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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

stocking issue's

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26 Sep 2012 19:52 #1 by Arron.M (Arron)
i have a 40 gallon tank 1 angelfish 1 dwarf gourami 5 platys and 4 corydoras
my favourite fish is the german blue ram (GBR)...amazingly beautiful fish, i am wondering if anyone has any advice on water parameters i read that the most important thing is soft water and well i live in a hard water area...and wondering how to soften it , i had one gbr an had no luck acted funny an then dropped like a stone. the tank is running a year now an i would love 2 gbr's now i think they would be the perfect fit

any advice on gbr's compatibility with what i have and water parameter's is welcomed an appreciated

"The question that sometimes drives me hazy: Am I or the others crazy?"

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26 Sep 2012 20:09 #2 by Blue Land (Brian McGeever)
German Blue rams are indeed stunning.

Changing water parameters is difficult and problematic.

After years of fishkeeping, I have come to realise that is is often easier to find fish to suit your water parameters rather than change the water paramters to suit your fish.

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26 Sep 2012 21:17 #3 by Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
Got to agree with Blue Land. The first GBR you had may have been ill and the stress from the move finished him. Dont let that stop you trying again. Ive never kept them but Ive kept other dwarfs like macmasterai and borrelis (spelling??) and they did fine in setups suited for angels and corys. Slowly acclimatise them if possible and keep up with the water changes and in no time they will settle in. Great little cichlids...

Jay

Location: Finglas, North Dublin.

Life
may not be the party we hoped for, but while we
are here we might as well dance.

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26 Sep 2012 23:01 #4 by JohnH (John)
Replied by JohnH (John) on topic stocking issue's
Good advice there.
Have you considered the Bolivian Rams? - Not quite as stunning, I grant you that, but they are far more tolerant of harder, higher pH water than their more attractive cousins.
Like Jay suggests you could try some other Dwarf Cichlids, my recommendation would be for the Cacatoides which, like the Bolivians are generally hardier fish. Another one would be the Thomasi 'Butterfly Dwarf' and, of course, the Kribensis - I see Sean is selling some youngsters at very affordable prices at the minute.
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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26 Sep 2012 23:38 #5 by Arron.M (Arron)
Replied by Arron.M (Arron) on topic stocking issue's
thank you all for the advice @blueland...so changing the water maybe a bad idea so i'll give that idea up, im glad i have found it out now than down the road thank you a bunch :)...@viperbot i think i will give the little one's another go just hate to think im putting a fish to death for no reason...feel awful when i lose a fish after this one i'll give up on them an just admire the one's i see in the pet store, thank you for your post...@johnh some of the fish you have recommended are wonderful an think a dwarf cichlid tank could be in my future thank you for the fish advice guys ...its helped alot :)

"The question that sometimes drives me hazy: Am I or the others crazy?"

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02 Oct 2012 20:58 #6 by Arron.M (Arron)
Replied by Arron.M (Arron) on topic stocking issue's
Hey, all of you were very helpful so thought id post this here as well as start a new topic...

1,I have a 40 gal tank(167 litres) 103 cm long (picture enclosed).

2,adding more drift wood to the left side which will close off the end,keeping 4 or so inches private at either end

3,preferably 4 rams...male, female 2 of each ... I read they prefer to pick their own mate (only pairing up to reduce aggression) so 1 to 3 ratio until they pair off an return the un-chosen, not looking to breed or raise fry. should i only get females ??? no breeding reducing the aggression between everyone.

4,I have cory cats and black phantom tetra's which i would like to keep would that be ok ?

5,would a pleco fit in with the rams.

...i realise its a lot to ask and most likely not laid out perfectly but any response is welcome.
sorry if my information is a little off i get a little misled sometimes by reading contradicting advice scattered around the web so i usually end up on here asking someone to confirm or deny it :)

thank you all

Arron

"The question that sometimes drives me hazy: Am I or the others crazy?"
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