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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
Bottom-dweller/algae-eater/window-washer type community fish
- Valerie (Valerie)
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In the next couple of weeks, I will be looking for a bottom-dweller/algae-eater/window-washer type fish (Making coffee not in its job spec !

Ideally, I would like a small-ish community fish (4/6 inch max. when adult) that can live in a high enough pH (8.0).
Does it exist ? What would you recommend?
How much do they approximately retail for? Are they easily found?
Thank you ! :wink:
Valerie
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- scorphonic (Kieran Crosbie Staunton)
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The Bala shark that I have (maybe grows to 9 inches or 12 inches) will go around happily all day long and clean the glass, gravel and any air tubing. The red finned shark will also do the same and has so far managed to clean the air tubing in the tank which was caked in algae before I introduced them to the tank.
The red finned shark is a middle to bottom dweller while the bala shark seems to be all over!!
I'm sure there are some Loaches or Catfish which will do this for you too but I haven't a clue about them!!

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- apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
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red tailed sharks get to big and very territorial/aggresive.
Bala shark don't actually eat the algae but are going after the microorgnism in it. Your best bet would probably be an ancistrus
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- JohnH (John)
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Your best bet would probably be an ancistrus
Took the words out of my mouth, you shouldn't have to pay the earth for one of the common-or-garden ones, it's also possible to get albino ones as well (if you like that sort of thing).
:?:
John :roll:
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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- Sarah (Sarah)
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They are completely friendly, cheap, nice looking, and require pretty much no effort as they just spend all day patrolling around looking for greens.
Not a fish, but thought I would throw that in there!
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- platty252 (Darren Dalton)
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I may even bring some shrimp.

I would go for the Ancistrus if you have a good bit of Algae and if you want a pleco.
If you just want something different and only have a small bit of algae i would go for the shrimp.
You could always get both.
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- Valerie (Valerie)
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Would my plants be 'safe' with an Ancistrus ?
I don't have a huge amount of algae (yet) in the tank but the days are getting longer and brighter ...
I have mopani wood in the tank ... would an Ancistrus be happy with it or should I consider changing to bog wood when ready ?
Most of my fish are from the Asian region ... is there any from that particular region (if there is! :wink: ) that would fulfil this particular role?
Platty, thanks for letting me know you will have some at the fish show. I more than likely will come but I'll confirm when closer to the date.

Thanks !
Valerie
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- apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
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Shrimp are all well and good, however, some fish eat them. I tried Amano shrimp in my showtank once. Very expensive discus food

Flying foxes are Asian and they eat algae but I used to have them in a tank with angels. They ended up eating the food meant for the angels and very little else.
I should have mentioned Octocinclus in my last post. You'd need a group of six though.
Holger
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- zebadee (zebadee)
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- Peter OB (Peter O'Brien)
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Delicate plants will be stripped to the stalks and the hardier plants will get lots of holes in them.
A nice group of Otto's are great for algae.
Smoke me a Kipper, I’ll be back for breakfast.
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- apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
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- S180de (S180de)
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I've got a new tank set up here now (Rio 240), cycled and everything. algae start growing now and I'm looking into getting Ancistrus or Otocinclus at the moment. Haven't seen any of the two at either the Boardwalk petshop or Wackers in Dublin when I was looking around at the weekend before Easter. Has anybody seen any in the Dublin area lately? Any info highly appreciated.
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- platty252 (Darren Dalton)
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- Tropical Aquariums
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- Bottom-dweller/algae-eater/window-washer type community fish