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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

Keyhole Ciclids

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20 Aug 2016 19:06 #1 by BarryB (Barry Blenkey)
Hi guys, just wondering if anyone out there is keeping/breeding keyholes I've a couple in one of my tank but I think their either both male or both female. Showing no sign of pairing. Any info or advice would be appreciated, cheers

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20 Aug 2016 20:52 #2 by JohnH (John)
Replied by JohnH (John) on topic Keyhole Ciclids
From my experiences with Keyhole Cichlids they can be a bit more difficult to differentiate the sexes than with many other South American Cichlids, they seem to both sport the extended Dorsal and Anal fins.
I think it's unlikely - but not impossible - for two males to co-exist peacefully in the one tank. I once had two males which I fondly believed to be a pair (until I brought in a definite female) and the dominant male used to give the other one hell!
Two females might be a more possible scenario though.
You could try feeding them up well for a couple of weeks on frozen foods then try a large cooler temperature water change, if they are a pair this might prompt some spawning activity.
Good luck if you are trying to get them to breed, of course - if they aren't yet mature (how large/old are they?) they mightn't be ready yet.
Also, my ones from 'way back' required pretty soft and less-than neutral pH water for them to breed - I ended up using filtered rain water, but as far as I remember they were actually 'wild' fish, I think the majority of Keyholes now are tank-bred which mightn't make the water chemistry quite as critical.
Hopefully you'll get some more feedback presently.
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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20 Aug 2016 21:11 #3 by BarryB (Barry Blenkey)
Thanks for the reply John, I'd say the fish are about year old at this stage. I had 4 but lost 2 unfortunately. They are lovely fish to watch and their inquisitive behaviour. Ya from what I've being reading it seems hard to sex them, I'll just give it little more time you never know I may be lucky. Did you get yours to breed....?

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20 Aug 2016 21:24 #4 by JohnH (John)
Replied by JohnH (John) on topic Keyhole Ciclids
Yes, they did breed - once I removed the other male, but very few made it past the 'wriggler' stage and the father (i assume, but don't know for certain) lost his parental urge and ate the rest.
I swapped them after that - I have four juveniles here now eating me out of house and home so I have hopes for them at some point in the future.
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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