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 fish? advice/suggestions!?
- Lauris (Lauris)
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Pretty new-be Question, but I still need some advice.
I can call myself more advanced in success to keep plants, but
I'm not quite well in knowledge on some fisies.
so..
I'm up to change my live stock in tank.
I would like to see one pair of some show-off fish and bunch of schooling fishes
Colisia and Gourami will be re-homed and 2 rasbora Kubotai too.
My pygmy corries and amano shrimps are invisible in this setup so I don't count them
I came up for show off fish -
1. just a pair of some nice Rams - really no concerns about keeping them as I can meet their water requirements
2. pair of some nice Angels. concerns - never kept an Angels. No issue with meeting water requirements
but I'm not sure if they will have enough space (as I know there is no small Angel fish, only when they are young, right?)
and if my current will not be too strong for them. I have a very nice flow, not too strong but good enough
Schooling fish
- my thoughts are to keep it classic in this choice - I guess neons would look nice. the smaller ones of the species (I'm bad on proper names.lol). probably about 15 of them
any suggestions or opinions would be much appreciated
I am planted!
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- Dihanio (Paulie Hanlon)
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- Eric (Eric Corcoran)
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The Angel fish would be 2 big. As for a shoal check out threadfin rainbow fish. Cracking little fish.
Eric
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- JohnH (John)
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These really are little stunners - especially the males, but the females are almost as stunning and it's their presence which keeps the males on top of their 'game'.
If you do choose Rams, try to find the (much) nicer European-bred ones - those from the Far East are truly inferior.
If you can find them the 'true' Honey Gouramis are - to my eyes - much nicer fish than the 'orange' cultivars.
John
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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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- jeff (Jeff Scully)
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that's brilliant, im saving that one
Where the tongue slips, it speaks the truth.
A life making mistakes is not only more honourable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing at all.
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- jeff (Jeff Scully)
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love it
Where the tongue slips, it speaks the truth.
A life making mistakes is not only more honourable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing at all.
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- Fishowner (Gavin fishowner)
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Gavin
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- hammie (Neil Hammerton)
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- JohnH (John)
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my wife just said your taking the piss 'that's not real
love it
To Jeff and Mrs Jeff - it is real - here's the account of how it came into being:
www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php?optio...=135014&limitstart=0
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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- LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
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+1I am a bit of a fan of Bamboo shrimp...
Beautiful, fascinating, serene creatures.
"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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- jeff (Jeff Scully)
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my wife just said your taking the piss 'that's not real
love it
To Jeff and Mrs Jeff - it is real - here's the account of how it came into being:
www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php?optio...=135014&limitstart=0
John
Mrs jeff sez that thank-you she is a believer now lol
Where the tongue slips, it speaks the truth.
A life making mistakes is not only more honourable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing at all.
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- Lauris (Lauris)
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my wife just said your taking the piss 'that's not real
love it
To Jeff and Mrs Jeff - it is real - here's the account of how it came into being:
www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php?optio...=135014&limitstart=0
John
Mrs jeff sez that thank-you she is a believer now lol
lol! I'm off my chair!
I'll take it as a compliment. Thanks. to both of you

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- Lauris (Lauris)
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I've just seen these recently but the Bluefin Notho Killifish are beautifully coloured in my opinion
fish looks nice, but my bet would be they are too speckled
Hi Lauris ,
The Angel fish would be 2 big. As for a shoal check out threadfin rainbow fish. Cracking little fish.
Eric
yep I thought so. either to stay away or keep juveniles until they grow and bring them back to LFS (I guess not an option this time)
threadfin rainbow fish - looks cool. need to read about. also I guess I'm limited to what the Searhorse will have as well. might be an good option.
If you do choose Rams, try to find the (much) nicer European-bred ones - those from the Far East are truly inferior.
If you can find them the 'true' Honey Gouramis are - to my eyes - much nicer fish than the 'orange' cultivars.
John
Do they have a stamps like made in germany or so?

