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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

Mouthbrooders

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30 Aug 2016 19:25 #1 by robert (robert carter)
I looking to get a couple of fish to go into my 10 gallon breeding tank would be really keen on trying a pair of mouth brooders , know nothing about ciclids so need help please

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30 Aug 2016 19:55 - 30 Aug 2016 20:00 #2 by JohnH (John)
Replied by JohnH (John) on topic Mouthbrooders
Robert, you really are approaching this subject from the wrong direction, a ten gallon tank really would not be right for anything more than a pair of Dwarf Cichlids - and even then you might be chancing your arm.
Most readily available mouthbrooding Cichlids are the ones from the African Rift lakes and, in a tank that small there would just be nowhere to hide for an oppressed female (or male).
They would typically be kept in much larger aquaria and in large groups - that way aggression is much more 'shared around'.
A pair of South American Dwarf Cichlids in a fairly heavily planted/furnished tank would be the best solution I could suggest. But, apart from a couple of (expensive) exceptions none of these is a mouthbrooder.
One alternative comes to mind - although I haven't seen any for a couple of years - is the Egyptian Mouthbreeder, Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor (I just had to look up the new name for them - in my day we knew them as Haplochromis multicolor) these only grow comparatively to a small maximum size and can be reasonably OK as just a pair (again in a planted/furnished tank).
I'm sure you'll get more answers with other suggestions too.

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.
Last edit: 30 Aug 2016 20:00 by JohnH (John). Reason: omission

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30 Aug 2016 20:04 #3 by robert (robert carter)
Hi John thanks for very knowledgable reply , i was half expecting this sort of reply , i had considered the Egyptian fish , but i think i have to accept that the tank is not big enough .ok bearing that in mind what about bettas again i know nothing about bettas but their does seem to be a good few lads on here that breed them

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30 Aug 2016 20:27 - 30 Aug 2016 20:28 #4 by JohnH (John)
Replied by JohnH (John) on topic Mouthbrooders
I'll stand aside for the Betta-men to take over - but you could consider the SA Dwarf Cichlids, like Apistogrammas (I'd still be a bit wary of Rams - despite their beauty, although the Bolivian Rams are - in the main - much more hardy).

I will just say this - although a ten-gallon tank will be fine for breeding Bettas (Fighters - that is) you need to bear in mind that as males develop and become assertive they will need splitting up from one another.

You might - of course - consider the smaller varieties of Mouthbrooding Bettas, but they aren't generally the cheapest of fish.

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.
Last edit: 30 Aug 2016 20:28 by JohnH (John). Reason: Spelling

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30 Aug 2016 20:40 #5 by robert (robert carter)
Didnt know there were bettes that were mouthbrooders, i am just looking for something that interesting to breed

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30 Aug 2016 21:06 - 30 Aug 2016 21:19 #6 by JohnH (John)
Replied by JohnH (John) on topic Mouthbrooders
The most interesting fish breeding behaviour (well, at least one of the most interesting anyway) is the 'Splashing Tetra' dead easy, but intriguing to watch. There are a few reports of this in the archives - I'll go a'searching.

John

Unfortunately it's more sparse than I remembered but if you look online there are plenty of articles and, I'm sure I saw a great youtube video of spawning too.

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.
Last edit: 30 Aug 2016 21:19 by JohnH (John). Reason: Added link.

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30 Aug 2016 22:02 #7 by igmillichip (ian millichip)
I agree with JohnH here.

Now, if you really wanted to push it then (as JohnH says) Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor (Egyptian Mouthbrooder) would be about the best................and for more reasons than simply size: I believe that these fish need to be popularised again !!

PetStop in Carrickmines had some in a few weeks ago............but with fans such as me around there may not be any left (worth giving them a buzz).
And...yes I did get a pair and they are in good condition.

Mouthbrooding Bettas are a nice challenge...........the cheaper Betta mouthbrooders have not been around in shops recently (and non-cheap ones are very expensive !!).

On the splashing tetras, I was breeding quite a few of these upto 3 years ago...............awesome fish.
Of the recent spawnings, I only bought the fish to film them breeding (as digital video is so much cheaper than random wasting of old cine film !!)................but, alas, I never got a video of the spawning (just pics of the eggs).

ian

ian

Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.

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05 Sep 2016 12:23 #8 by ger310 (Ger .)
Replied by ger310 (Ger .) on topic Mouthbrooders
Get rid of all that's in that big tank yeh have and fill it with loads of wonderful and colourful Malawi Cichlids Robert.........Just be prewarned though that if you think you are obsessed with Tropicals now these guys will take you to a whole different world of obsessiveness,but it's soooooooooo worth it :cool:

Ger

What do you call a three legged Donkey?

A Wonkey....duh ha :)

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