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
i just can't win
- duzzy1 (Martin Kennedy)
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they spawned twice in the new tank but again unfortunately no success ( the last time was about 2 months ago and they ate the eggs within a few hours )
last week i managed to get my hands on a breeding pair of wild caught brichardi , but hesitantly ( spelling ) had nowhere but my south american community tank to put them ...... so this morning i decided to swap them into my smaller tank on their own .. and move the 2 keyholes back accross
i have been out all afternoon and only just got home ..... the lights were out in the tank so i decided to turn them on for a quick look to make sure all was ok ........
look wot i found
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- PAULHARTE25 (PAUL HARTE)
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- duzzy1 (Martin Kennedy)
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- duzzy1 (Martin Kennedy)
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- duzzy1 (Martin Kennedy)
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- PAULHARTE25 (PAUL HARTE)
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- PAULHARTE25 (PAUL HARTE)
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paul
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- duzzy1 (Martin Kennedy)
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- Tom (Tom Brecknell)
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- scubadim (scubadim)
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Dimitri
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- duzzy1 (Martin Kennedy)
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- duzzy1 (Martin Kennedy)
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- platty252 (Darren Dalton)
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I notice in the picture the sand is deep and quite black near the bottom. Watch out for the smell of rotten eggs (Hydrogen Sulfide).
It is best to just have a small amount of sand covering the base of the tank. If it is deep it is important to keep the sand stured to prevent a build up of Hydrogen sulfide which is toxic to fish.
You probably know this already but i think it is worth mentioning.
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- duzzy1 (Martin Kennedy)
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they protected the eggs for 2 nights and on the third morning almost half of the eggs had turned white
by that afternoon it was caviar lunch for the rest of the tankmates ....
dunno wot else i can do with these two to be honest apart from just waiting and leaving them to it
maybe one day they'll get it right
anyway , c'est la vie i guess
martin
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- scubadim (scubadim)
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or else your male must have some "issues"

Dimitri
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- derek (Derek Doyle)
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so keep trying and you will succeed and when you do it will all be worthwhile.
ps. the male should be bigger with much longer fin extensions.
30 tanks specialise in african cichlids, angelfish and various catfish
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- duzzy1 (Martin Kennedy)
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hopefully the difference in their fins will be clear enough for someone in the know to sex them from the vid .
Personally i think it is a male/female pair ... but i stand to be corrected !!!
also in the vid is a short snippet of a breeding pair of brichardi that i have on their own in another ( smaller tank ....
enjoy
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- JohnH (John)
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A quick question:
When they lay their eggs does the male spend most of the spawning time chasing the other fish away?
I'm wondering (but I suppose straw-clutching) if the male is spending more time attending to the would-be egg-stealers than actually fertilising the eggs - you might want to try either putting the pair into their own tank (2ft would do, at a pinch) and - this is not relative to the male's possible non-fertilisation of the eggs - do a, say, 20-25% water change daily until the fry are well free-swimming and beyond the BrineShrimp stage (size-wise).
Just a couple of thoughts...but I really do think there are too many other fish in there to have a successful result.
Hope this might be of some use.
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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- ted30 (Damo Mac an Bhaird)
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Location: Carrickmacross, County Monaghan
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- ted30 (Damo Mac an Bhaird)
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Location: Carrickmacross, County Monaghan
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- scubadim (scubadim)
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Dimitri
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- Daragh_Owens (Daragh Owens)
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Good luck with the breeding, I think the commom factor among several posts is that there are too many other fish in the tank with them.
Daragh
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- duzzy1 (Martin Kennedy)
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- duzzy1 (Martin Kennedy)
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fingers crossed this time , as they have actually chosen a different piece of slate upon which to spawn , and it is located in a slightly more sheltered corner of the tank ....
as i said the lights were out in the tank so hence the colours of the parents , but i think you can make out the eggs pretty clearly
martin
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- Frontosa (Tim kruger)
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Midlands - in the heart of Ireland.
Keeping and breeding : Frontosa Blue Zaires , Synodontis Petricola , Tropheus Red Rainbow (Kasanga) , Tropheus Moliro . Regulary fry for sale.
Community tank with P.Kribensis and different livebearers.
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- PAULHARTE25 (PAUL HARTE)
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- scubadim (scubadim)
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Best of luck!!!!
Dimitri
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- duzzy1 (Martin Kennedy)
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they're obviously gonna be a day or two before they get to the free swimming stage ( if they survive ) but should i remove the 3 or 4 endlers i have in there , or will the parents provide enough protection ???
any info would be great guys.
Thanx in advance
Martin
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- scubadim (scubadim)
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i wouldn't worry about the endlers,the Brichardi are pretty good parents and their fry have a good survival rate.saying this,you can always be ultra cautious and remove them:)
well done!
Dimitri
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- duzzy1 (Martin Kennedy)
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I heard the brichardi make great parents alright and even now without the fry free swimming , the female is swimming around the tank but the male is stuck at the opening to the flower pot .... it was when i reached into the tank with an algae scraper that he came out and attacked it , sparking my interest .
in a day or so i'll try get some pics or a video or two
i'll keep yee posted
thanx again
martin
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