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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

Bolivian Ram query's Lads

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26 Jan 2015 19:22 #1 by Stem12 (Stephen M)
So,
As of late, i haven't been that attentive to my 260ltr community tank, Busy, work, building works at home etc.. Yes Ive cleaned it weekly and stuff but haven't trimmed plants etc, its all a bit messy looking,
I was thinking today im gonna add a bit of life and better 'landscape' so to speak, a few more plants (long ones) and rock/wood features.
Id like to add an active pair or two of rams but i know nothing about them, Can anyone give me advice on them>??
-Could i get more than 1 pair in the tank?
-will they be ok with the rest of the tank mates?
Anyone on here breed them/sell them>?

As always any help advice much appreciated-

S.

Juwel Vision 260-
20ltr-Fluval Spec-
19ltr-Fluval Chi-

Keep The Water Fresh-

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26 Jan 2015 19:40 #2 by Fishowner (Gavin fishowner)
what else do you have in the tank and whats your Ph?You should be fine with a few bolivans,they are a great fish and great cichlids.I personally find them better to keep than the golden rams who nowadays have v poor lifespans or maybe its just me!Ive had the Bolivans spawn a few times and they are great to watch.They will defend their spawning site but they arent aggressive in general.Id say go for it if your water allows and the rest of your stock is compatitable.
They are one of my favourite fish.
Gavin

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26 Jan 2015 19:48 #3 by Stem12 (Stephen M)
Nice1 Gavin thanks,

I got my Ph checked last week and its always around 7.2ish mark hope that suits..
The other fish are usual community fish sword tails platys cardinals etc..Corys, rummynose (15)..
any advice where to get them and cost?

Stephen

Juwel Vision 260-
20ltr-Fluval Spec-
19ltr-Fluval Chi-

Keep The Water Fresh-

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26 Jan 2015 19:51 #4 by JohnH (John)
I suppose you are meanning the Bolivian (as per the title) Ram and not the so-called German Blue Ram?

I will stick my neck out and say that you would be able to keep two pairs of either in a 260l tank but should they breed you might still get an 'overlap of territory' issue - but if you can create a bit of a feature in or around the centre this should, and probably would, allow each pair to create its own territory toward each end - away from the centre.

The Bolivians are certainly a lot more hardy but if you can locate European-bred Rams - of either type - you will get much stronger fish than those from the Far East, which I personally would avoid like the plague.

As I've been often heard to say - our fish don't read the advice offered on Fora such as this so will not all behave in the same way as other examples so my suggestion would be to try it and watch how things pan out - I once kept two pairs, plus an odd male in a 120l tank with no ill-effects yet, on another occasion I couldn't keep two different pairs in the same sized tank and had to take one pair out to maintain some peace.
Perhaps we can get some more suggestions for S?

John

Location:
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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26 Jan 2015 20:06 #5 by Stem12 (Stephen M)
John great info thank you, My mistake, yes either rams,ive just seen the German blue rams online are there stunning looking fish too,
Also nice idea about the tank, ill do some sketches later, You'll probably see some 'Plants wanted' post in the next few days ;)

Stephen.

Juwel Vision 260-
20ltr-Fluval Spec-
19ltr-Fluval Chi-

Keep The Water Fresh-

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26 Jan 2015 20:33 #6 by JohnH (John)
Both types - being fairly popular - should be available in most of the Sponsors' outlets.
Ian at AV was doing a special on Dwarf Cichlids (don't know if that included Rams) so it might be worth giving him a shout.

Unfortunately not many post new stock lists here any more so it's hard to know who has what right now.
I haven't been able to get across to Dublin for a few months now so I'm totally 'out of the loop'. Does anyone else know if any of the shops have either type in at the moment for Stephen?

John

John

Location:
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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26 Jan 2015 21:51 #7 by Fishowner (Gavin fishowner)
give the shops a shout and they will let you know.I only know of one place that updates their stock list regularly but again id always call nonetheless.The german blues are easy enough to pick up although as John mentioned stay clear of the Asian produced ones,they dont survive long usually.
Gavib

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26 Jan 2015 21:59 #8 by Stem12 (Stephen M)
Thanks Gavin will do, how ill i know if there not Asian>? In the next few weeks ill be doing a full revamp..!! excited :D

S.

Juwel Vision 260-
20ltr-Fluval Spec-
19ltr-Fluval Chi-

Keep The Water Fresh-

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26 Jan 2015 22:09 #9 by Fishowner (Gavin fishowner)
Ask the shop where they came from.

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27 Jan 2015 12:55 #10 by Q_Comets (Declan Chambers)

Ask the shop where they came from.


Is a lie detector required?

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27 Jan 2015 13:37 #11 by Dihanio (Paulie Hanlon)

Ask the shop where they came from.


Is a lie detector required?


Depends on the shop!! :P

Ah no, most of the guys are pretty up front in where they get their supply from

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27 Jan 2015 14:28 #12 by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne)
Seahorse had some irish tank bred blue ram very recently, i think they have them pretty much all the time, much better looking and healthier than the "mutants" coming from the far east...

Anthony

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02 Feb 2015 11:36 #13 by ceech (Desmond Gaynor)
With a 260 litre tank you will have problems adding 2 pairs at all as long as you have some caves scattered around for them to make their own.
Also it may be no harm having 3 or 4 females for the 2 males. Also my favourite by far are the german blue ram. I dont see any issues with the fish you currently have at all. Great fish and usually very tough if you have a good lfs supplying them to you. May be no harm to see if anyone is breeding them on here also :-)

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02 Feb 2015 11:53 #14 by JohnH (John)

With a 260 litre tank you will have problems adding 2 pairs at all as long as you have some caves scattered around for them to make their own.
Also it may be no harm having 3 or 4 females for the 2 males. Also my favourite by far are the german blue ram. I dont see any issues with the fish you currently have at all. Great fish and usually very tough if you have a good lfs supplying them to you. May be no harm to see if anyone is breeding them on here also :-)


Can I respectfully point out that either type of 'Ram' is neither a cave dwelling nor cave spawning Dwarf Cichlid and do not frequent caves - other when frightened (and need to hide away - and even then, in my experience, they would hide amongst the plants for preference).
A moot point, I guess, but worth clearing up nonetheless.

John

Location:
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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02 Feb 2015 12:32 #15 by ceech (Desmond Gaynor)
HI , John i meant to say no problems for adding 2 pairs. I have breed these before and i had lots of caves and coconuts in my tanks which they used regualry and i kept only species tanks. As in the wild i agree this is the casue i have had lots of pairs which went away from the norm. Just my experience.

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02 Feb 2015 12:47 #16 by JohnH (John)
Again, a further example of our fish not reading what's written about them on fora and magazine articles, I guess.

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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02 Feb 2015 13:45 #17 by ceech (Desmond Gaynor)

Again, a further example of our fish not reading what's written about them on fora and magazine articles, I guess.

John


LOL John i aint going to argue with that :hammer:

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