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

Fish farming........

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ipcompto (Ian Compton)
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03 Dec 2013 18:46 #1 by ipcompto (Ian Compton)

Fish farming........ was created by ipcompto (Ian Compton)

Hi,
I would like to ask you all what is your opinion on the following......and i do not want retarded armchair warrior crap in the replies......we grow worms here organically.....we recycle our paper and card board via vermicomposting...ie the production of compost via worm castings which is worm poo.The whole process is 100 percent organic.We have also started a ragworm breeding project which looks promising too with the hope that we could produce protein organically via the worms....I was wondering about farming carp for food organically too.So we would take waste and at the end produce a fish 100 percent organically grown without the use of processed fish meal in the food.Practically every fish we eat is contaminated even down to the trout in our rivers.Mercury is a big problem most fish flesh will contain it because a lot of the food given to farmed animals is fish meal.....which is madness.....
So if i produced organic fish for the table what do you think the general intelligent public would think?And remember before you answer that most of us here eat fish and kill fish inadvertently......anyway i just thought this might be an interesting subject for debate because i am considering it........
cheers
Ian

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JohnH (John)
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03 Dec 2013 19:43 - 03 Dec 2013 19:44 #2 by JohnH (John)

Replied by JohnH (John) on topic Fish farming........

Your project is most commendable Ian - would carp be the best choice though, I wonder? - have you ever tried to eat them?
I did once and they're dreadfully 'earthy'.
Having said that, the majority of Eastern Europeans eat them (along with - far more regrettably - Pike) so they must have some sort of appeal.
Mind you, why would anyone be bothered to pay for fish that they can steal from our lakes and rivers anyway?
Since I don't suspect it to be these 'people' who you would be targeting, the idea of organically-produced fish could be an appealing product for many.

I'll watch this with interest.

John

Location:
N. Tipp

We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.

ITFS member.

It's a long way to Tipperary.

Last edit: 03 Dec 2013 19:44 by JohnH (John). Reason: Grammar

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anthonyd (Anthony Debesne)
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03 Dec 2013 20:51 #3 by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne)

Replied by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne) on topic Fish farming........

I agree with john, carp is not exactly a delicacy, pike is nicer especially when it is young as the bones are smaller and softer.
Trout would be a better idea but you would have to have access to a clean clear flowing river.
We used to go to a fish farm in France when we were young to fish and catch huge rainbow trouts and we kept the catch by paying a price per kilos.
The major drawback of fish farming organicly or not is you concentrate waste of a lots of fishes on a small footprint wich can creates organic pollution. You just have to have look at the poor record of salmon farming in different countries.
Regards
Anthony

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Homer (Kevin)
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03 Dec 2013 21:20 #4 by Homer (Kevin)

Replied by Homer (Kevin) on topic Fish farming........

Hasn't Carp an acquired taste? I mean, isn't it very strong and Earthy tasting?

Congrats on the Composting etc, I work in a wealthy University and we compost no material generated by Grounds, the waste from the Restaurants is taken away and composted and Paper, Plastic Glass etc is recycled but the Green waste is in a huge pile at the back of the Campus.

Well done.

H.

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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03 Dec 2013 21:41 #5 by anglecichlid (ciaran hogan)

Replied by anglecichlid (ciaran hogan) on topic Fish farming........

I think you could be better off farming carp for sport fishing than eating,
I've seen the likes of black bok and ostrich stakes in lidls but never carp!
And as for the ragworm,if you could get that going and sell it for half the price the bait shops sell it for
You would do well!

Anyone with a aquarium can keep fish,
But it takes real skill to be a fish keeper,

And it's spongeBob,
SpongeBob lives in a pineapple under the sea
BLANCHARDSTOWN

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03 Dec 2013 22:00 #6 by cichliddave (dave coughlan)

Replied by cichliddave (dave coughlan) on topic Fish farming........

