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
Advice needed
I think a 100L is an alright size for starting off considering there isnt space for bigger... you wont be able to a get loads of fish and it will limit the types of fish you can get but you can still get a nice tank going.
You should deffo research water chemistry basics and how an aquarium eco system works... The main thing you need to research is how to cycle a tank (should be done before adding fish).
Patience is the key to getting it right first time round... be prepared to wait at least 1-2 months before adding fish.
Most fish are easy enough to keep once the tank is cycled and you have a good maintenance schedule. The best piece of advice i can give is always research any fish your putting in the tank and even better ask for advice on here...
Like paddy said its all about the research, and more research... learning from your mistakes gets expensive
.Initially its a bit of work but once the tank is established and you have a stocking that works its a breeze!!
Id start by getting the know the different types of fish, we can name a bunch of fish but try see what you personally like first... Here is a little Overview of some of the main groups:
-Tetra(Characidae): This is a massive group of fish but they are normally (in pet shops) small peaceful active schooling fish that need to be kept in groups. Very common in pet shops and easy to keep.
-Loaches: These guys also need to be in groups and stay at the bottom of the tank. most of them are pretty peaceful.
-Catfish (Pleco's, Cory's): There are Tons of species of catfish but they all tend to stay near the bottom of the tank. Your going to need to spend some time researching this group... you will find lots of pleco's (type of catfish) in pet shops... The most common ones get massive so double check what species your getting.
-Cichlids: There are thousands of types of cichlids of all sizes and they tend to be the most attractive looking fish however they are normally quite aggressive and you need to really make sure they are compatible before adding them to a tank. This group of fish really requires the most research.
-Barbs: these guys tend to be pretty peaceful and are normally schooling fish so need to be kept in groups. you need to careful if you see barbs in a pet shop as some species can grow massive. always check their potential size.
-Labyrinth fish (Anabantoids): There fish are territorial however can be kept with other peaceful fish. They are one of the nicest groups of fish however like cichlids you need to really research them before adding them to a tank because they can be quite aggressive. The most common one would be the siamese fighting gish (Betta).
-Livebeares: These guys are the most common "beginner fish" around... They breed like rabbits and are very peaceful. You can always find them in pet stores.
There are many many more
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