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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

male aphyosemion australe not doing too well

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02 Mar 2015 14:42 - 02 Mar 2015 14:57 #1 by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne)
Got a trio of these fishes yesterday.
Did the acclimatisation over a 3 hours period.
Came home today and theale is reall inactive, staying on substrate.
The females on the other side are really active.
Water parameters are
Ph 6
Kh 0
Gh 5-6
Tds 155
Temperature 26
I use remineralised ro.
I m keeping the light off to try to avoid stressing him.
Here is a picture







Am i missing something ?

Thanks
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Last edit: 02 Mar 2015 14:57 by JohnH (John). Reason: revolved image

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02 Mar 2015 15:09 #2 by JohnH (John)
It's a difficult scenario Anthony - it should not be a water issue since the females are fine.
Is the male showing any interest in food?
There's a chance that he is just taking a bit longer to accept his new surroundings - was he more active after introduction yesterday?
My inclination would be a water change and - if you have anything live - attempt to tempt him with that - I like brine shrimps for this sort of problem as it encourages the fish to 'chase' after it/them.
One last question - are the females 'harrying' him?
He certainly looks unhappy - the fins and his general deportment show that.
Perhaps anyone else can offer further suggestions for Anthony?

John

Location:
N. Tipp

We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.


ITFS member.



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02 Mar 2015 15:52 #3 by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne)
Thanks John
He ate only the first defrosted bloodworm i gave him.
He is staying close to the surface, moving his fins to stay in the same spot.
The females are not harrassing him.
I changed 50 % of the water the day before i introduced them to be on the safe side but the water was good as i kept some crs in that water.
Maybe it is just a case of wait and see and hope for the best.
What kind of food would you advise me to buy for them ?

Anthony

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02 Mar 2015 16:22 - 02 Mar 2015 16:23 #4 by JohnH (John)
Time was that just about all Killies (being 95% wild-caught) would only ever eat live food (which made them very difficult to keep) but now almost all are tank-bred and they'll eat almost anything. Added to which the quality of prepared foods availavle now is so much better than when I'm referring to (we didn't even have decent flake food in those days!) so just about anything will be good. I was suggesting something live to temp him, but my own preference is for freeze-dried bloodworms (or, if you can get them) f/d blackworms would be my preferred food for Killies as they stay longer on the surface before finally sinking and Killies are predominantly surface-feeders. Small live flies such as the wingless fruit flies cultures which can sometimes be bought, or the smallest-sized crickets (or similar) sold in pet shops for reptile feeding are also excellent supplements but - as ever - it must be borne in mind that they shouldn't get them exclusively, it can become difficult to get fish off live foods and back onto prepared stuff sometimes. But in all truth, if your plan is to stick with the Australes, these foods really wouldn't be anything more than a luxury.

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: 02 Mar 2015 16:23 by JohnH (John). Reason: spelling

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02 Mar 2015 16:38 #5 by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne)
Thanks John
I find the australes really beautifull so for now i am not planning on getting other killies but you never know, i might end up adding a second rack in my little shrimp room for some killis and wild bettas :laugh: .

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02 Mar 2015 16:43 #6 by JohnH (John)

Thanks John
I find the australes really beautifull so for now i am not planning on getting other killies but you never know, i might end up adding a second rack in my little shrimp room for some killis and wild bettas :laugh: .


...and so it proceeds...

Location:
N. Tipp

We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.


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02 Mar 2015 17:43 #7 by igmillichip (ian millichip)

Thanks John
I find the australes really beautifull so for now i am not planning on getting other killies but you never know, i might end up adding a second rack in my little shrimp room for some killis and wild bettas :laugh: .


...and so it proceeds...


When we hear the phrases "room......for.......Some Killies" and "room.....for .....Wild Bettas"......we know where that will end up ;)

Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.

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02 Mar 2015 18:11 #8 by JohnH (John)
:)

Location:
N. Tipp

We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.


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02 Mar 2015 20:23 #9 by Eric (Eric Corcoran)
Oh it's a slippery road your about to go on now :lol: :lol: start planning a 3rd rack as well as the 2nd.
Hope he pulls through for you

Eric

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02 Mar 2015 21:19 #10 by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne)
You have no idea !
Before i hurt my back last summer i had started digging the foundations for a 20 sq meter shrimp house in my yard, bought 6 compartimented 4 ft tanks so 24 tanks not including the ones in the house :crazy:

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04 Mar 2015 15:47 #11 by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne)
The male is looking much better today, he is feeding and swimming :cool: .
Thanks

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04 Mar 2015 16:05 #12 by JohnH (John)
With a bit of luck the worst is over now, certainly looking a lot better that he was looking in the original pic.

