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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

i just can't win

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29 Oct 2009 23:06 #1 by duzzy1 (Martin Kennedy)
so a few ppl might know of me and my history with my bonded pair of keyhole cichlids . well i placed them in a tank on their own approximately 6 months ago as they had spawned a few times , but unfortunately with no success .

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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29 Oct 2009 23:09 #2 by PAULHARTE25 (PAUL HARTE)
what did you find man,the picture is not showing for me

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29 Oct 2009 23:11 #3 by duzzy1 (Martin Kennedy)
wow paul ... you were quick off the mark !!!

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29 Oct 2009 23:12 - 29 Oct 2009 23:13 #4 by duzzy1 (Martin Kennedy)
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Last edit: 29 Oct 2009 23:13 by duzzy1 (Martin Kennedy).

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29 Oct 2009 23:13 #5 by duzzy1 (Martin Kennedy)
please note .. the female looks stressed out due to the light being turned on after the tank had been in darkness for almost 2 hours

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29 Oct 2009 23:14 #6 by PAULHARTE25 (PAUL HARTE)
still cant see....lol....just logged on and spotted it....always interested in breeding,have an 80litre tank cycling,gonna try breeding something,maybe apistos or rams,hope you had a bit of luck this time

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29 Oct 2009 23:16 #7 by PAULHARTE25 (PAUL HARTE)
now i see it,nice one,that was a nice surprise to come home to,best of luck with them

paul

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29 Oct 2009 23:21 #8 by duzzy1 (Martin Kennedy)
thanx paul ..... fingers crossed this time

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29 Oct 2009 23:41 #9 by Tom (Tom Brecknell)
It must have taken a while to lay all them egg’s, best of luck with them hatching......Tom.B)

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29 Oct 2009 23:42 #10 by scubadim (scubadim)
Replied by scubadim (scubadim) on topic Re:i just can't win
Good luck!seems like you have a nice batch of eggs,hope it goes well this time!
Dimitri

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29 Oct 2009 23:46 #11 by duzzy1 (Martin Kennedy)
cheers dimitri ..... gonna put in a tank divider in the morning to try keep everything else away from them

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29 Oct 2009 23:47 #12 by duzzy1 (Martin Kennedy)
thanx tom ... as i say .. i was out all evening so missed everything happening

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30 Oct 2009 00:33 #13 by platty252 (Darren Dalton)
I'm convinced fish do these sort of things to test us. Fingers crossed you get something from them this time.

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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03 Nov 2009 21:51 #14 by duzzy1 (Martin Kennedy)
took me a few days to get back to this , but alas the news is the same as every other time they spawned ......NOTHIN

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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04 Nov 2009 09:39 #15 by scubadim (scubadim)
Replied by scubadim (scubadim) on topic Re:i just can't win
That's a pity but are you 1000% sure you actually have a male and a female and not 2 females???
or else your male must have some "issues":dry:
Dimitri

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04 Nov 2009 12:35 #16 by derek (Derek Doyle)
dont be disheartened duzzy, keyholes are among the hardest of fish to breed as they are very nervous parents and if frightened they will eat the eggs or tiny fry. once the fry are a little bigger the parents relax and will guard them diligently. the only way i could breed this species after similar experiences to yourself, was to completely cover the tank with black card with just a small spyhole and small dither fish such as corys or guppys.
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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09 Nov 2009 14:22 #17 by duzzy1 (Martin Kennedy)
ok so the whole possibility of havin 2 females has lead me to shoot a short vid of the pair in question ..... they have started to display breeding characteristics again this morning so i thought it the best time to try catch them with the camcorder ...

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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09 Nov 2009 15:29 #18 by JohnH (John)
Replied by JohnH (John) on topic Re:i just can't win
My money's on them being a pair.
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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09 Nov 2009 19:12 #19 by ted30 (Damo Mac an Bhaird)
duzzy, how do the bolivians get on with the keyholes? I'm interested in getting some keyholes for my tank. I have 11 Bolivians in the tank, so I have to sell most of them off before I can even think of getting anymore fish

Location: Carrickmacross, County Monaghan

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09 Nov 2009 19:55 #20 by ted30 (Damo Mac an Bhaird)
Gorgeous Bolivian Rams you have there Duzzy1!

Location: Carrickmacross, County Monaghan

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10 Nov 2009 09:27 #21 by scubadim (scubadim)
Replied by scubadim (scubadim) on topic Re:i just can't win
Stunning fish!and yes their finnage is pretty different and they really look male/female.maybe the tank is a little busy for them to breed properly.having them on their own or with a couple of guppies could do the trick...your Bolivian rams are beauties,I like the A.cacatuoides as well.anyway,the female/female option isn't good.
Dimitri

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10 Nov 2009 18:33 #22 by Daragh_Owens (Daragh Owens)
I watched that video on YouTube last night, I had no idea it was yours at the time, good job.

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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10 Nov 2009 18:57 #23 by duzzy1 (Martin Kennedy)
cheers for the input guys ...... i guess i'll have to do a bit of moving over the next night or two

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12 Nov 2009 20:25 #24 by duzzy1 (Martin Kennedy)
ok guys ... just got in from work this evening and turned on the light inthe tank ...... they've done it again .... not as big a clutch as lasttime but its there none the less .

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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12 Nov 2009 20:27 #25 by Frontosa (Tim kruger)
Great picture Martin-all the best.Regards,Tim

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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13 Nov 2009 20:34 #26 by PAULHARTE25 (PAUL HARTE)
good luck again martin,fingers crossed this time

paul

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14 Nov 2009 14:21 #27 by scubadim (scubadim)
Replied by scubadim (scubadim) on topic Re:i just can't win
Well they're certainly trying:lol:
Best of luck!!!!
Dimitri

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17 Nov 2009 13:52 #28 by duzzy1 (Martin Kennedy)
well i dunno if the keyholes will ever get it right , but i just looked into my brichardi tank and with a flash lamp i looked under the flowerpot thats in there ..... i have almost 100 ( roughly ) eggs hatching at the moment . Only problem is i just did a water change in the tank ( before i saw the fry ) so i'm hoping the drop in temperature won't harm them .

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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17 Nov 2009 15:09 #29 by scubadim (scubadim)
Replied by scubadim (scubadim) on topic Re:i just can't win
Hi,
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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17 Nov 2009 15:56 #30 by duzzy1 (Martin Kennedy)
thanx dimitri .... i think for the sake of the endlers i'll remove them .

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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