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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
butterkoferi cichlids
- irish-zx10r (James feenan)
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I been reading about them but I like to get first hand experienxe. I know they grow hugh. What can they mix with ? Even though they are from Africa it looks like some mix them with american cichlids what's your taught.
Options 6ft tank with big haps peacocks and big Malawi cichlids
Option two 5ft x2 x 27inch tank with central and south america cichlids.
The pair of butterkoferi cichlids are around 10 inches in size. Any help or advice will be great.
Thanks
Irish-zx10r
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- Ski (Alan McGee)
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- irish-zx10r (James feenan)
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- davey_c (dave clarke)
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Ian in AV has a large tank overstocked with a mix of africans, c/a, s/a along with 1 of the above and it hasn't touched another.... so as always it will depend on the temperment of the individual fish
Below tank is for sale
my plywood tank build.
www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php/forum...k-build-diary#137768
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- irish-zx10r (James feenan)
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When it comes to mixing fish Ian has the answer it can be done and he has done itAre they a breedin pair? If they are i'd imagine they would go through anything in the tank so it would be recommended not to mix whereas if their not breedin i'd imagine it would be fine against cichlids that could hold up.
Ian in AV has a large tank overstocked with a mix of africans, c/a, s/a along with 1 of the above and it hasn't touched another.... so as always it will depend on the temperment of the individual fish

I been told they are a breeding pair maybe i could keep one in Sa setup and one in african setup
Then down the line when all my fish are bigger and able to hold there own i could put them in together.
Anyone else have any options or ideas?
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- irish-zx10r (James feenan)
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- derek (Derek Doyle)
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I have only ever seen large specimens kept singly and these would regularly attack the glass (with great power) if anyone approached the tank.
Having said that, there is not that much really known about them, as their rep. keeps most people from trying them, so it would be interesting to hear how you get on with this pair. Males were much larger in any of the specimens that I have seen.
They had a bit of popularity in the 80s, as the attractive striped pattern in tiny specimens appealed to some, who added them to community tanks with predictable results.
30 tanks specialise in african cichlids, angelfish and various catfish
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- irish-zx10r (James feenan)
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- irish-zx10r (James feenan)
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- Robbied12 (Robbie Duffy)
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Altho if u had a spare big tank they are a class fish to keep as they have great personality and are ultra aggressive feeders.
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- irish-zx10r (James feenan)
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Mate had one and it broke his heart,he had to divide his tank and eventually he gave it away only a few weeks ago and I see it now on done deal,I've kept a lot of agressive cichlids but never as mental as these fellas!
Altho if u had a spare big tank they are a class fish to keep as they have great personality and are ultra aggressive feeders.
I seen that one robbied12 but i wouldn't add another to my tank.
its strange i keep mine with loads of african cichlids peacocks and haps i find them fun to watch they are like cat and dog chasing each other round the tank, then a little malawi cichlid will nip one on the tale and he goes chasing the smaller fish. The smaller fish have the advantage of hiding in the rocks so the butterkoferi cant so much after few minutes they ware each other out and just go back one each side of the tank here is a video from few weeks ago.
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- Robbied12 (Robbie Duffy)
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- Robbied12 (Robbie Duffy)
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- Forum
- Tropical Aquariums
- Cichlids
- African Cichilds (Tanganyika, Malawi, etc...)
- butterkoferi cichlids