The polish will be quein up to get in,they love course fish to eat,but they r crap fishermen,i do see them on the canal with 3 inch spinners tryin to catch baby roach a perch

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03 Dec 2013 22:06 #7 by anglecichlid (ciaran hogan)

Replied by anglecichlid (ciaran hogan) on topic Fish farming........

cichliddave wrote:
The polish will be quein up to get in,they love course fish to eat,but they r crap fishermen,i do see them on the canal with 3 inch spinners tryin to catch baby roach a perch

Yea and a beach caster with 50lbs line :lol:

Anyone with a aquarium can keep fish,
But it takes real skill to be a fish keeper,

And it's spongeBob,
SpongeBob lives in a pineapple under the sea
BLANCHARDSTOWN

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Tomi (Tomas Kurman)
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03 Dec 2013 23:56 #8 by Tomi (Tomas Kurman)

Replied by Tomi (Tomas Kurman) on topic Fish farming........

Ian, If you will go that road, I for one will buy carp of you on a regular basis- once a year but still ;-)

I'm buying farmed French carp every Christmas and I'm sure that they are not exactly organic.
About carp taste- I bet you all would like my owen baked stuffed carp with mushrooms and cream sauce. Nothing Earthy there lads ;-)

Cichliddave, Anglecichlid :cool:

I am Polish and I don't consider myself as crap angler tough :laugh:

But what I can know about fishing :crazy:

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JohnH (John)
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04 Dec 2013 02:15 #9 by JohnH (John)

Replied by JohnH (John) on topic Fish farming........

Here's a link to Tomi's post from a couple of years ago:

www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php/forum...ox-trout-season-2011

I'm greatly impressed with the care and attention you pay to the well-being of the fish you catch.
Sadly, Tomi, not all of your countrymen are so careful. I have personally seen Eastern European 'anglers' here in the Midlands and not one has been so considerate - everything they catch is immediately consigned to a black plastic dustbin bag. The motto here seems to be 'take everything'!

Surely they don't eat 3" trout and perch?

We can all relate tales of bad practice on the riverbank, let's just hope that more Eastern Europeans learn to embrace the 'catch-and-release' style which you so obviously have embraced.

John

Location:
N. Tipp

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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04 Dec 2013 07:53 #10 by anglecichlid (ciaran hogan)

Replied by anglecichlid (ciaran hogan) on topic Fish farming........

Tomi wrote:
Ian[/b], If you will go that road, I for one will buy carp of you on a regular basis- once a year but still
I'm buying farmed French carp every Christmas and I'm sure that they are not exactly organic.
About carp taste- I bet you all would like my owen baked stuffed carp with mushrooms and cream sauce. Nothing Earthy there lads
Cichliddave, Anglecichlid I am Polish and I don't consider myself as crap angler tough But what I can know about fishing

Sorry tomi I really didn't mean to offend you
I'm sure your a capable angler,
That said it's also unfair to tar everyone with the same
Brush,
But I did see lads on the canal a few years ago with a 13ft
Beach caster course fishing :laugh:

I honestly couldn't say weather most polish are "good" anglers or not
But I can say this,
I worked with polish plumbers for a year or two and I have never seen work like it
Before or since,
Flawless!

Anyone with a aquarium can keep fish,
But it takes real skill to be a fish keeper,

And it's spongeBob,
SpongeBob lives in a pineapple under the sea
BLANCHARDSTOWN

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ipcompto (Ian Compton)
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04 Dec 2013 09:36 #11 by ipcompto (Ian Compton)

Replied by ipcompto (Ian Compton) on topic Fish farming........

Well judging by the responses i hadn't given much thought to the fact that i could be helping save our wild stocks of fish.I am a avid angler too and so are the boys that work with me...i fish for tuna barracuda pike and so do a lot of my customers and funnily enough most of the foreign anglers i have met are all die hard catch and release fans so i cant tar everyone with the same brush.But maybe growing organic fish could be a way to make a small change here which i believe to be better than no change.Growing organic worms was the start i have well over a million parent stock now at this moment i would need several million to even attempt to feed the fish exclusively on worms but you guys know what i am like this sort of thing interests me and after all i raised koi for several years in the early days which as far as i know i was the first to do this commercially.That means we spawned the parents they did not do this naturally thats the difference so the carp thing and maybe nile tilapia could be the next step.The biggest worry would be that the armchair warriors wont see past the pet fish and farm fish thing you know what people are like....anyway i like fishy challenges.......and worms......did you know i have been digging in the same patch of worms for over 30 years now i am farming them isn't that ironic Alanis!

