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
Peruvian angelfish fry
- anglecichlid (ciaran hogan)
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This is a fraction of what was spawned
Enjoy
Anyone with a aquarium can keep fish,
But it takes real skill to be a fish keeper,
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SpongeBob lives in a pineapple under the sea
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- JohnH (John)
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John
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We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.
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- anglecichlid (ciaran hogan)
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Coming on now,
Fed on bbs twice a day and starting to take crushed flake
Looks like I may need to cull a few

Anyone with a aquarium can keep fish,
But it takes real skill to be a fish keeper,
And it's spongeBob,
SpongeBob lives in a pineapple under the sea
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- JohnH (John)
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It's telling me 'This Video Is Private' - might it be possible to make it 'Public'?
John
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- anglecichlid (ciaran hogan)
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Anyone with a aquarium can keep fish,
But it takes real skill to be a fish keeper,
And it's spongeBob,
SpongeBob lives in a pineapple under the sea
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- JohnH (John)
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They're coming along nicely now.
I know that culling is a very emotive issue, but it's pretty much what would happen in the wild - 'survival of the fittest' - that sort of thing.
Don't be too hasty in making judgements as some are a little slower to develop than the 'quickest' ones - just concentrate on the obviously-deformed ones and give the slower-growing ones the opportunity to 'catch up'.
John
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- anglecichlid (ciaran hogan)
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I've noticed a few that are almost see through and yellowish in color
Like they have no pigment as aposed to the rest that are showing faint stripes
Any idea on these?
Anyone with a aquarium can keep fish,
But it takes real skill to be a fish keeper,
And it's spongeBob,
SpongeBob lives in a pineapple under the sea
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- JohnH (John)
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However, I'm not a geneticist - far from it - so would welcome observations from any member with better knowledge of this subject for clarification.
John
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- anglecichlid (ciaran hogan)
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I paid quite a lot for these on the pretense that they were wild!
The other option would be if they were related would this also be a cause?
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- JohnH (John)
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The thing is - as ever - a shop can only depend upon the sincerity of their supplier - they are provided with 'wild' fish at 'wild fish' prices and they have to take this as a sign of it being the truth.
I fear not all suppliers are quite as 'upfront' in the honesty department as we might wish them to be.
John
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- anglecichlid (ciaran hogan)
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Hopefully Ian drops a word in and sheds some light on the situation.
On another note if the fry look anything like the parents in which there was an agreement that they
Were stunners,il be a happy man.
Anyone with a aquarium can keep fish,
But it takes real skill to be a fish keeper,
And it's spongeBob,
SpongeBob lives in a pineapple under the sea
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- fishmad1234 (Craig Coyle)
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did you do anything to induce breeding or did they just do it them selfs.
are they wild yeah
craig
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- anglecichlid (ciaran hogan)
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With the parents of these I've had them for a year upwards if I remember correctly
Before they have spawned,
All I do is feed well on a varied diet and water changes twice weekly
Hope that helps!
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But it takes real skill to be a fish keeper,
And it's spongeBob,
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- anglecichlid (ciaran hogan)
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They were sold as wild caught and bought as wild caught
But as john pointed out you just never know!
I'd like to think they are but that doesn't make them wild!
Anyone with a aquarium can keep fish,
But it takes real skill to be a fish keeper,
And it's spongeBob,
SpongeBob lives in a pineapple under the sea
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- fishmad1234 (Craig Coyle)
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any pictures of the pair
craig
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- anglecichlid (ciaran hogan)
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There in there the female hasn't great markings but the male is well marked
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And it's spongeBob,
SpongeBob lives in a pineapple under the sea
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- fishmad1234 (Craig Coyle)
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great finnage and all round great looking fish
great job

regards craig
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- anglecichlid (ciaran hogan)
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Anyone with a aquarium can keep fish,
But it takes real skill to be a fish keeper,
And it's spongeBob,
SpongeBob lives in a pineapple under the sea
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- derek (Derek Doyle)
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Keep putting up videos as the fry progress.
ps. be aware if culling that males progress much quicker than females and all of the very biggest will likely be male.
30 tanks specialise in african cichlids, angelfish and various catfish
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- anglecichlid (ciaran hogan)
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I have around 50 in a 140l at the min with two sponge filters
And a hob,I'm not going to cull untill I can tell for sure what's deformed
Or not,
Anyway thanks for the input much appreciated.
Anyone with a aquarium can keep fish,
But it takes real skill to be a fish keeper,
And it's spongeBob,
SpongeBob lives in a pineapple under the sea
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- anglecichlid (ciaran hogan)
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Starting to get there bars now!

Enjoy!
Anyone with a aquarium can keep fish,
But it takes real skill to be a fish keeper,
And it's spongeBob,
SpongeBob lives in a pineapple under the sea
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