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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

My Thorichthys maculipinnis (ellioti) setup

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06 Jan 2015 01:54 #1 by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
So here is my ellioti tank which I'm loving right now. They spend their time endlessly flaring their gills at each other but never really coming to blows, kind of like a large argumentative family. The video doesn't do their colours justice. The blue pearling on their flanks and their finnage is beautiful. There's a small light on the tank, only 9w, so it's quite subdued lighting (though the video makes it look even darker than it actually is). It's filtered by a 500lph powerhead with a large sponge (thanks anthonyd). I've also added an Eheim internal (500lph too) with a carbon sponge inside, just to take the brown tint out of the water. Ordinarily I love that tint, but this is already such a dark tank that I don't think it needs it. Again, apologies for the darkness.


"The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won't let go of your life; your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they're not punishing you.They're freeing your soul."

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06 Jan 2015 21:01 - 06 Jan 2015 21:01 #2 by Jim (Jim Lawlor)
really nice vid & really nice fish. They look really lively and healthy.

Your elliotis are very different from any I've kept - both in shape & colour - but like most thorichthys, they are very variable. Thorichtys will turn out to be more of a comlpex than a genus - there's an interesting article here if you havent already seen it:

issuu.com/nuttycichlids/docs/publication_issue_5__1_
Last edit: 06 Jan 2015 21:01 by Jim (Jim Lawlor).

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06 Jan 2015 22:13 - 06 Jan 2015 22:46 #3 by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)

really nice vid & really nice fish. They look really lively and healthy.

Your elliotis are very different from any I've kept - both in shape & colour - but like most thorichthys, they are very variable. Thorichtys will turn out to be more of a comlpex than a genus - there's an interesting article here if you havent already seen it:

issuu.com/nuttycichlids/docs/publication_issue_5__1_


I'm not altogether sure they're not meeki. On the one hand they're a lot bluer than most firemouths I've seen, especially on the face and fins. And on the other hand, the have the longer meeki face, the black trim on the anal fin and not one of them has a spot on the dorsal. If they are regular firemouths, I'll still be happy. I've had trouble finding any Thorichthys meeki in recent years that weren't kind of washed out. I had a breeding pair about a year ago and neither of them were ever anything put pale, no matter how dim the tank.

EDIT: They also hid all the time and never flared their gills at anything.

"The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won't let go of your life; your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they're not punishing you.They're freeing your soul."
Last edit: 06 Jan 2015 22:46 by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley).

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06 Jan 2015 23:21 #4 by Jim (Jim Lawlor)
tbh - my money would be on meeki - the article above mentions at least 13 geographical variants of meeki. If you consider they're found all over central america in every aquatic habitat, they're bound to be very variable. Your ones are particularly nice though!

you could try posting pics over on british cichlid assoc where you'll get someone familiar with more of the species & variants who'll give you a pretty solid opinion.

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06 Jan 2015 23:33 #5 by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
Thanks. I'll do that.

I tried to film my tank with my desk lamp shining into it to give a bit more sidelighting. It shows better colour and detail than the previous video, but as usual, nothing compares to seeing them in the flesh!


"The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won't let go of your life; your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they're not punishing you.They're freeing your soul."

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25 Jan 2015 14:16 #6 by JustinK (Justin Kelly)
They're still young, but appear to be T.meeki

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26 Jan 2015 01:21 - 26 Jan 2015 01:24 #7 by JohnH (John)

They're still young, but appear to be T.meeki


I'm rather inclined to believe - from the evidence of your videos - that I'm in agreement with the Meeki camp.

The Elliott I have owned have never had the red throat/belly that these appear to have.

But, at the end of the day, does it really matter which species you have? - They are looking and behaving really great, and you're obviously very pleased with them - and that's really all that matters.

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: 26 Jan 2015 01:24 by JohnH (John). Reason: spelling

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16 Feb 2015 12:34 #8 by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)

They're still young, but appear to be T.meeki


I'm rather inclined to believe - from the evidence of your videos - that I'm in agreement with the Meeki camp.

The Elliott I have owned have never had the red throat/belly that these appear to have.

But, at the end of the day, does it really matter which species you have? - They are looking and behaving really great, and you're obviously very pleased with them - and that's really all that matters.

John


I'm no longer inclined, at this stage I'm pretty convinced. They're meeki, no doubt. But as you said, if they look good and I'm happy with them, what does it matter?

"The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won't let go of your life; your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they're not punishing you.They're freeing your soul."

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