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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

European Tropical Freshwater Fish?

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01 Apr 2014 13:12 #1 by gunnered72 (Eddy Gunnered)
Are there tropical fresh water fish native to European countries available in the aquarium trade?

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01 Apr 2014 23:05 #2 by Jim (Jim Lawlor)
Good question - but are there even any European tropical fish at all?

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01 Apr 2014 23:21 #3 by JohnH (John)
I think that - even with threatened global warming - no part of Europe could really be considered a Tropical environment.

However, quite close, perhaps is Turkey, from where do come several species of Killifish of the Aphanius genus.

These are quite (well, moderately) undemanding fish which can often be bought as eggs and hatched in Ireland - I have done this with Aphanius mento several times - I believe Andrew too has.

There are quite a lot of 'native' (description used advisedly) fish which can survive at room temperatures, not least of which is the humble Three-Spined Stickleback. These become pretty stunning (especially the males) in breeding colours and the actual breeding regime is extremely interesting.

I have kept and bred these in unheated tanks, but have had to return them into the wild once temperatures rose above 60-65degreesf.

I have also kept other native fish in unheated tanks indoors, including small Rudd, Perch and a tiny pikelet - many years ago.
It's my intention to try to emulate this some time later this year - obviously, something like a heat exchanger would be eminently desirable, but beyond my financial constraints. I have one or two ideas, though, which may work.
Sorry I've veered a bit off topic, but I suppose it's vaguely relevant.

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 Apr 2014 11:58 #4 by CrustyCrab (Peter Biddulph)
Knipowitschia goerneri Corfu dwarf goby
Gasterosteus crenobiontus Techirghiol stickleback
The much missused Garra rufa also comes from Turkey.
But as John has said," no part of Europe could really be considered a Tropical environment.

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02 Apr 2014 12:02 #5 by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)

I think that - even with threatened global warming - no part of Europe could really be considered a Tropical environment.

However, quite close, perhaps is Turkey, from where do come several species of Killifish of the Aphanius genus.

These are quite (well, moderately) undemanding fish which can often be bought as eggs and hatched in Ireland - I have done this with Aphanius mento several times - I believe Andrew too has.

There are quite a lot of 'native' (description used advisedly) fish which can survive at room temperatures, not least of which is the humble Three-Spined Stickleback. These become pretty stunning (especially the males) in breeding colours and the actual breeding regime is extremely interesting.

I have kept and bred these in unheated tanks, but have had to return them into the wild once temperatures rose above 60-65degreesf.

I have also kept other native fish in unheated tanks indoors, including small Rudd, Perch and a tiny pikelet - many years ago.
It's my intention to try to emulate this some time later this year - obviously, something like a heat exchanger would be eminently desirable, but beyond my financial constraints. I have one or two ideas, though, which may work.
Sorry I've veered a bit off topic, but I suppose it's vaguely relevant.

John


it's worth considering too that, as far as I know, sticklebacks need cooler water over winter to get into breeding condition in the summer.

I've seen a few DIY aquarium coolers online where the filter hose has been passed through a small, cheap freezer unit

"The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won't let go of your life; your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they're not punishing you.They're freeing your soul."

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03 Apr 2014 23:17 #6 by JohnH (John)

"it's worth considering too that, as far as I know, sticklebacks need cooler water over winter to get into breeding condition in the summer"


That could well be the case - I only ever brought them home in early Springtime, by which time they were 'raring to go'.

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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