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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

Top 10 Tropical Fish

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28 Aug 2013 20:12 #1 by CrustyCrab (Peter Biddulph)
A little exploratory question,

What 10 species of tropical fish would you like to find in your LFS?

This is the first part of Home Aquariums drive to supply livestock and dry goods that fish keepers want,
and not what fish keepers "should" want.

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28 Aug 2013 20:47 #2 by anglecichlid (ciaran hogan)
Nice corys not the albino ones
Pygmies and sterbai
Angelfish with nice fins and bar markings
Dwarf cichlids
Plecos,smaller species!
Harliquinn tetras,stunning fish to watch shoaling!
Can't think of any more right now
As for dry goods
Easylife filter fluid medium,the big 5ltr bottles
Easycarbo
Algae exit
Polyfilter pads
Hob filters
Algae wafers
Frozen bloodworm
Frozen brine shrimp(with garlic)
Done

Anyone with a aquarium can keep fish,
But it takes real skill to be a fish keeper,


And it's spongeBob,
SpongeBob lives in a pineapple under the sea
BLANCHARDSTOWN

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29 Aug 2013 04:16 #3 by sheag35 (Seamus Gillespie)
apisto athalupa
apisto kelleri
wild scalare
wild guppies not the bred to death strains
cory adolofi
cory gossei
sabaji's pleco
ivanacara adoketa
Discus
l025 plecos
decent shrimp selection

a decent selection of sizes of sponge filters from minute to xxl sponges
box corner filters
live foods and live food cultures
easy life
rapashy foods
ce essentials foods
kens worm sticks
esha products
good selection of lighting and heaters
tank dividers in a full range of sizes
nls foods
xxl large range of tropical fish foods
xxl sizes of easylife
polyfilter
Dennerle plants and substrates and foods

Fishkeeping the Only way to get wet and wild

currently 25 tanks, and breeding is the aim of everything i keep
location:Limerick

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29 Aug 2013 07:13 #4 by irish-zx10r (James feenan)
A section for miscellaneous items would be great
Tank sump , filter pads from small to xxxl bio balls filter media
Pumps, pipe and tank adaptors , egg crate, lights , reflectors
Digital Temperature Controller,

As for fish
Pleco that stay small
Angel fish
Cory
Catfish and bottom dwellers

Food good selection of flake and pellets food

Something fishie going on here

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29 Aug 2013 07:23 #5 by Homer (Kevin)
Replied by Homer (Kevin) on topic Top 10 Tropical Fish
No Fish in particular but strains as close to new blood as possible, F1 etc to allow a reduction of deformed and weak Fish.

H.

The Glass is always greener on the other side.


It's NOT "Chee lick", NOT "Chee Chee Licks"!!! Cichlids is pronounced as "Sick Lids"!!!!!

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29 Aug 2013 08:11 #6 by Ski (Alan McGee)
Would be cool to get large fish so you don't need a grow out tank

Always interested in any sort of monster fish as well. Top of the list would be channa pleurophthalma

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29 Aug 2013 09:42 #7 by davey_c (dave clarke)
I wouldn't realy have a top 10 but maybe less run-of-the-mill fish... be nice to see someone gettin in something different but I also agree with shea and homer... maybe wild caught would be the way to go to introduce new blood so we can try keep out home bred fish in top condition :)

Below tank is for sale

my plywood tank build.

www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php/forum...k-build-diary#137768

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29 Aug 2013 11:51 #8 by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
Coelacanth
Arapaima gigas
Ocellaris lookdaddythere'sfindingnemo (no, that's a clownfish and anyway, he wasn't f¥€&ing called Finding Nemo!!!)
Great white shark (not fully grown ones obviously, cos that'd just be silly)
Piranhas like the ones from the 3DD movie... and maybe one of the chicks too, just to help with the water changes :whistle:
Ichthyosaur (not technically a fish, but just a little something for the herpetologists out there)
Giant squid (would look sooooo cool swimming around one those sunken wreck decorations!)
Sperm whale ("I've just had a giant squid population explosion. Is there anything you could recommend to keep them under control?")
Norwegian whalers ("I've just a sperm whale population explosion...")
Actual assassin snails... with tiny little shuriken throwing knives

Oh, and some nice wild guppies would be nice too!

