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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

Blue Rams at higher ph ?

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01 May 2013 11:40 #1 by bmcg38 (Brian McGrath)
Thinking about getting a couple , but ph is around 7.4 / 7.5 . Are they ok at these values ? dont care about breeding ..

Some tetra and corys will be in with them if I do it

cheers

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01 May 2013 12:02 #2 by JohnH (John)
In an ideal world they would be best at a lower pH but for mass-produced ones we see nowadays, ie not Wild Fish (rarely seen these days) I'm sure the values you mention are fine.
Be warned, though, many of the far-eastern bred fish can be pretty short-lived.
Try, if at all possible, to source European-bred Rams and don't overlook the Bolivian cousins, in the main they're a lot more hardy than the so-called German Rams. But whichever you choose try to 'balance' the tank and bag water before introducing the newcomers (if you don't have a quarantine tank, that is).
Good luck with your new venture.

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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01 May 2013 12:14 #3 by blade (Michael G)
I agree with JohnH, Blue & Golden wont last as need softer water to thrive , But Bolivians are much hardier and ok 6.5-7.6 i have kept them with no trouble at all

Michael

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01 May 2013 12:15 - 01 May 2013 12:15 #4 by bmcg38 (Brian McGrath)
thanks John .. I have thought about getting rams on and off for a while now . Looking at some of the detail available on the web again today I think I will pass on the Blues , sounds like they really do need a lower ph , I dont want to be messing around with RO , just want it as easy as possible .

Unless soemone can change my mind think I will maybe look at the bolivians ! ( not as nice though are they ?)
Last edit: 01 May 2013 12:15 by bmcg38 (Brian McGrath).

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01 May 2013 12:21 #5 by bmcg38 (Brian McGrath)

I agree with JohnH, Blue & Golden wont last as need softer water to thrive , But Bolivians are much hardier and ok 6.5-7.6 i have kept them with no trouble at all

Michael


thanks .. yeah you're right

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01 May 2013 12:24 #6 by JohnH (John)

thanks John .. I have thought about getting rams on and off for a while now . Looking at some of the detail available on the web again today I think I will pass on the Blues , sounds like they really do need a lower ph , I dont want to be messing around with RO , just want it as easy as possible .

Unless soemone can change my mind think I will maybe look at the bolivians ! ( not as nice though are they ?)


Maybe not quite so pretty, but I personally think they make up for that by being a stronger fish, with every bit as good a personality.

Bear in mind that for the other Rams you wouldn't need RO to lower pH, you could go down the route of using filtered rainwater - as many here do - for water changes, this would slowly lower the pH. The big danger then is the dreaded 'pH crash' which, as soon as IanM appears, he will be able to explain far more efficiently and eloquently than I can.

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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02 May 2013 21:12 #7 by des (des)
Replied by des (des) on topic Blue Rams at higher ph ?
Agree with the Lads
the Blue (or Gold, Electric Blue etc. etc. ) don't tend to do very well in the higher pH range.
I'd go with the Bolivians if I was You.
They are a lovely fish.
they're a cracking fish once settled, beautiful colours and interesting behaviour...




Des

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