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
Fintastic Aquatics
- JohnH (John)
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The regret is - not because we have lost another Forum Sponsor - because the fishkeeping community in Ireland has lost yet another independent fish shop.
This is a real shame as they had great plans to renovate the premises and re-open bigger and better but seemingly when the process of renovation got under way it was found by the property owners that it was beyond economic repair and so the shop had to close permanently.
We only learned this yesterday and have now regrettably had to remove the Fintastic Aquatics banner and the shop from the list (now, we're afraid dwindling) of Forum Sponsors.
To those previously involved in Fintastic we wish you well in any future projects or alternative employment.
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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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- AquaticGardenDan (Daniel Madziag)
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Thanks
Daniel
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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.
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It's a long way to Tipperary.
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- LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
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"The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won't let go of your life; your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they're not punishing you.They're freeing your soul."
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- hammie (Neil Hammerton)
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Had only good dealings with them! Very generous with time and experience
Wish them nothing but good luck for the future
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- jeff (Jeff Scully)
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I don't think so, I heard that one of the lads now works in Seahorse Aquariums, but that was only a bit of 'second-hand news'.
John
Liam, from fintastic aquatics is working for sh now that's a fact I've know Liam many of yrs and was talking to him a couple of wks ago out their, one of the nicest lads you could ever meet, not sure if anything is left from shop most if not all was sold off for buttons just before or after Xmas
This shop was only 10/15 mins from my house it will be sadly missed
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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.
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- jeff (Jeff Scully)
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Where the tongue slips, it speaks the truth.
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- fishmad1234 (Craig Coyle)
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at the end of the day it becomes nite
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Where the tongue slips, it speaks the truth.
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- fishmad1234 (Craig Coyle)
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Supposedly the council got millions to do it all up new shops ect but they probally spent it all on that 10 million + library they built

Regards
Craig
at the end of the day it becomes nite
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- hammie (Neil Hammerton)
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Something needs done to stop the small business decline and the lack of help from local councils
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- LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
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I was up in Athlone towards the end of last year and was surprised at how quiet the place was! I kinda thought things were recovering not getting worse! I had no idea that so many towns (outside the main cities) were so bloody derilict and devoid of business / life! To see the local councils allowing this to happen without stepping in to try keep business alive is alarming to say the least! I know our local town is coming back into its own now, but the business's struggled for years to keep going!
Something needs done to stop the small business decline and the lack of help from local councils
My understanding of the situation in Dunlaoghaire is that there's an attitude at both local/council level of not being willing to change anything. The town has been dying on its @r$e for years now and yet it has so much potential... lovely coastline, a harbour, beautiful parks and houses and some great amenities (the library, theatre, the harbour, the dart, a cinema). Its surrounded on all sides by more affluent, better run areas. Being a fairly large town centre in the middle of all that, it's hard to understand why there seems to be resistance to any kind of development especially since the modern trend is against people wanting to head into Dublin for shopping.
"The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won't let go of your life; your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they're not punishing you.They're freeing your soul."
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- fishmad1234 (Craig Coyle)
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The treatment clinics for addicts down there doesn't help lure people in.
It does be like an episode of the walking dead down there.
I agree it is a lovely location with potential to flourish again the seafront is really all that's left down there there is nice restaurants down by the dart station an then further down by sandycove.
It's a shame really
Regards
Craig
at the end of the day it becomes nite
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- LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
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That made me laughIt does be like an episode of the walking dead down there.

Stillorgan was going the same way after Dundrum/Carrickmines opened. The difference is that they pulled up their socks and did all they could to change. Now the place is thriving again. And it's honestly nowhere near as promising a location as Dunlaoghaire!
Definitely a shame.
"The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won't let go of your life; your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they're not punishing you.They're freeing your soul."
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- igmillichip (ian millichip)
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It was turning into a ghost town some time ago.................traffic wardens hiding behind dustbins ready to put fines on cars; rather high per-hour parking charges and difficulty to find parking spaces quite etc etc
really don't help.
But, hey, at least there is that new fancy building on the seafront...........
A pity to see yet another aquatic shop bite the dust. I'm not sure where Dimitri is.............one of the people ex of Fish Antics in Monkstown.
Yeah, LemonJelly...........we have recently moved up the road to Stillorgan and the shopping centre is buzzing quite nicely now.
Proof that pulling up the socks can do a great job.
But, hey..............at least DL has that nice fancy build.......ummmm!!! said that already

ian
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- Homer (Kevin)
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Kev.
The Glass is always greener on the other side.
It's NOT "Chee lick", NOT "Chee Chee Licks"!!! Cichlids is pronounced as "Sick Lids"!!!!!
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Wish them the best in future.
Lydia
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