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
the fakers
- Sean (Fr. Jack)
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What the hell as that got to do with taking photos of plants in a fresh water aquarium or posting inverts in a marine tank....everything!
I dont want to be mean enough to directly criticise and make reference to a particular photo posted, as there is no point as its the vast majority I am referring to.
Attack on the fresh water planted tank
They are all fakers (80%). If you look closely the gravel is spotless so it has just been set up, there is no evidence of the plants sprouting runners, the plants have some time gravel slighly smothering the stem so it could never survive. If the photo was genuine the bigger older eaves would be darker and the "new growth in the tank


Attack on the Marine Invert tank
I have yet to see the same marine invert tank 5 years latter, looking anything like the original picture, why is photo post only done between 1 day to 14 days after they are introduce , why are there no post a old mature tank with a little bit of real crap on the bottom and a little bit of algae growing on ther back wall, they are mostly fake to.
Its a bit like going to a florist and getting a bunch of flowers with no roots and stuffing it in the soil and taking a photo of the entire whole garden in a gardening forum.
That would be a ecumenical matter!!!
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- russell (russell)
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- tanks_alot (Denis Coghlan)
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Attack on the fresh water planted tank
I dont want to be mean enough to directly criticise and make reference to a particular photo posted, as there is no point as its the vast majority I am referring to.
They are all fakers (80%).
Since 80% are fakers!! and I am assuming that you are talking about the "post your planted tanks" thread in the plants section! I'm going to make the assumption that one of them is mine. There is after all 5 tank pictures, which means you are suggesting that four of them are fake, newly planted and don't have a future.
I have no problem with you criticising my tank and if it is mine, I would like to know so that I can prove you wrong on all of the statement you have made in your last post (well with regards to my tank anyway).
Regards
Denis
Lead me not into temptation, For I can find it myself!
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- Sean (Fr. Jack)
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Attack on the fresh water planted tank
I dont want to be mean enough to directly criticise and make reference to a particular photo posted, as there is no point as its the vast majority I am referring to.
They are all fakers (80%).
Since 80% are fakers!! and I am assuming that you are talking about the "post your planted tanks" thread in the plants section! I'm going to make the assumption that one of them is mine. There is after all 5 tank pictures, which means you are suggesting that four of them are fake, newly planted and don't have a future.
I have no problem with you criticising my tank and if it is mine, I would like to know so that I can prove you wrong on all of the statement you have made in your last post (well with regards to my tank anyway).
Regards
Denis
Hi Denis,
I am not more of photos of certain chlidids with plants in the background.
Sean
I think the fakers are not so much in the planted section, as in the fish section. Don't get paranoid :?
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- Damian_Ireland (Damian_Ireland)
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Glad you reminded me though, must post up pictures of my new planted tank, look foreward to your critique!!

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- Daragh_Owens (Daragh Owens)
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Anyway, enjoyed your talk at the last meeting, very interesting.
Daragh
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- Sean (Fr. Jack)
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There is nothing wrong sending in a photo that has the odd spot of dirt in the gravel, if the centre of the plants a lighter green all the better as it shows the growth happen in YOUR tank.
Please no more specific questions are you talking about mine or his? other wise I will get a brick throw through my window.

