4th Round of the Guppy leage

just found out you are no longer with us. Lost touch since I moved to France a loss to the fishkeeping world and a loss to all who knew you.

thinking of you

Roger

I met Ivan at my first meeting of the American Livebearer Assoc, I cannot recall the year it was, I talked about the program I called “Centro de Resguardo Para Peces en Peligro” or the Refuge for Endangered Fish Species, where I was mostly dealing with killies at the time, it must have been by late eighties, he was impressed by my work keeping endangered and almost extinct fish, for I pretended it to be part of a program for public education and conservational conscience and environmental awareness, since I did not want those fish species and habitats to be lost forever; we started a friendship of no ends since we coincide in ideals and ways of thinking and of looking at the world environment, our favorite issue: of course livebearer fish; and he immediately came up with the idea to start a similar program for his Goodeins, a group of fish almost nobody else was thinking of then, and he was directly looking for some way to start a fish lab where to culture those species, then it happened the first meeting of Livebearers Symposia in Mexico City, where he presented his ideas and he met Omar Dominguez, and therefore started the Morelia’s Fish Conservation Lab, and got going what he called latter on the now know as “Fish Ark” , he was so happy!

Now, I just cannot believe, no finish getting through my mind. Nothing could be sadder than to end the 2009 with Ivan’s departure!

We are missing not just a friend, but “the” Leader of Goodeins Fish Conservation Movement.

When at the last meeting of Livebearer’s Symposia I was asked to present Ivan for his talk, I introduced him as a person of stout and harsh driven personality, always in command, always right, always stubborn, always concerned for aquarium hobbyist’s livebearers fish future, always worried for his Goodeins, and therefore very hard and difficult to understand and deal with, but at the same time a very warm and caring person; all of it is needed to lead and convince about conservation of those unknown then fish, and he has those qualities. Therefore, at that moment it came to me, as a personal pun and at the same time jokingly as such was the idea, in between seriously and humor, present him to the audience: because of all of the above, and well earned, and on the ways of the United Kingdom, since that is his nationality, now let it all known, here I present you: for that’s what he is, a real gentleman and a master of those fish, Ivan Dibble, “The Lord of Goodeids” … He and we all laughed and enjoyed the moment, and then he proceeded with his presentation.

More recently, his main worries were “Gambusias”, a group of fish most people relates with the “mosquito fish”, also called “Dambusias” since nobody wants them, a very unfortunate way to learn of such group of fish species, for now is considered a very wrong way to control mosquito, since that mosquito fish, Gambusia affinis, now is all over the world and considered a nuisance for many other species and habitats that have being altered; But there are many more species of Gambusias and most people thinks of them all as the same trouble, and unwanted, and not one but Ivan was thinking on the difficulties of the habitats for those species, and for nobody else was looking seriously for the conservation of them, all our fishes, killies and livebearers ignored by Mexican authorities until very recently.

Now, on this moment I could not be any more realistic on the issue, since not one else has ever been more seriously concerned on the ideal of Mexican Fish’s Conservation, and no one else has done more that Ivan, and at least on my mind, he really shall and will be always remembered as what he is: The Lord of Goodeids!

Rest in peace Ivan, enjoy the glory on the companion of your loved wife, relatives and friends who have been earlier to go; the fish conservation you started are in the good hands of your friends at BLA, ALA, and many others who will take good care to continue your labor.

With my deepest respect to your family, brothers, sisters, nephews and else, God bless you all.

Arcadio Valdez GonzalesUniversidad Autonoma de Nuevo LeonMonterrey, Mexico

Ivan....

A lovely chap and quite a character, paternal at times. Was best not to cross him, or disagree with him, or steal his seat,  :-) .

I'l never forget when I won championship class in a Manchester show (with a young male X. Nigrensis) and he was very quick to come up to me to tell me he that "it shouldnt have won" and he had "argued with the judge" about it. A proud Ivan?...... had I beaten one of Ivans fish?...... Nope he hadn't even entered! Typical  :-)

Have a good rest Sir. Your passing begs some serious questions for the future though...

1. Does this mean that the front row is now available in the auctions ? 

2. Who will Don Kenwood bicker with now you're gone?

3. Who will wake Mcallister up at 2 am for a lift to a fish show?

John

For  many years Ivan had been known to many of the Catfish Study Group's Committee and many of its members, and we were all delighted to see Ivan at our Catfish Convention weekend last February, were old friendships were renewed any many new friendships started.

It would indeed take many reams of paper to give the proper praise Ivan truly deserves for his many years of dedication to the hobby and his achievements .

Ivan always took time to have a chat with other aquarists it didnt matter to Ivan wether the person was an experienced aquarist or someone new to the hobby, if when he was busy he always made time.

We are truly saddened by Ivan's passingca, sans-serif;font-size:medium;">.

Adrian W Taylor

Secretary; Catfish Study Group.

Ivan, i just know your listening t me like you always do.

