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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

Male or female Pleco?

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18 Oct 2010 19:03 #1 by Ma (mm mm)
I am trying to find out if this is a female or male as I want to get a mate, not looking to breed, just want a pair on their own in a tank, once I find out I can then look for the other. Video is 6 months old there abouts do I need ot wait till it gets larger?

Cheers





Mark

Location D.11

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18 Oct 2010 19:38 #2 by Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
Hi Mark. If thats the one I sold you Im pretty sure its a male as it had bristles around the pectoral fins. These will get much more prominant as he matures. Another way is to check the papilla. Small and pointy then you can be fairly certain its a male. I never did this as I was sure it was a male because of the bristles but may well be worth looking into.

Jay

Location: Finglas, North Dublin.

Life
may not be the party we hoped for, but while we
are here we might as well dance.

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18 Oct 2010 20:31 #3 by Ma (mm mm)
Replied by Ma (mm mm) on topic Re:Male or female Pleco?
CHeers Jay. Will try get a look, was thinking male but didn't want to get a femaleand find out this was one too.


Mark

Location D.11

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18 Oct 2010 20:44 #4 by Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
Lol, dude you dont half set the bar high for yourself do ya. These are another one of those hard to breed plecs that I dont think have been successfully bred in the home aquarium. From what I have read these plecs burrow into riverbanks and breed in tunnels. Would be kinda hard to replicate those parameters in an aquarium. Im sure there would be some kind of work around. Best of luck with the project though, well worth trying.

Jay

Location: Finglas, North Dublin.

Life
may not be the party we hoped for, but while we
are here we might as well dance.

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18 Oct 2010 20:52 #5 by Ma (mm mm)
Replied by Ma (mm mm) on topic Re:Male or female Pleco?
Mark. wrote:

I am trying to find out if this is a female or male as I want to get a mate, not looking to breed, just want a pair on their own in a tank, once I find out I can then look for the other. Video is 6 months old there abouts do I need ot wait till it gets larger?




Spot on Jay but ^ Read again bro, wouldn't take this one on without a serious river tank doing a dry season spell with wamer shallower water adding 80% cooler water changes to trigger spawning, have done some research but I am nowhere near close to such an endeavour as difficult as this:)


Mark

Location D.11

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18 Oct 2010 21:05 #6 by Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
Ah, thats what I get for assuming :laugh: . I read so much of your endeavours in fish breeding it seems thats all you do. Yeah, they are a cracking fish and to keep a pair would be nice for sure. If you haunt some of sites geared toward exotic plecs Im sure you will glean some solid intel on their habits or if its even possible. Would be a nice little earner if you pulled it off despite their slow growth rate. Anyway good luck finding him a friend and keep a watchful eye on them if you do, as they are territorial and may not take kindly to an intruder...

Jay

Location: Finglas, North Dublin.

Life
may not be the party we hoped for, but while we
are here we might as well dance.

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18 Oct 2010 21:22 #7 by Ma (mm mm)
Replied by Ma (mm mm) on topic Re:Male or female Pleco?
Was wonderin if he would get like that with a female, grouchy auld pleco he is.

I never had enough tanks, for mivong fish, different parameters for each species n all that, in a better position now. I have been guilty of trying too many things together and feckin the lot up, and buying gear I didn't need or want, grand ideas:laugh: as soon as we move into a place where I can have a shed, BAM! Fishworld:laugh:

Back workin now so things have changed, even had to restrain my mouse hand from bidding for the 10" pleco:)

Cheers matey.



Mark

Location D.11

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18 Oct 2010 21:30 #8 by dar (darren curry)
Mark. wrote:

:laugh: as soon as we move into a place where I can have a shed, BAM! Fishworld:laugh:

wen that happens i have an oul 100+gallon pond you could sink into the floor or have it raised, i reckon that would be good for breeding the plecos in, make some kind of mud wall in it, although you'd miss the veiwing but that might induce spawning

Check out the angling section, it is fantastic

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18 Oct 2010 21:37 #9 by Ma (mm mm)
Replied by Ma (mm mm) on topic Re:Male or female Pleco?
dar wrote:

Mark. wrote:

:laugh: as soon as we move into a place where I can have a shed, BAM! Fishworld:laugh:

wen that happens i have an oul 100+gallon pond you could sink into the floor or have it raised, i reckon that would be good for breeding the plecos in, make some kind of mud wall in it, although you'd miss the veiwing but that might induce spawning



Hey Hey a new jacuzzi:)

Mark

Location D.11

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07 Nov 2010 00:13 #10 by JustinK (Justin Kelly)
I used to have a bit of 4" soil pipe (black) in the tank. My sailfin loved it.It was sunk into the substrate to hold it in place.
It's an idea you could try ?

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18 Nov 2010 20:18 #11 by Ma (mm mm)
Replied by Ma (mm mm) on topic Re:Male or female Pleco?
A friend reckoned this is a Panaque SP 1, rarer than the waterrmelon pleco, he said because it has spots since being a juvenile where as the l330 has stripes as a juvenile has stripes which turn into spots at maturity.

I got this little fellow from Jay who bought him as a juvi and he had spots if I remember clearly.


What do the catsperts reckon?



Cheers
mark

Location D.11

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