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
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- Melander (Andreas Melander)
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I have not personally bought anything lately due to lack of space but this little "red and black" ancistrus was born recently and is one of many from the first spawn of that pair:
Melander
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- JohnH (John)
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John
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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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- dar (darren curry)
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Check out the angling section, it is fantastic
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Jay
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- ceech (Desmond Gaynor)
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They can be quite agressive so keep a close eye as he grows up

I have some in y tank beautiful fish and if you have 1 male 4 females will breed easy;-)
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Jay
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- Jim (Jim Lawlor)
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so here's my slightly off centre contribution. Its not to everyone's taste (including my own) but it keeps the young lad interested in the tank and soothed the hole the communion money was burning in his pocket!
Any ideas on the i.d? I think Chinese Z-10 myself . .
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- Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
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I think this is a great idea for a topic - well worth keeping going.
so here's my slightly off centre contribution. Its not to everyone's taste (including my own) but it keeps the young lad interested in the tank and soothed the hole the communion money was burning in his pocket!
Any ideas on the i.d? I think Chinese Z-10 myself . .
Lol, ditto on the zhi-10. Now guess the caliber of the rounds that put the holes in that bad boy


Jay
Location: Finglas, North Dublin.
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- Melander (Andreas Melander)
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- Melander (Andreas Melander)
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I think this is a great idea for a topic - well worth keeping going.
so here's my slightly off centre contribution. Its not to everyone's taste (including my own) but it keeps the young lad interested in the tank and soothed the hole the communion money was burning in his pocket!
Any ideas on the i.d? I think Chinese Z-10 myself . .
This made me laugh, great contribution!
Not sure about the i.d. though.
Has it settled well, any pictures in the tank?
Melander
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- Jambomac (James McConville)
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C:\fakepath\IMG_0703.JPG
“A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.”
quote Bruce Lee
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- Jambomac (James McConville)
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“A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.”
quote Bruce Lee
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“A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.”
quote Bruce Lee
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- igmillichip (ian millichip)
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As it is.....you can't enter it now.
Nice photos.
ian
Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.
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- Jambomac (James McConville)
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Thanks for advice on contrasting ian,just hope i improve with the fiddling.
Yeah glass does need a bit of a clean my snails are a bad clean up crew, need to get them a better foreman.
“A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.”
quote Bruce Lee
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Melander
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- Gavin (Gavin)
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dont make me come over there.
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- Mike53 (Michael)
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From what I can gather they are fairly peaceful and like a heavily planted tank with lots of rocks for terriories.
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- Jim (Jim Lawlor)
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I got 4 and put them on their own in a 180l tank, moderately hard / alkaline water (dont remember the exact figures, but will measure again shortly). I didn't use any rock or substrate to buffer as my water seems well buffered.
As you said, very little detail on them on the internet. I put a fair bit of rock & plants in with them, but one fish is bigger than the other 3 and he got quite aggressive straight away. I was going to add other fish, but rather than risk compunding a problem, I ended up filling the tank with rocks, slate, ceramic hollow logs, clay pots and even half a sunken galleon (which I got with a 2nd hand tank)and loads of plants still in their pots - just to break up territories and give them all places to hide.
They settled after that and grew well, although the biggest fish is still agressive. They eat well and have grown well and have coloured up nicely. They seem easy enough to keep.
One strange thing I noticed - the tank had been overrum with ramshorn snails and I had been harvesting them as treats for my syncrossus hymenophysa loaches. Since I put the aureus in, all the small snails have gone. I can only assume they've been eating them, which I since found references to - must have given them a good start!
They're a beautiful fish - I'd definitely recommend them,
Jim
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- Melander (Andreas Melander)
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Melander
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