"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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29 Aug 2013 12:33 #9 by CrustyCrab (Peter Biddulph)
Great List LemonJelly, unfortunitly, only the Coelacanth, Findingnemofish, Ninja Snails, and Wild Guppies are in this months lists,
The 3D piraña, and Water Change Helpers have all been snapped up!

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29 Aug 2013 12:52 #10 by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
Damn, that leaves me in a real pickle cos I've had a giant squid population explosion and...

"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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29 Aug 2013 12:53 #11 by igmillichip (ian millichip)
and all the chicks from Piranha 3DD are round my place right now. ;)

Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.

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29 Aug 2013 12:59 #12 by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)

and all the chicks from Piranha 3DD are round my place right now. ;)


Well you do have rather a lot of tanks...

"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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29 Aug 2013 14:35 #13 by JohnH (John)
Replied by JohnH (John) on topic Top 10 Tropical Fish
A very interesting topic.

I think the most desirable fish for any outlet to stock would be ones which might just last longer than the couple of weeks it takes for the medication they get shipped in to wear off!

Good quality livebearers, are a thing sadly lacking today, much the same goes for Rams, Angels and Dwarf Gouramis.

What we need to find are sources of fish which don't emanate from stewponds in the Far East! Eastern European fish almost always were a rung on the ladder above these, but sadly this source too now has dubious suppliers, at least one (I'm assured) buys Far Eastern fish then sells them on as European-bred fish!

These stewpond fish are almost inevitably exported in medicated water (often antibiotics) and start to deteriorate soon after they are moved into non-medicated water.

It's little surprise to see the amounts of secondhand tanks for sale both on Fora like this and also places like Adverts.ie people buy a tank and all the accoutrements and after losing the fish stocks they then lose interest and give up. This is tragic, the fishkeeping hobby here needs to grow, not wither and die.

OK, that's my personal rant over - down from the soap box.

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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29 Aug 2013 15:01 #14 by igmillichip (ian millichip)
Although I am a person very keen on the odd and unusual, I still enjoy and keep "bread-n-butter" fish.

I think high quality "Bread-n-Butter" fish in a shop gives a special sense of quality that odd-ball fish cannot bring.
For us who do keep lots of odd-balls, we need LFS to succeed: and that success oftens means selling the bread-n-butter fish and keeping other customers coming back as fish-keepers.

Give me a 10 euro pair of high quality Honey Gourami rather than a tatty rarity anyday.

I do, however, think that a few odd-ball fish that are considered a risk are good in small numbers and tempts in a few people; but there is no point in having 150 SA Killifish for the handful of people in Ireland who would keep them.

Dry goods: my thoughts are that if a shop sells a species of fish or plant or other livestock, then the shop should ordinarily stock, at the minimum, the dry goods and food to enable the keeper to keep the species. That does not mean every item of dry stock available as not every item is essential.....but if selling Marines, then a salinity tester, salt/saltwater would be the type of minimum.

ian

Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.

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29 Aug 2013 17:53 #15 by Homer (Kevin)
Replied by Homer (Kevin) on topic Top 10 Tropical Fish

Although I am a person very keen on the odd and unusual, I still enjoy and keep "bread-n-butter" fish.

I think high quality "Bread-n-Butter" fish in a shop gives a special sense of quality that odd-ball fish cannot bring.
For us who do keep lots of odd-balls, we need LFS to succeed: and that success oftens means selling the bread-n-butter fish and keeping other customers coming back as fish-keepers.


Agreed and unfortunately very few hobbyists ever keep their charges beyond a few months to witness them in their full regalia and see their true Adult size, today, i watched two Buenos Aires tetras in a display tank in Petstop in Swords, they were huge and equally beautiful as are many others consigned to swaps etc. What a waste.

H.

The Glass is always greener on the other side.


It's NOT "Chee lick", NOT "Chee Chee Licks"!!! Cichlids is pronounced as "Sick Lids"!!!!!

