×
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 would you do

  • john gannon (john gannon)
  • john gannon (john gannon)'s Avatar Topic Author
  • Visitor
  • Visitor
21 Jan 2009 23:49 #1 by john gannon (john gannon)
what would you do was created by john gannon (john gannon)
hi all
after seeing other peoples tanks of late ive been thinking of maybe getting rid of all my large sa sicklets and changing my 600 ltre tank into either
a/ african cichlids
b/ peaceful community tank with only small shoaling fish etc
c/ discus tank
d/ leave well enough alone and stop looking for work
i know everybody has there own preferences but if you were going to set up a large tank what would you put in it
john

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
21 Jan 2009 23:55 #2 by Orca (Eoin Walsh)
Well it would have to be the peaceful community with a few large groups of shoaling fish.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
22 Jan 2009 00:01 #3 by cardinal (Lar Savage)
Hi john
What dimensions are your tank...? it must be at least 6ft long,how many fish & of what size are in there at the moment..? I have to to say myself I think it would look amazing as a community,can you imagine the shoals you could keep in there,or how about a discus with tetras tank,I'm not an african chiclids fan at all.
Lar

Please Log in to join the conversation.

  • john gannon (john gannon)
  • john gannon (john gannon)'s Avatar Topic Author
  • Visitor
  • Visitor
22 Jan 2009 00:31 #4 by john gannon (john gannon)
Replied by john gannon (john gannon) on topic Re:what would you do
its 5x2x30" with a sump its roughly 600 ltrs all in,its overcroded at the minute with red devils rotkiel severums blue acaras geophagus brasilensus and plenty of cats
the peaceful community tank with large shoaling fish sounds tempting but i was in derecks over the weekend and the africans really turned my head
john

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
22 Jan 2009 11:38 - 22 Jan 2009 15:04 #5 by JohnH (John)
Replied by JohnH (John) on topic Re:what would you do
John,
This question is another one of those "how long is a piece of string" questions.
All of us will have differing opinions of what we would do, given your conundrum. Personally I would see your tank crying out for Altums, especially if it's 30" in depth.
Sadly, though, these aren't a) very easy to get hold of and b) particularly hardy exports either...but that would be my choice, with wild 'ordinary' Angels as a second.

However, I can see the appeal of African Cichlids for many - Malawis or Tangyanikans - I tried them but they weren't for me. Likewise with Discus, although I still have a fancy for some Wild Heckels, I've said this before that it's such a shame that such a lovely fish as even a wild Brown Discus has had to be so 'manipulated' to the extremes that they have been! But then, look at many of the monstrosities we see now - those dreadful Parrot fish as a prime example, Balloon Mollies, dyed fish (including those 'colour-feed dyed' ones) and long-finned fish - I even saw Long-Finned Koi last year, I think they called them 'Butterfly Koi'.

Sorry, I'm rambling.

Look around at fish on offer then make your choice, and remember - we all like a change from time to time.

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.
Last edit: 22 Jan 2009 15:04 by JohnH (John). Reason: spacing wrong

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
22 Jan 2009 14:50 #6 by derek (Derek Doyle)
hi john.
good advice from johnh and the lads and heres my reccomendation for what its worth.
in a tank of that size a good choice would undoubtedly be 30 to 50 mixed peaceful malawis.
u could go for a dozen tangerine salousi (pic. below),6 electric yellow careleus, a shoal of blue bodied, yellow or white tail acci, 4 blue dolphin moori and add a few specimen fish such as electric blue ahli, yellow or blue aulonacara or otopharanx (pic below) or the tanganyikan frontosa and synos. (all mentioned fish are relatively peaceful). build a nice reef from ocean rock, mudstone or tufa and add a large specimen piece of driftwood/bogwood towards front. lighting such as original tropical or marine blue to complement the fish colours and a nice dark background and u could have a tank to be envied that would match marine tanks for colour and energy at a fraction of the expense. feed a mixture of nls and quality spirulina.
malawis (if u start with good stock) with reasonable care rarely suffer from parasites or disease do not require expensive additives or meds high temp. or ro water and can give u a great display.
i could supply all of the above fish or others if u choose this option and i would help u to aquascape the tank as i would love to be involved in such a project.
anyway whatever u decide a tank of that size if set up correctly would be a show stopper.

30 tanks specialise in african cichlids, angelfish and various catfish

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
22 Jan 2009 15:08 #7 by JohnH (John)
Replied by JohnH (John) on topic Re:what would you do
John,
If you do decide to make a change, it would be great to present us with a 'blow-by-blow' account, with accompanying pictures/videos.
This would be a really good topic for the rest of us to follow on the Forum, much along the lines of the one provided by Limerick Bandit.

Just a thought.

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.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

  • john gannon (john gannon)
  • john gannon (john gannon)'s Avatar Topic Author
  • Visitor
  • Visitor
23 Jan 2009 17:19 #8 by john gannon (john gannon)
Replied by john gannon (john gannon) on topic Re:what would you do
thanks all for the replies it has have given me plenty to be thinking about and the advantage here is if i do decide to change my tank is im not going to be able to just jump in head first as i usually do ill have plenty of time to research because of the current tennants of the tank
john

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
23 Jan 2009 18:15 #9 by Fishowner (Gavin fishowner)
Would love a 600 litre tank!!! Im jealous!
Gavin

Please Log in to join the conversation.

  • john gannon (john gannon)
  • john gannon (john gannon)'s Avatar Topic Author
  • Visitor
  • Visitor
23 Jan 2009 19:55 #10 by john gannon (john gannon)
Replied by john gannon (john gannon) on topic Re:what would you do
sorry miscalulated the volume its only 550
on a totally seperate note im having trouble when i click on a topic on the forum i keep getting a fatalerror messageand a load of other strange writing .the only way i can look at posts is go onto the home page and click on the recent posts as they come up.just wondering is any one else having this trouble or is it just me.
sorry i had to post this here but i cant get in any where else
john

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
23 Jan 2009 20:09 #11 by JohnH (John)
Replied by JohnH (John) on topic Re:what would you do
Same problem here too John - I sent a report to Darragh Sherwin but he hasn't seen it yet - still, so long as we can still access almost everything let's be thankful - it could be worse!

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.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

  • john gannon (john gannon)
  • john gannon (john gannon)'s Avatar Topic Author
  • Visitor
  • Visitor
23 Jan 2009 21:57 - 23 Jan 2009 22:01 #12 by john gannon (john gannon)
Replied by john gannon (john gannon) on topic Re:what would you do
yes it could be alot worse
john
ps i wonder if he could get rid of the merry xmas message while hes at it:laugh: ::laugh:
Last edit: 23 Jan 2009 22:01 by john gannon (john gannon).

Please Log in to join the conversation.

Time to create page: 0.061 seconds
Powered by Kunena Forum