You are missed so much,its nice to see so manyPeople paying tribute to you and your life.

They are saying more than i ever can and so i leave it to them.

Good Bye my special friend

Roy Smith and family at Congresbury

 Originally sent to Bristol Tropical Fish Club and posted here with permission.

Dear Bristol Tropical Fish Club, I am writing to you on behalf of all FBAS fishkeepers to offer condolences over the recent loss of Ivan Dibble.

Bristol’s loss is not confined to the Society alone for, with Ivan’s passing, fishkeeping itself has lost a great ambassador known to thousands of aquarists around the world.

Although his livebearer knowledge was encyclopaedic (and often a little too intense to some), Ivan never lost his willingness to help out whether it was giving out practical information, writing highly informative and entertaining articles or sharing livestock.  He also offered free use of any of his photographs to the Federation for use in any of its publications or on the website.

For many people Ivan was famous for giving Characodon audax its inspirational name - the ‘Black Prince’ – how could you possibly call it anything else?

Internationally, Ivan made his mark with his dedicated support for Fish Ark Mexico, the restoration/rehabilitation project for Mexican livebearers which was founded a couple of years after Ivan learnt of the fishes’ plight in 1995. Usually, conservationists bring out fish to conserve stocks, but Ivan took this a stage further and actually re-introduced captive-bred species back to their previous native waters.

On a different level, Ivan was a caring man and there must be hundreds of fishkeepers around who regularly received e-mailed greeting cards from him throughout the year.

I suppose a most apt epitaph would be to paraphrase Douglas Adams’ famous final line from the Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy and say ‘Cheerio Ivan, and thanks for all the fish.’

Again, condolences to all at this sad time,

Dick Mills,

President, FBAS.

Is really sad to know that our good friend Ivan Dibble passed away. I meet Ivan in 1998, when he came to Morelia and propose to start the conservation program that now is a reality, the Fish Ark Mexico. Although the agreements and disagreements with Ivan, for us Ivan always was a person that inspire us to work hard in the conservation of Mexican native fish, he always work with one goal, conservation of Mexican Livebearing fishes, and always pushed us to do the think in a correct way and with all the enthusiasm and discipline. So Ivan was and always will be the heart of the conservation program in Morelia, he will always live in the heart of all the people that someday work with him in the HACP. We will miss Ivan and we will work hard to maintain his dream alive, the conservation project, thank’s Ivan and best wishes were ever you are.

I have lost a friend - Ivan and I go back a long way. He often appeared in my adverts for the Aquarian brand of fish food (that he helped me develop). He used to visit the Waltham Aquacentre, often with visiting American and Mexican friends and has visited my home several times here in Halifax. I sponsored his original Mexican travels from the Aquarian budget many years ago. I am retired now, but unlike me, Ivan never retired...he had too much to do for conservation. Farewell friend,David

Ivan has been a great friend of DGLZ and a personal one since decades. We'll really miss our honorary member Ivan. Farewell, old pal. Harro

Ivan's death is a great loss to anybody with an interest in live-bearing fish. His vast amount of knowledge and his passion for this family of fish will be sorely missed.

Along with the late Derek Lambert, hobbyists were given the chance to keep and breed species that had only been seen as pictures in books. Due to their hard work, drive and determination the British live-bearer keeper was able to keep many of these species.

Ivan's legacy will be the ARK project that he helped to set up in Morelia, Mexico. Something he'd dreamed about for a long time, but a dream was not enough for Ivan and he set about bringing this to fruition. With his single mindedness and at times bloody awkwardness, he succeeded. Today this project is a great success and they keep and breed all of the goodeids. Lately he had been trying to expand  this to another site to include Gambusia and other poeciliidae. Hopefully this work will carry on as a fitting tribute to Ivan.

He was also a very good fish keeper, but unfortunately ill health made it difficult for him in the last few years to do what he wanted in the fish house. This curtailed his fish keeping but it gave him the chance to put a lot of his work over the years onto his computer which has left us with a wealth of knowledge that can be shared with everyone with an interest.

So no more phone calls at 12.30 am just as we had gone to sleep, no more the phone ringing three times then the phone being put down, this being repeated three times more before he hangs up, all because he didn’t want to speak to the answer phone. No more being told Black is White or the fish I caught in the type locality couldn’t possibly be right!

We will miss you friend.God bless Ivan xxLinda and David

We Will miss you very much, and we will never forget your larger than life character, an inspiration to us all. R. I. P. dear friend.

Kim & Dai

Dear All,

It was with shock and sadness that I learned Ivan Dibble had passed away during the Christmas Holiday. Many of you knew Ivan and I know some of you already know of his passing.

For those of you who do not know who Ivan is I will try and briefly explain his importance to the aquarium hobby and fish conservation. Ivan pretty much dedicated his life to the study, culture and conservation of a group of viviparous fishes from Mexico known as Goodeids.