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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04 Mar 2015 20:45 #13 by Eric (Eric Corcoran)
He's looking fairly active now Anthony. Smashing looking fish. Hopefully you'll get some young from them (so I can have some ;) )

Eric

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04 Mar 2015 20:55 #14 by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne)
He went crazy for frozen artemia :)
Do you feed you fry decapsuled brine shrimp or micro worms ?

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04 Mar 2015 21:07 #15 by Eric (Eric Corcoran)

He went crazy for frozen artemia :)
Do you feed you fry decapsuled brine shrimp or micro worms ?


I always start off with micro-worms for a few days, then on to brine shrimp for another week or so and after that non hatching decapsulated brine shrimp and a mixure of crushed dry food

Eric

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05 Mar 2015 11:20 #16 by ceech (Desmond Gaynor)
Lovely looking fish , glad he is getting well. Good luck with the tanks at that rate you may need to build a bigger fish house lol. You dont realise until you have tanks all around you and the mrs is going mad asking why ya dont have time for her lol

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07 Mar 2015 18:09 #17 by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne)
After a day of activity the male is back to being inactive and staying on the substrate.
One of a female has a rather large belly, just wondering if she is carrying eggs ?

Thanks


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07 Mar 2015 18:40 #18 by JohnH (John)
Possibly carrying eggs - but also possibly has eaten the male's share of the food - you'll get a better idea after the night's fast.

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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07 Mar 2015 19:20 #19 by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne)
Thanks John.
They were after eating frozen artemia so might be a full stomach :crazy:

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07 Mar 2015 20:25 #20 by JohnH (John)
On thinking further about this subject Anthony, it might be worth pointing out that nearly all Killies spawn over a period of a few days - weeks even - and that, unlike most other egglayers which lay all their eggs in one go, or over a period of hours, the Lyretails and others will only lay a comparatively small clutch per day.
I think what I'm trying to say is - it's as well to watch the females for 'activity' with your male as, if he's a little below 'par' and not feeling too frisky the natural thing in the wild would be for females to move off and find a male which is (frisky). So I think it would be as well to watch the situation just in case either female becomes too egg-bound. Again, in the wild, this would be unlikely to happen as other males would be 'at hand' to attend to husbandly duties.
I don't wish (or intend) to sound alarmist but feel it will be good to keep an eye on things - just in case.
Of course, it probably is that that female has over-indulged upon the frozen brine shrimp...

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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07 Mar 2015 20:31 #21 by Eric (Eric Corcoran)
Would it be worth putting in a spawn mop. If nothing it would provide extra cover for him until he's ready

Eric

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07 Mar 2015 21:34 #22 by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne)
Thank you both.
Will have to call down 2morrow to my mother in law for some wool for the mop :-((
The females are in the hyper mode but they dont seem to bother the male.

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07 Mar 2015 22:17 #23 by JohnH (John)

Thank you both.
Will have to call down 2morrow to my mother in law for some wool for the mop :-((
The females are in the hyper mode but they dont seem to bother the male.


One last thing - try to not use pure wool - it degrades in no time. I have found synthetic yarn to be far superior.

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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11 Mar 2015 21:36 #24 by Eric (Eric Corcoran)
Any update on the male Anthony ?

Eric

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11 Mar 2015 21:59 #25 by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne)
He is still hiding from the females most of the time :(
I m trying to make sure he gets his share of food...

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11 Mar 2015 22:04 #26 by Eric (Eric Corcoran)
Do you have a small spare tank by any chance. Maybe move him for a while to build him up. Or could you put a clear divider in the tank with him at once side and females at the other ?

Eric

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11 Mar 2015 22:22 #27 by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne)
I didnt think of it but I have a few dividers, i will recut one to size in the workshop 2morrow.
Thanks

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17 Mar 2015 09:21 - 17 Mar 2015 12:42 #28 by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne)
After separating the male for 4 days, i removed the divider.
Seem to have done the trick, the male is now the one harassing the females !
A picture of the male



A video of the trio
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Last edit: 17 Mar 2015 12:42 by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne).

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17 Mar 2015 09:39 #29 by ceech (Desmond Gaynor)
Very nice :-) looking good. Well you know the trick to charge the males batteries when needed :-)

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17 Mar 2015 10:31 #30 by Fishowner (Gavin fishowner)
Abit of absence makes the heart grow fonder!!

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