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30 Aug 2013 11:57 #16 by Melander (Andreas Melander)
Good thread!

For some reason I now have an urge to watch Piranha 3DD, thanks LJ :crazy:

Wanted list at the moment(the last three years...):
Corydoras hastatus
Ancistrus claro

Generally: non-standard cories, small plecos, wild type livebearers but also good captive strains with both sexes available, selection of tetras and dwarf cichlids.

Andreas

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30 Aug 2013 12:36 #17 by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
Wild strain swordtails would be amazing

"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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30 Aug 2013 13:17 #18 by Darkslice (Stephen Walsh)
Discus,
purigen,
natural tank decor
small growing plecos
nice big neon tetra's
killifish


Maybe a notice board of fish you maybe / can get with pictures & prices and or picture of galway fish tanks you helped fill.

and course, because your beside an aquarium - really try sell the small starter kits with some small guppies or tetras. kids will love them. try it it to 50 euro, just to get them hooked.


Steve

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30 Aug 2013 13:57 #19 by CrustyCrab (Peter Biddulph)

Discus,

and course, because your beside an aquarium - really try sell the small starter kits with some small guppies or tetras. kids will love them. try it it to 50 euro, just to get them hooked.


Steve


Already in Stock, and going well,

Thanks Steve

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30 Aug 2013 22:56 #20 by JustinK (Justin Kelly)

Wild strain swordtails would be amazing


Theyre available already across the pond.

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30 Aug 2013 23:23 #21 by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)

Wild strain swordtails would be amazing


Theyre available already across the pond.


are they ever available here?

"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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31 Aug 2013 11:37 #22 by CrustyCrab (Peter Biddulph)

Wild strain swordtails would be amazing


Theyre available already across the pond.


are they ever available here?


Checking on this at the moment

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31 Aug 2013 11:59 #23 by igmillichip (ian millichip)
Wild caught mollies such as Poecilia kykesis are simply stunning.

ian

Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.

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02 Sep 2013 10:04 #24 by Darkslice (Stephen Walsh)
now they do look nice!

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02 Sep 2013 21:47 #25 by Q_Comets (Declan Chambers)
Well here's my tuppence

Dwarf cichlids
Good variety of tetras
Small growing plecos

Good selection of foods

And while you're at it make sure the coffee shop does white mochas :-)

May take the (very) long way home from roger waters

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02 Sep 2013 21:54 #26 by CrustyCrab (Peter Biddulph)
Imagine sipping Triple shot White Mochas choosing your fish ........

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02 Sep 2013 22:45 #27 by Q_Comets (Declan Chambers)

Imagine sipping Triple shot White Mochas choosing your fish ........


OK that's enough arm twisting for me. It'll have to be plants though as I'm all stocked up fish wise.

I unfortunately don't have one of those near mythical tank buying wives :P

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02 Sep 2013 22:52 #28 by Homer (Kevin)
Replied by Homer (Kevin) on topic Top 10 Tropical Fish
More realistically priced Polyfilter and Organic Aqua, it is way overpriced for your average hobbyist and a life saver to same given the errors newbies make, come on suppliers, wholesalers and manufacturers, give us a break, it is a depression not a recession...... sorry, way off topic I know :(

H.

The Glass is always greener on the other side.


It's NOT "Chee lick", NOT "Chee Chee Licks"!!! Cichlids is pronounced as "Sick Lids"!!!!!

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02 Sep 2013 22:59 #29 by anglecichlid (ciaran hogan)
Trade in section for old tanks filters
And fish
PlayStation for the kids!

Anyone with a aquarium can keep fish,
But it takes real skill to be a fish keeper,


And it's spongeBob,
SpongeBob lives in a pineapple under the sea
BLANCHARDSTOWN

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02 Sep 2013 23:08 #30 by Homer (Kevin)
Replied by Homer (Kevin) on topic Top 10 Tropical Fish
Kids!???? I love Playstation!!!

:laugh:

H.

The Glass is always greener on the other side.


It's NOT "Chee lick", NOT "Chee Chee Licks"!!! Cichlids is pronounced as "Sick Lids"!!!!!

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