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
Ancistrus sp Rio Abuna Bolivia F1 fry 8 weeks
- Ma (mm mm)
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Over 50 fry, 1 mortality in the entire spawn which is a good indication of quiality I think.
Raised this size in an Ikea 54l plastic container with plants and bogwood near a window to promote plenty of algae and some lights for plants as no lighting used for sake of stress reduction.
The adults never ate most vessgies I offered and were extremely picky, plants and protein was their diet over the two years and refused every veggy offered boiled or fresh that I tried bar brussel sprouts.
They are abouts an inch almost will be up for sale at 2"
Credit due to Irishfishkeepers, I had problems keeping the fry alive until I got some questions answered a while ago on the question of survival
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- wylam (Stuart Sexton)
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Stuart.
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Kev.
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The look fantastic.

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- joemc (joe mc)
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oh and where are you based? tks in dvance
FOR SALE
Catappa Leaves
PM FOR DETAILS
Ebay Fish Foods Click here!
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- Melander (Andreas Melander)
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Did you figure out what was killing them the first time?
Melander
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- Ma (mm mm)
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Great news, congrats on the success!
Did you figure out what was killing them the first time?
Melander
Thanks all.
Re parents, both dead. had em over 3 years, in same tank for 2 years undisturbed before breeding eventually, female had 6 spawns then wnt nuts and laid about 200 eggs and died next day and male the following day, both jet black and perfect looking but floating dead!
5 "Canary" Rummies in same tank to alert me of issues as they show any probems with water right awaay. Not a boter on them at all. I reckon the adults were same age ish and both about 5-6 years old. Old age combined with serious spawning followed by the male not being able to get out of the cave to eat cos the female went into egglaying overload.
Very strange scenario indeed.
As for spawns dying M. I am almost certain it was because they would not eat anything but slightly spoiled mushy veg, they were not eating liquifry or anything else. LAtely they have been eating everything even javafern. Mega lively fry!
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- JohnH (John)
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Is that the Dad of the youngsters you have for sale in your ad?
Please save some for me.
John
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We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.
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It's a long way to Tipperary.
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- Melander (Andreas Melander)
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- Ma (mm mm)
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That's a nice male Mark.
Is that the Dad of the youngsters you have for sale in your ad?
Please save some for me.
John
Yep that's the man of the hour.
How are the little fishies settling in?
He's a looker alright M
Mark
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- JohnH (John)
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Thanks Mark - it was good to see you again yesterday (and to hear DSOTM, for the first time in years, it sounds better with the benefit of not having heard it for so long).
I suggest that anyone after some young Ancistrus gets over to Mark's pretty sharpish - these aren't even your normal 'run-of-the-mill' Bristle-noses either, see the male in the picture a couple of posts up.
John
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- sheag35 (Seamus Gillespie)
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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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- Ma (mm mm)
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I have to agree John, got 10 from Mark on Friday, great quality fish, Thanks a million Mark
Good stuff. Just as well, they were starting to get too big for the fry tank.
My only regret is the weird death of the parents in the same tank those fry spawned in. No losses when I moved the fry and only lost 4 or 5 from then on. No deforms at all, no typical runts even or they were the ones that died.
I think a big thing in the survival rate was that I had them in an ikea plastic 54L container by a window with some plants and moss n moss thrown in. The inside of the container was solid green with thick algae from the light coming in constant food and no better way to grow algae to be honest, could scrape it off and make a paste..mmmm yum yum
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- JohnH (John)
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I honestly fail to see how you have any of these left - they really are a steal at the price!!
John
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- JohnH (John)
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*That's less tail.
John
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- Ma (mm mm)
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a large male would reach 6"*, but only after some time as the Ancistrus seem to grow quickly at first, then slow down thereafter - at least these have been what I have found. Does anyone have experience of them growing larger?
*That's less tail.
John
The female was about 5.5" the male 5" at 4+ years old so its safe to say they were maxed out. I got them just as they maxed out, not grown 1cm in 3 years.
I'd say we're looking at 4.5-6" range depending on diet and conditions at the early stages of growth. I#ve had them living with a constant nonpolluting food supply in the form of thick fresh algae until they were large enough to get the scheduled feeding. they are plump little buggers

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