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
chocolate gourami ????
- Aldrin (Aldrin Martin)
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- Aldrin (Aldrin Martin)
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- JohnH (John)
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I've been on the lookout for these since the demise of my last ones around five years back.
They certainly do better in soft acid water for what it's worth - mine thrived under such circumstances, although I never saw any breeding activity.
They are a bit different in that it's the females which are the brighter, more colourful of the sexes, quite stunning in breeding condition.
Perhaps you'll get some further views later.
John
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We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.
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- Aldrin (Aldrin Martin)
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- JohnH (John)
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If they're doing fine in your existing water then I wouldn't change it drastically, although you might want to try to save some rain water for doing your routine water changes as pH8 really is too far beyond neutral (pH7) for these fishes' sustained well-being and small rain water changes will - slowly and over time - make it more amenable for them.
I'm sorry to harp on about this, but you really ought to get yourself a water test kit to monitor your parameters - taking a sample to the shop really isn't a good substitute for a 'hands-on' approach at home.
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- Aldrin (Aldrin Martin)
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I'll try doing the rain water thing next month onwards, jc next week so after that I am free to doall my projects.
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- Aldrin (Aldrin Martin)
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- JohnH (John)
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I'm inclined to say your tank - at 25l - is too small for a potentially aggressive fish such as a male Betta (not that all females are especially docile).
It's all about territories and Bettas can be devils at considering a whole tank to be their territory, especially a small one like yours.
So, on balance, I would say don't do it but wait to hear what other members advise also.
John
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- Jonlate (Jon Late)
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If he is wrong about this, then Bill will correct him. Now Bill knows everything about Betta's.
Just add Betta into the title line to peak his interest.
As for me, if John says No, the answer in No. (unless Bill disagrees!!)
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- JohnH (John)
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John hardly ever gets it wrong, he can tell what fish you have at 10 steps away in the dark, and is far to humble for his own good.
If he is wrong about this, then Bill will correct him. Now Bill knows everything about Betta's.
Just add Betta into the title line to peak his interest.
As for me, if John says No, the answer in No. (unless Bill disagrees!!)
Jonlate, I shall have to sign you up as leader of the JohnH fan club!

Seriously, though, any Forum is about the exchange of views and advice. I dearly wish we still had the quantity of active members we had before so many deviated to facebook groups etc. but who knows? - They might return eventually (I hope so...).
John
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- igmillichip (ian millichip)
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5 euro is an excellent price no matter which species anyone gets.
Regarding Bettas.............. there are loads of different species of Betta.
Some are OK in a community, some are not (for many reason beyond aggression):
In general, though, no matter which species of Betta you have I feel a species-only tank (for those that can live happily together) or a speciment-only tank is best in captivity.
Now, the important focus is on the gourami.
These may well be captive bred.....or have had a really good acclimatisation......and that gives you such a massive "ace up your sleeve" as dealing with wild caught fish straight from the wilds can be very tricky.
It is not so much the pH that is top priority, but the conductivity (hardness is covered in that) of the water in combination with pH.
Don't be tempted to add this and that and then this and a bit more of that to get to a specific pH as that could increase conductivity.
There is no harm in adding aquarium peat to the filters, or adding almond leaves, or mixing (carefully) RO water with your tap water.
If the fish are eating, then that is another bonus.
ian
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- igmillichip (ian millichip)
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Which one do you have in mind ?
Bog wood would try to lower pH, but if it does or not depends on the existing pH and on the alkalinity of the water. If the water has good alkaline buffering then bog wood may have very little noted pH effect.............. but, which ever way, it may well release certain acids into the water that may be beneficial to the fish.
As for the suitability of the tank........... as anyone will note, I rarely comment on the suitability of a size of tank (unless a tank is madly too small for a given species) as there are too many variables that I do not have control over on someone elses tank.
25 litres will hold a small number of these fish .......... but how many depends on quality of water, water changes, filtration system etc plus visual barriers (such as planting)............... plus aggression levels.
In paternal mouthbrooders, I have often found that the females will bully and pester males way too much during the egg incubation period. That needs to be considered when planning stock levels.
ian
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- Aldrin (Aldrin Martin)
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Should I get driftwood that releases tannins into the water???
My current stocking is 3 female endlers, 2 male endlers, 2 gourami.
I do weekly water changes of 50 percent, sometime more frequent. I have like a fluval sponge, I have a compartment where I can add more bio media if I needed to.
My filter has a sponge in it (half the fluval one) the other half is in the compartment , I could add something like bio balls if that helps.
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- igmillichip (ian millichip)
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You will need to go for a compromise (with the guessing that the gourami are tank raised or tank bred) and aim for a somewhat neutral pH and using normal well conditioned tap water.
Personally, I would dedicate a tank to the gourami such that there is no need to compromise between their requirements and the Endlers.
But, however, Endlers do tend to be a more usable guppy for mixing than you would find with the "normal" (for want of a better word) guppy.
I am curious as to what method you used to sex the gourami ?
ian
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