Long before conservation became a regular word in our vocabulary Ivan was already attempting to breed many Goodeids in the aquarium with the hope that depleting wild populations could eventually be recovered through re-introductions. He, along with close colleagues recognized the serious threats to these fishes and over recent decades many have become endangered to critically endangered, with some now extinct in the wild.

 Ivan’s endless networking on a global scale and numerous visits to Mexico has raised the profile of this relatively small, but important group of fishes. After many years of building an enormous level of expertise in the culture of Goodeids and knowledge of their natural life histories and habitats he began a relationship with the University of Morelia in Mexico that forged one of the most important developments for the conservation of fishes in Mexico. During a visit to Mexico in 1997 a ground breaking fish breeding and research centre was established at the University of Morelia, which Ivan named the Fish Ark. I was with him during that visit, along with Prof. Gordon McGregor Reid (Director General, Chester Zoo) and Dr Heather Koldewey (Curator, Aquarium Projects, London Zoo) and through collaboration with Omar Dominguez Dominguez (Uni. Of Morelia) an ongoing collaborative relationship has been maintained ever since.

Since that time Ivan has tirelessly raised funds to support the Fish Ark through lecture tours, conventions and the ever growing network of hobbyists and aquarium societies specializing in this group of fishes. The Fish Ark has become the epicentre for all those interested in Goodeids and has become an important symbol for fish conservation in general worldwide. To Ivan it was the vehicle to achieve his dreams.

Many of you will also know he was often difficult to deal with, such was the stubborn way he stuck to his beliefs. He had, in the early days, an acute mistrust of professional organizations and even conservation groups. However, over the years he mellowed a little and, I guess, so did the professionals, and in more recent times important steps have been made to merge the expertise provided by aquarium hobbyists and practical conservation strategies developed by the professionals. The end result is we now have a very good working relationship between hobbyists and professionals and Ivan has been a key figure in establishing that.

I could go on, but I think you get the point I am making. Ivan has been an extremely dedicated contributor to our knowledge of the Goodeids and, although he will be greatly missed, he will remain an inspiration for a long time to come for anyone interested in aquaria and fish conservation.

Thank you all for your kind words about my father I will pass them on to the rest of the family. Funeral arrangements have yet to be settled and I would thank you to ask Don Kennwood for any further information as i,m in constant contact with him and am a little tied up at the moment. I would also like to thank Don for all his help 

I had the luxury of meeting Ivan several times here in the United States.  The first time was when he visited to speak at the convention of the Northeast Council of Aquarium Societies.  We are able to arrnage for him to speak at our local society, the Tropical Fish Society of Rhode Island.  Ivan drove out from Pennsylvanis with his good friend Bob Cashin and arrived in time to have a nice steak dinner at a local restaurant before the meeting started.

I met Ivan again at several other conventions and had great converations with him about Mexican fishes, which also is a passion of mine.  I was always impressed by his drive and passion for Mexico's fishes.  I hope another can continue with his strenght and enthusiasm.

Rest in peace Ivan...good people will continue your work.  I say many lost a friend, but no one more than the fishes.

I met Ivan in Denmark only once at meeting of Poecilia scandinavia in 2005 and spoke to him once. I knew his fame and I can now say he contributed to transmit me the passion for maintaining in aquarium wild livebearers that are threatened in their habitat.

Ciao Ivan,

Alessandro - Rome, Italy

i had the pleasure of meeting Ivan many times and found him to be mesmerising to talk to. his stories of fishkeeping and especially his conservation work were fantastic.

i know he will be sorely missed by many people.

R.I.P Ivan.

Both bonnie and myself were saddened to hear of Ivans passing.we first met when he was selling black prince[undercover]at the doncaster festival some 30 yrs ago i believe.A charactor we thought at the time,but dedicated to fish and their origins,i doubt if another Ivan will be along.

            rest in peace.

Dear Ivan,

your name will probably forever be associated with the Fish Ark project. Instead of just telling how bad the environmental situation in Mexico is and how endangered many of our beloved livebearers are, you acted by putting your contacts in the  aquaristic world to work.

It’s amazing how quickly you succeeded in setting up an effective, low overhead organisation for the conservation of Livebearers and Goodeids in particular.  With your work you activated many  people and created a lot of goodwill for our hobby.

It is up to all of us to make sure that your efforts were not in vain by continuing to support the Fish Ark project to the best of out abilities.

I’d like to express my sincere condolancies to your family and close friends and hope that they will find some comfort in the thought that so many people are lamentng your untimely death

May you rest in peace!

rip ivan, I know you will alway be remembered for your work with fishes.  i will always remember you at ala, in the hospitaliy room. i can't remember the year.  you stayed late and sang with us. it was a fun time.  who knew you liked to sing? 

Ivan has always been my good teacher of Goodeids and a good friend. I will continue to support his Fisf Ark Mexico project from Japan, as his spirit and efforts for fish conservation still live in my heart.  May his spirit rest in peace !