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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

what to add??

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06 Aug 2011 13:59 #1 by davyg (David Gough)
Hi folks,
I'm finding it hard to find or decide on what fish to add to my tank and I'm hoping that some of you with a lot more knowledge than myself will throw up some suggestions.Its a happy tank at the moment but there's plenty of room for more fish.It's a rio 300 running a 2000L/h ext filter and current stock is as follows:

red spotted severum 4"
green severum 2"
gold severum 2.5"
keyhole cichlid 2.5"
rainbow cichlid 2"
clown loach x2 4/5"
rainbow shark 5"
firemouth cichlid 3.5"
pleco 5"
sajica cichlid 5.5"
paradise fish x3 3"
raphael catfish 2.5"

A pair of jewels were removed after they spawned as they were too aggressive,they are currently in a quarantine tank with a load of fry.Any suggestions appreciated lads....

Dave

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06 Aug 2011 15:14 #2 by igmillichip (ian millichip)
Hi Dave,

My suggestion at the moment would be either don't getting any more fish for the tank, or, if you want some more, to view the additions as being a temporary situation with a plan to move fish into another tank.

Severums are biggish hefty fish (they can get to just under a foot long....although few get to that size in captivity); and the clown loaches could reach a large size (again rarely do people get them to full size...fortunately).

If the tank is presently stable and happy, then I wouldn't like to suggest anything that might upset that balance especially as, having a good few cichlids in the tank already, the balance could easily be tipped.

That balance does, however, need an eye kept on it anyway just in case someone decides they to dominate the tank as the fish grow and mature.

Ian

Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.

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06 Aug 2011 15:39 #3 by dar (darren curry)
at first look at this post i thought "that is a fairly stocked tank". i would say leave it mate, study every fish in that tank and decide who stays and who goes

Check out the angling section, it is fantastic

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06 Aug 2011 20:12 - 06 Aug 2011 20:13 #4 by ceech (Desmond Gaynor)
I would think that you could add another firemouth i always though they do much better in pairs.
The serums will grow big yes but i have never had any problem with them being aggressive in any tanks i have had them in.As long as your fish have there own areas to hide in they will be good you could add some more clowns also i would think.As stated above its always a risk adding new fish with cichlids !!!!!!
Last edit: 06 Aug 2011 20:13 by ceech (Desmond Gaynor).

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07 Aug 2011 17:34 #5 by davyg (David Gough)
thanks for replies lads,when I typed out the list I did think to myself that it looked quite long myself.But looking at the tank it doesn't look that stocked.I think I will take your advice on board and leave it alone for a good while see how the fish grow.The sajica is fully grown and so is rainbow shark.Do you's think the red spotted severum will grow much more? as him and the two clowns haven't really grown in the past year and neither has the firemouth.the gold is a juvie and seems to be growing well.

Dave

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07 Aug 2011 18:26 #6 by ceech (Desmond Gaynor)
the clowns are slow growers so they are usually the more dominant clown will grow faster than the other in my experience.What size is your fire mouth i would think they reach from 12 to 15 com when fully grown, it also depends on how often you feed and what you are feeding them.

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07 Aug 2011 20:52 #7 by igmillichip (ian millichip)
Although I rarely see full sized south american heroine cichlids (eg discus, angels, uarus, and severums) anymore, they are generally all very rapid growers to a fair percentage of their full size.

BUT....they are also easily stunted (some species more so than others); by the sounds of things, I think that your severums (at that age) are stunted somewhat.

For some species of this heroine group, and many other groups, quantity of feeding and water changes will not increase growth if the gut doesn't form correctly in early life (...and, in my opinion, the reason we see some awful Uaru hanging around nowadays as opposed to years ago).

Stunted growth is very common in fish in captivity, and so fish that might be 2 foot long monsters may only be seen at 6 to 8 inches.

Severums are a funny fish....they can be nicely peaceful, or they can be like one of mine from years ago in being almost the size of my laptop and was a killing brute who could handle all bar my larger cichlids.

ian

Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.

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