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Tomi (Tomas Kurman)
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07 Dec 2013 19:53 #12 by Tomi (Tomas Kurman)

Replied by Tomi (Tomas Kurman) on topic Fish farming........

No offence taken at all lads, so not too worry. Good luck with the new project Ian :cool:

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07 Dec 2013 20:04 #13 by CrustyCrab (Peter Biddulph)

Replied by CrustyCrab (Peter Biddulph) on topic Fish farming........

Hey Tomi,
I for one know that you are a good fisherman, in every sense of the word. Some trout you caught last year mate.
Carp is good eating, if prepared well, even the early christian monks used to eat them during the winter months.
BTW hows the new job going? Congrats on that.
Pete

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Tomi (Tomas Kurman)
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08 Dec 2013 16:34 #14 by Tomi (Tomas Kurman)

Replied by Tomi (Tomas Kurman) on topic Fish farming........

Howdy Pete,
Cheers. It's going good. It's not the lake but it is under the roof

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brian (Brian)
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08 Dec 2013 18:32 #15 by brian (Brian)

Replied by brian (Brian) on topic Fish farming........

nile tilipia might be a goer as they can take lower temperatures than most tropicals,if you could build a large pond in a polytunnel they would have tropical temps all summer.i have a 65x24 foot polytunnel ,for growing veg and friut,i built a pond in it this year and had tropical temps all summer,had pheonix barbs big chinese food fish,went from couple of inches to 2 lb weight before the end of the summer,they love greenery eatin tons of duckweed etc.also had a couple of florida gars,common carp,snakeheads and the mahseers that i got otta your place.started to build 4000 gal and 2000 gal concrete ponds with windows for this year.the 2 foot ali gar s goin in there plus barbs florida gars snakeheads some hardy cichlids channel cats masheer etc

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ipcompto (Ian Compton)
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09 Dec 2013 10:00 #16 by ipcompto (Ian Compton)

Replied by ipcompto (Ian Compton) on topic Fish farming........

nice..........would like to see that.....
Ian

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paulv (paul vickers)
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09 Dec 2013 16:19 #17 by paulv (paul vickers)

Replied by paulv (paul vickers) on topic Fish farming........

Hi ian you've opened up a good thread, both of us are old enough to remember commercially available earthworm growkng kits to produce cheap protien for human consumption, like most quick start ideas it faded away. Organically grown meat, fruit and veg have a place on our shop shelves so I dont see why organically grown fish cant also find its market. From what the others lads are saying is to carefully select the fish you will invest in. Polly tunnels and fast growing fish that untilise cheap food is the only way to go. As fish are the best converters of food to flesh, a well thought out plan has to be viable.

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paulv (paul vickers)
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09 Dec 2013 16:31 #18 by paulv (paul vickers)

Replied by paulv (paul vickers) on topic Fish farming........

brian wrote:
nile tilipia might be a goer as they can take lower temperatures than most tropicals,if you could build a large pond in a polytunnel they would have tropical temps all summer.i have a 65x24 foot polytunnel ,for growing veg and friut,i built a pond in it this year and had tropical temps all summer,had pheonix barbs big chinese food fish,went from couple of inches to 2 lb weight before the end of the summer,they love greenery eatin tons of duckweed etc.also had a couple of florida gars,common carp,snakeheads and the mahseers that i got otta your place.started to build 4000 gal and 2000 gal concrete ponds with windows for this year.the 2 foot ali gar s goin in there plus barbs florida gars snakeheads some hardy cichlids channel cats masheer etc

brian seems you are already 3/4 way to ians plans, especially with talapia and mahseers, asian favourites fish, we all know there is a large asian population here, large market.wish I had money to invest :cool:

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