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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

Apistogramma sp. Steel Blue

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03 Sep 2012 19:13 - 03 Sep 2012 19:14 #1 by maggy88 (Wayne Mc Glynn)
hey everyone i saw agroup of about 6 of these in my lfs, i've done hours of searching online and can't find much about them other than that they are thought to be man-made through cross breeding, that females are are almost non existant and survival rates of offspring are very poor, now don't get me wrong i'm not a fan of man-made species but i find these fish to be stunning. i'm just wondering has anyone kept these before, bred them etc as i would like to know more about them. i'm seriously thinking of picking up a few.





cheers, wayne
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Last edit: 03 Sep 2012 19:14 by maggy88 (Wayne Mc Glynn).

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03 Sep 2012 22:04 #2 by JohnH (John)
I've had these before (they were ordered as Borelli and were supplied as such too) but am not really much of a fan of them!
It appears to me - but this is only my speculation that they are something like Viejeta which have been given the same 'treatment' as has been given to other Cichlids like those dreadful Rams, Jack Dempseys and the blue Angels to make them blue variants.
I have to say that - since I didn't want or like them - I wasn't overly upset when they passed on. But in all fairness I didn't take any special steps to try to keep them alive either.

Why not get a group and see how you get on with them? I suspect they aren't as hardy as their less-blue cousins but with a bit of TLC you should have more success with them than I did - it would be hard to have less success, that's for sure!

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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03 Sep 2012 22:39 #3 by maggy88 (Wayne Mc Glynn)
ha cheers john, i've been looking at pics of them and i noticed this evening while looking at my female apisto cacatuoides that they are very similar (with the exception of colour obviously) the black stripe, body shape even the finnage is similar, which then got me thinking again about the cross breeding, they just don't look natural compared to most other apistos but i still like them in a way. i think i'd like to give them a try more as a project to see if i can get females firstly and then to see if they pair up and breed. still pondering though!!!
i can't find much online about them and everything i do find seems to be just repeating that they are man-made etc etc. there doesn't seem to be any success stories about finding females or breeding them.

wayne

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03 Sep 2012 22:49 #4 by JohnH (John)
Wayne,
This might just be a similar scenario to the 'Steel Blue' Dempseys. These require on of the pair to be 'normal' but with the blue gene 'within' its DNA. A lot of Far-Eastern 'breeders' actually do not send out female Apistos (and many other fish as well) since they do not want people to breed the fish and thus they can retain a monopoly.
But, just perhaps, you could try getting males and then female Viejeta and see what will come from such a 'meeting'. As I said earlier, I wouldn't be at all surprised to discover that this fish forms the base of the genesis of these blue yokes!

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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03 Sep 2012 23:04 #5 by maggy88 (Wayne Mc Glynn)
some good points there john, i have read one or two stories of females being bought and only one video claiming to have steel blue fry so maybe it is possible or as you said maybe the male was breeding with a female viejeta or something similar? i'm not sure whether i agree with the whole selective breeding/cross breeding to obtain un-natural colours/forms,i'm still on the fence but i must admit some of the colours achieved are amazing. as i said i'm still thinking about getting a few i just wanted to hear back from other members if anyone had kept them etc. i might just have to set up a small tank nd post my experience here!!!

wayne

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03 Sep 2012 23:09 #6 by JohnH (John)
Please do, that will be great - and don't forget the 'picture-lovers'.

I'm no fan at all of anything other than what comes out of the wild (although I do have a sneaky liking for some 'not quites' - Black Angels being one).

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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03 Sep 2012 23:12 #7 by maggy88 (Wayne Mc Glynn)
same here john, i prefer "natural" fish but again i'm a bit of a sucker sometimes for something a bit different hence the topic of the post!!! i think i have the makings of a setup around the place so i'll have to have a root in the sheds tomoro to see what i have there!!

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03 Sep 2012 23:45 #8 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Apistogramma sp. Steel Blue
All I can say is, if they are being bought in the hope of breeding, you'll find it very hard.

Kev.

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04 Sep 2012 00:16 #9 by maggy88 (Wayne Mc Glynn)
its not even just for breeding kev, i think its more to see behaviour etc than anything else.

wayne

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04 Sep 2012 01:01 #10 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Apistogramma sp. Steel Blue
They are gorgeous Fish Wayne, it is such a pity they are hybrids, if they appeal to you, try to get your Hands on borelli, they are wonderful Fish and breed true.

Kev.

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04 Sep 2012 01:17 #11 by sheag35 (Seamus Gillespie)
if these are apisto sp pebas you could get some nice fish there, but as said before if it is the man made strain well enough said

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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23 Oct 2012 19:22 #12 by ck1 (chris)
i just came on here to post looking for info as i picked up 2 of these today one looked female in the shop but i dont think it is since they have coloured up in my tank.im going back on thursday to see can if i find a female, what would be the main thing to look out for

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08 Dec 2012 15:23 #13 by ck1 (chris)
so i ended up with a pair after buying 4 and they spawned the other day. found the female dead today. i didnt see any signs of illness and the male never seemd to bully her fairly disgusted

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