LOLWHAT A FECKING TANK HOLLY SHRIP
LOL x 10my wife just said your taking the piss 'that's not real
Im gonnna throw the ember tetra into the suggestion for a shoal,they are very nice fish,small but impressive and would fit nicely into that tank whilst bringing a nice colour contrast with the plants.
Might be one of the options. looks good and as said, will be in great contrast with the green
I am a bit of a fan of Bamboo shrimp...
not me. not a great fan of bamboo. have a lots of Amanos. thanks
Thank you all for your input
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- swai (Simon)
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I would add a shoal of Paracheirodon simulans, green neon tetra. The lighting you are using on your tank looks similar to what I am using on one of my tanks which has a pink reflection off it. I have cardinals in the tank and everyone who comes and sees the cardinals always asks how come they are that colourful and there ones are dull compared. I think the green neon would look even better, they are harder to come by as I read they are all wild caught. There was a guy selling them for 1.70 each in nasa and he had 100, they were wild caught.
As for your show fish I would go for a pair of apisto, maybe with red in them. I like apistos kept in pairs as the male will always flare at the female. Maybe pick up a nice pair of macmasteri.
Thats just what I would do but a lot of the other suggestions are good also.
Marino, Dublin 9
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- Lauris (Lauris)
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another lol. nothing is impossibleIf that was my tank, well it would never be as nice first of all!
.

Green tetra I'm sure is nice but it will dismiss on the plant background
As I have Rasbora Kubotai and it is not easy to spot them if they are not swimming in
particular (plain) area. As I have a plan to get those weed up to the top, green tetra may
just varnish in my scape later on
I like apistos but I had a very bad experience with them before. twice.
once got just a male - bully, took him back to seahorse. and other time a pair - and male
nipped out eyes on rasboras and rummy nose tetras so I took the pair back to Artane aquatics.

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- swai (Simon)
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As fishowner said above, ember tetras would look great.
I've never had any aggression with the apistos i've kept, maybe you were unlucky! Borelli seem to be the most timid out of all the opposites i've kept.
Marino, Dublin 9
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- Lauris (Lauris)
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p.s. the pink'ish light is Sylvania Grolux T5 24w tube
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- anthonyd (Anthony Debesne)
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The ember look like nothing in the lfs but after settling in they shine and bring the tank to life by their activity.
Edit : i have silver tip tetras not ember tetras

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- Lauris (Lauris)
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choice has been made today. Wife approved ember tetras.
so I ended up with 16 ember tetras and a lovely pair of Rams
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- Fishowner (Gavin fishowner)
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- Lauris (Lauris)
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- Lauris (Lauris)
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they were sold as a pair, but now I'm having some doubts
they look the same to me in this pic:
but if I'm looking at the fins - they are exact same on both (or probably it's just me)
only two things I noticed are bit different (but thats again might be just me)
1. The one on left is more pale in color
2. the one on left has more like the black covered with blue dots
can someone help me to sex them, as I really want to keep a pair
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- swai (Simon)
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Marino, Dublin 9
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- swai (Simon)
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Marino, Dublin 9
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- jeff (Jeff Scully)
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oh. now I need some expert advice.
they were sold as a pair, but now I'm having some doubts
they look the same to me in this pic:
but if I'm looking at the fins - they are exact same on both (or probably it's just me)
only two things I noticed are bit different (but thats again might be just me)
1. The one on left is more pale in color
2. the one on left has more like the black covered with blue dots
can someone help me to sex them, as I really want to keep a pair
they both look very young and havent got their true colour yet
but the fact that the both have black lines on the pelvic fins indicate the are both female
Where the tongue slips, it speaks the truth.
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- Fishowner (Gavin fishowner)
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- JohnH (John)
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Please keep us informed as they continue their development - I'm sure we would all be interested to see them as fully-formed adults.
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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- Lauris (Lauris)
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this is a great link to sex them. I guess I might be lucky and I gave a pair.
www.aquaeden.co.uk/how_to_sex_german_blue_rams.html
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- jeff (Jeff Scully)
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Where the tongue slips, it speaks the truth.
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- LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
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MALE
FEMALE
Simples...
"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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