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- Damian_Ireland (Damian_Ireland)
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One of the pictures in question is Darraghs pic of the angel and the gourami.......
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- Damian_Ireland (Damian_Ireland)
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- apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
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Holger
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- Sean (Fr. Jack)
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since fatherjack has decided to take the rightous route i will give my opinion.
One of the pictures in question is Darraghs pic of the angel and the gourami.......
That different as when that was posted it was made it was so bad I was not afraid to make a comment directly in the thread, as the heart and muscle area that supports the pectoral fin was completely missing, thanks to photo shop and a lot of IT. I had forgotten about that post, but was not referring to it in this particular case.
Oh my God, what scandal I have stirred up, just 24 hours before the drinking week end, will this get locked by Monday morning. :twisted:
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- Sean (Fr. Jack)
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:idea:
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- arabesque (Mick Veale)
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Regardless whether plants are thriving or whether they are dying off and being replaced every few months. SO WHAT???
You cant call them fakers..! Are they not still planted tanks..?
They still have foliage which look nice. They still provide
cover/food/oxygen for fish...
I planted tulip bulbs a month ago. When they flower
in late spring/early summer i will enjoy them. but i wont
be digging up the bulbs a few weeks after, drying them
out and putting them in a dry dark box until next year.
Okay so people post photos up of their newly planted tanks.
They're not claiming to be Takashi Amano, meerly proud
of their aquascaping and showing their planted tanks.
As for dirt on the gravel.. Some people actually gravel clean when changing their water!!.. yes that's changing water.
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- apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
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- Sean (Fr. Jack)
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I was not afraid to film my sons tanks and project it measure in feet instead of inches on the wall of last month ITFS, its disgusting I have sen sewage plants cleaner and I am not ashamed of it you can tell its years old and has had not much attention (understaement) who gives a monkeys, the ere is plenty of prove the fish are still breading.
I think we have the capability to do the Febuarry photo competionh to, instead of voting which is the best photo. we can vote on, which one which is fake or not fake, I am sure Anthony wont mine bearing in mind he has never posted his africans with plants so we cant critasise Anthony own personal photos. It would be a great laugh.
I beleive in renewable resources its not immoral to buy plants from a store but if they have to be replaced after three month that redickolous, why not just propagate the single species that does well in a tank, java moss, java fern can be grown by any plonker, any one that post expert plants when its so ovbiuos its a fake make me laugh, and I suspect the person that post it does not realise what a nodders they are making. dont get me wrong I dont want to stop photo post but a little less quanity and more quality wont hurt any one. :?:
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- Sean (Fr. Jack)
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That would be a ecumenical matter!!!
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- Sean (Fr. Jack)
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- Sean (Fr. Jack)
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That would be a ecumenical matter!!!
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- Sean (Fr. Jack)
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That would be a ecumenical matter!!!
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- Sean (Fr. Jack)
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- russell (russell)
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- Sean (Fr. Jack)
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.
Then there is the other type of gardener who may have more free time on his or hers hands, but has never planned there garden, and when they go to the garden centre the buy
On impulse different bulbs and semi grown flowers that need to be planted, and replace
Yearly. Of course they cover for the local cat food for the snails and oxygen for every one, but they are non re new able, almost chaotic, this type of gardener may more colour in his or hers garden than mine but he is as tacky as putting an air freshener in his car on view, he buys and 42 inch plasma TV (which are crap) instead of an 32inch or 37inch high end LCD TV, he will have a plug in hands free in his car instead of an blue tooth one. Basically you can take the man out of the bog but you can’t take the bog out of the man, this guy cant resist buying planted every 3 month, and would never dream of PLANNING one single species of plant that is renewable.
No matter how many water changes you do, you can take photos of a tank where the lower section in 100% clean, unless of course its only 2 weeks old which bring full circle what my thread is. I had to write this in word and cut and past as I am sick to tires of posting and getting rejected then having to re write it all again as the forum losses the text.
I notice before the de bug problem that the very first day we moved server there was a slight time delay after you summit a post before it shows up (not as good as before we moved) now the system is virtually un usable. Is the forum lacking money to home it in the right place?
That would be a ecumenical matter!!!
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- Sean (Fr. Jack)
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:shock: Re-dick-ulous
Regardless whether plants are thriving or whether they are dying off and being replaced every few months. SO WHAT???
You cant call them fakers..! Are they not still planted tanks..?
They still have foliage which look nice. They still provide
cover/food/oxygen for fish...
I planted tulip bulbs a month ago. When they flower
in late spring/early summer i will enjoy them. but i wont
be digging up the bulbs a few weeks after, drying them
out and putting them in a dry dark box until next year.
Okay so people post photos up of their newly planted tanks.
They're not claiming to be Takashi Amano, meerly proud
of their aquascaping and showing their planted tanks.
As for dirt on the gravel.. Some people actually gravel clean when changing their water!!.. yes that's changing water.
There is 2 types of philoisfio in gardering, the busy executive with little time for gardening but with a keen pro type interest, who will have beautiful shrubs PLANNED
On paper with beautiful velvet lawns PLANNED with the same techniques use on a golf
Green (I am a real scaled down golf green in my garden)
.
Then there is the other type of gardener who may have more free time on his or hers hands, but has never planned there garden, and when they go to the garden centre the buy
On impulse different bulbs and semi grown flowers that need to be planted, and replace
Yearly. Of course they cover for the local cat food for the snails and oxygen for every one, but they are non re new able, almost chaotic, this type of gardener may more colour in his or hers garden than mine but he is as tacky as putting an air freshener in his car on view, he buys and 42 inch plasma TV (which are crap) instead of an 32inch or 37inch high end LCD TV, he will have a plug in hands free in his car instead of an blue tooth one. Basically you can take the man out of the bog but you can’t take the bog out of the man, this guy cant resist buying planted every 3 month, and would never dream of PLANNING one single species of plant that is renewable.
No matter how many water changes you do, you can take photos of a tank where the lower section in 100% clean, unless of course its only 2 weeks old which bring full circle what my thread is. I had to write this in word and cut and past as I am sick to tires of posting and getting rejected then having to re write it all again as the forum losses the text.
I notice before the de bug problem that the very first day we moved server there was a slight time delay after you summit a post before it shows up (not as good as before we moved) now the system is virtually un usable. Is the forum lacking money to home it in the right place?
That would be a ecumenical matter!!!
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- Sean (Fr. Jack)
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That would be a ecumenical matter!!!
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