The plan was not to have them in that tank but after finding one dead cory habrosus next to the eggs one morning i moved them into the only tank available.

Anthony

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13 Apr 2014 13:25 #11 by gunnered72 (Eddy Gunnered)
Ah! So the Rams are a mated pair then? And they bred and laid eggs?
And they were killing other fish (the dwarf Cory) while protecting the young and your afraid they will do the same again..

Unfortunately when any cichlids pair up and breed they will do anything to protect their young..even so called peaceful Rams..The only way to avoid this is to keep single specimens or to keep the pair in their own appropriate tank..

I am tending to agree with John now that the female is not in the humour for the males company and its a breeding issue..

It's not uncommon for cichlids to reject their mate after breeding either ..Sometimes one can just think the other is a crap parent and want another partner instead..Worse case scenario the rejected fish can even be killed..I would seperate them definitely..Leaving them together in such a small space is asking for trouble...

you can for sure try and put them back together in a few weeks..Might work out, might not..It's down to good old fashioned luck I guess...Honestly though the 30 litre is too small long term for one specimen, let alone a pair..You will stunt the fish and it will get sick

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13 Apr 2014 13:59 #12 by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne)
I have moved the male to another tank.
Will keep them apart until i have another tank set up.
Never planned on breeding them, just got a male and female from seahorse a sunday and found eggs on tuesday, hate the eggs and spawned again a week later.
Thanks alot for your advices gunnered.
Planning a tank for angelfish, dontvwant to breed them, hesitating between a 3 foot 280 l or a 4 foot 350 l.
Which one would you recommend ?

Anthony

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13 Apr 2014 15:54 #13 by gunnered72 (Eddy Gunnered)
The bigger the tank the better for Angels..
Your lucky to be able to consider a 4 foot tank..
I just don't have the room at the moment..
If I could I would go for the bigger option but that's just me...

Remember Angels are cichlids and if you keep a group chances are you may get a pair and under the right conditions they may breed...

Honestly if you don't want to breed any kind of cichlid the only sure fire way is to keep a single specimen....

Angels are very hard to sex too in case you are thinking all males or all females... Just be aware of that...

The other thing about Angels is they eventually get big and will most definitely eat any small fish..They are fine with most fish when they are younger and smaller but be careful when they get big...Neon/Cardinals etc will just end up as lunch

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13 Apr 2014 16:45 #14 by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne)
I have enough space for a 8 foot tank but not enough money. You cant have it both ways..anyway i dont think i would enjoy the water changes on a huge tank.
Angels grow big alright, i m looking at getting f1 or f2 scalares.
But first i need to sort out a tank for the rams.
By the way the markings disappeared on the female less than an hour after i moved the male to a different tank.
Thanks for all your advices.

Regards
Anthony

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