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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

baby synodontis petricola

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02 Jul 2009 13:51 #1 by derek (Derek Doyle)
this is a short video of some six week old tanganyikan synodontis petricola. there is also some video of the very beautiful otopharanx black/gold.
hopefully daragh can take some better film of them in the future.

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30 tanks specialise in african cichlids, angelfish and various catfish

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02 Jul 2009 14:16 #2 by JohnH (John)
Aren't the Petricolas great?

Thanks Derek for letting us see them.

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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02 Jul 2009 15:23 #3 by Tom (Tom Brecknell)
Thanks Derek it’s great to see something interesting on the forum, they all look fantastic…………………………Tom.B)

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02 Jul 2009 16:55 #4 by platty252 (Darren Dalton)
They are gas looking with there little full bellies. They look like they would eat all day long if given the chance.
Is that one batch of young from one female?

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02 Jul 2009 17:06 #5 by scubadim (scubadim)
Replied by scubadim (scubadim) on topic Re:baby synodontis petricola
That's amazing Derek,they look brilliant!and so are the O.lithobates!
Nice.thanks for the vid.
Dimitri

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02 Jul 2009 17:59 #6 by mickeywallace (Michael Wallace Cath Woods)
wow Derek
what can i say wow:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:
Mickey

Mickey Wallace & Cath Woods

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02 Jul 2009 23:48 - 09 Jul 2009 12:47 #7 by derek (Derek Doyle)
thanks john, tom, darren, dmitri and mickey.
darren, yes that is one spawn from one pair and they just scuttle about like that constantly. they are being fed mostly brine shrimp and a measured amount of tabimin. i try to avoid using much non live food for fear of polluting the fairly small holding tank but i intend splitting and moving them soon and then i can add other foods to their diet. the eggs hatched after 24 hours and the tiny fry had to be fed on infusoria and micro worm and at five to ten days increasing amounts of brine shrimp. i am doing daily small water changes and have added carbon and polyfilter.
they are really entertaining and not at all shy.

30 tanks specialise in african cichlids, angelfish and various catfish
Last edit: 09 Jul 2009 12:47 by derek (Derek Doyle). Reason: correction

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03 Jul 2009 00:30 - 03 Jul 2009 00:42 #8 by sheag35 (Seamus Gillespie)
fantastic vids and fish derek, super set up. great to get the odd tip of what re food etc you do... the synos are fantastic and so lively and as for the black/golds they look stunning and mouthbrooding if my eyes dont decieve me more fry.... oh to have your success... one day i hope;)

Fishkeeping the Only way to get wet and wild

currently 25 tanks, and breeding is the aim of everything i keep
location:Limerick
Last edit: 03 Jul 2009 00:42 by sheag35 (Seamus Gillespie). Reason: addition

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04 Jul 2009 21:22 #9 by derek (Derek Doyle)
hi shea
the otopharanx black/gold or otopharanx lithobates orange as i have seen them referred to on a very good polish photographic
site are a little known but very interesting pretty malawi cichlid. unlike most otopharanx species they are smaller and have a much milder temperament. also the young and females have a nice mottled brown and cream pattern while an adult male is spectacular with his almost black body and bright gold to orange dorsal fin. they dont have large broods and the released fry are exceptionally small and a bit delicate. initially they grow very slowly but speed up after they reach about 20mm.
these fish are only very rarely imported and there is little info on them in literature or on the net. they have a genuine pedigree as each generation are replicates of their parents and culling is nil.
a few years ago on a trip to an english wild fish importer des oreily and i picked up the original individuals that we started our breeding programme with and i have continued to breed just enough to keep the line going.
they are not very predatory and on the video you can see some very young careleus in the same tank. in a tank with larger fish the males are usually left alone by the dominants though females will be stressed by the experience.
they are best kept with smaller peaceful malawis (not many of them) or even tangs.

30 tanks specialise in african cichlids, angelfish and various catfish

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05 Jul 2009 02:44 #10 by sheag35 (Seamus Gillespie)
excellent information there derek, would the the otopharanx be better fed on a higher protein diet or mainly spirinula, must try to find info myself on these beautiful fish, all i have found thanks to your identification as otopharanx lithobates orange is they where imported previously as aristochromis lombardi and trematocranus lombardi, and thats its the domwe island variant, this info i found in the book "Malawi Cichlids in their natural habitat 3rd edition, by Ad Konings" but even this book with all its superb pictures didnt have a picture of your variant, elusive fish indeed, apparently the area their in is designated national park and therefore its very had to ever get this variant, major coup for you.. i see what you mean by them not being particularly predatory as those labs would be seen as snacks by most malawis.... Thanks for the info, your turning out to be better than any book you could buy as the info is first hand expierence from a knowledgeable fishkeeper and successful breeder, look forward to updates on the otopharanx and synos:woohoo: ;)

Fishkeeping the Only way to get wet and wild

currently 25 tanks, and breeding is the aim of everything i keep
location:Limerick

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05 Jul 2009 15:13 #11 by derek (Derek Doyle)
thanks for the feedback and additional information, shea.

30 tanks specialise in african cichlids, angelfish and various catfish

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12 Jul 2009 14:45 #12 by derek (Derek Doyle)
the two species discussed in this thread have one thing in common and that is their very slow growth rate. the petricola in the vid are two months old now and the biggest ones are only about 10mm. while this otopharanx variant is easily the slowest growing malawi i have experienced. i am experimenting with a 4ft tank with 40 baby petricola, 20 otopharanx, 20 careleus and 40 endlers fry of a similiar age to check growth rates with increased water changes combined with extra filtration and heavier feeding. (live and flake/tablet/pellets.)

30 tanks specialise in african cichlids, angelfish and various catfish

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12 Jul 2009 15:41 #13 by sheag35 (Seamus Gillespie)
interesting experiment, keep us informed of the results

Fishkeeping the Only way to get wet and wild

currently 25 tanks, and breeding is the aim of everything i keep
location:Limerick

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