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
Opinions please...
- LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
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- JohnH (John)
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Anyone else have opinions on LJ's new substrate?
John
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N. Tipp
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.
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It's a long way to Tipperary.
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- derek (Derek Doyle)
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30 tanks specialise in african cichlids, angelfish and various catfish
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- LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
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"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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- CrustyCrab (Peter Biddulph)
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- Gonefishy (Brian oneill)
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- LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
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"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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- hammie (Neil Hammerton)
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Use a small syphon to get in between the rocks and you'll be fine..... or move them around during cleaning!
I have to say I'm a big fan of natural environments
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- irish-zx10r (James feenan)
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Something fishie going on here
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- Melander (Andreas Melander)
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Andreas
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- LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
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I also may bed the larger stones further into the gravel... so the effect is still there but they don't need to be moved around
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- Stem12 (Stephen M)
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I think the Rocks look great!
Best of luck with the new tank and awaiting more pics

Stephen M.
Juwel Vision 260-
20ltr-Fluval Spec-
19ltr-Fluval Chi-
Keep The Water Fresh-
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- wylam (Stuart Sexton)
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Stuart.
Multi tasking: Screwing up more than one thing at a time.
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- LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
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"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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- wylam (Stuart Sexton)
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Stuart.
Multi tasking: Screwing up more than one thing at a time.
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- JustinK (Justin Kelly)
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Its only when big stones are all pushed together that it gets hard.
The only issue I see is that stone that might be rusty.
Also in the next photo the bigger rock piece looks off colour now too ?
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- LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
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I put in a few katappa leaves on the weekend and there wasn't much difference to the water colour, but last night I added alder cones and boy has the water gotten darker! i'll post a pic in a bit
"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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- Melander (Andreas Melander)
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The tank looks good already, it will look great when the plants have settled and the Matadi are in.
What are you planning to use as a spawning cave, is it enough with the natural rocks? I'm struggling to hide my coconut....
Jez, there's a statement. If this was not a fish forum I would be worried.
Andreas
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- LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
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I'm struggling to hide my coconut....
self praise is no praise!

the Mopani actually has quite a large cavity under it, so i'm hoping that'll be a breeding site. if not, i'll rethink. i'm looking forward to the java fern giving some coverage on the wood. when it gets going it really gets going. the java moss is there more to help keep nitrates down but it should look good too
I thought i'd give you a before and after to show you the effect the alder cones have had.
BEFORE
AFTER
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- Melander (Andreas Melander)
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Andreas
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- igmillichip (ian millichip)
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Cleaning? well, if all of my African Cichlids tanks are anything to go by then I cannot make any negative comments on cleaning as all my African Cichlids are kept with lumps of rock, bog wood, leaves, cones and a few inches of peat chunks.
If, though, LJ only started keeping fish yesterday then I'd probably mention about difficulties in cleaning.
ian
Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.
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- LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
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I got the Kribs today from Des in Maxi Zoo (diamond bloke who makes you more enthusiastic about this hobby just by talking to him). He only had 2 females so I went with 1 male and 2 females. They've just gone in and when it gets dark tonight I'll take a few photos and post 'em
Johnny
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- LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
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ok, so here is the male, the most confident of the bunch. all three of them are small (as u can probably gauge by the alder cones in the photos)
here are all three. I only noticed when I started taking the pictures that with their present colouring they blend in really well with the substrate. I wonder if there's so much granite in the rivers around Lagos.
they're already exploring the tank and the male has started picking at the leaves and gravel looking for something to eat. amazingly, one of the females has already started to colour up some, just around the belly, and sticking with the male. early days yet though
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- Melander (Andreas Melander)
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Very nice, they are small but it adds the pleasure of seeing them growing IMO.
Andreas
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- LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
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"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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