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
September 2011 ITFS meeting
- Andrew (Andrew Taaffe)
-
Topic Author
- Offline
- Moderator
-
- Posts: 580
- Thank you received: 52
Items for discussion/discovery have yet to be decided and will be announced soon - why not subscribe to this topic to be kept up to date.
If there is anything you'd like to hear or talk about - PM me and I'll look into it.
Thanks
Andrew
ITFS Club Secretary
email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
see the ITFS tab above for more information www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php/itfs
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- Andrew (Andrew Taaffe)
-
Topic Author
- Offline
- Moderator
-
- Posts: 580
- Thank you received: 52
Following a suggestion from a member (see we do listen

I am pleased to say that Derek Doyle will be giving a talk/presentation on the whole judging process.
After previous club night table shows Derek spoke about the entries:
- why some perform better than others on the night
- judging on merit
- the scoring system
- why fish husbandry has a lot to do with how a good fish can be a great fish and vice versa
I, for one, remember Derek saying a naturally grey fish has as much chance as a naturally colourful fish at winning - and understanding that helped me widen the species I keep - after all it's not all about the winning it's about taking part. If you have any specific questions you want to put to Derek please PM me and I will pass on - so that his laptop presentation can attend to the answer.
We are also hoping to have another talk/practical/presentation on the night - more details to follow...now where did I put that projector??
Andrew
ITFS Club Secretary
email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
see the ITFS tab above for more information www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php/itfs
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- Andrew (Andrew Taaffe)
-
Topic Author
- Offline
- Moderator
-
- Posts: 580
- Thank you received: 52
I'll bring some killie eggs so we can check if they're "eyed-up" and I'm sure Ian will have something up the sleeve of his lab coat to astound us. This could turn into a nice practical session and may turn into a club night talk all on it's own on a future night.
See you Tuesday & keep in touch
Andrew
ITFS Club Secretary
email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
see the ITFS tab above for more information www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php/itfs
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- derek (Derek Doyle)
-
- Offline
- Platinum Member
-
- Posts: 1397
- Thank you received: 133
looking forward to ians presentation also, as he is a very experienced and interesting speaker. his last talk on betta breeding and genetics was brilliant.
30 tanks specialise in african cichlids, angelfish and various catfish
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- platty252 (Darren Dalton)
-
- Offline
- Moderator
-
- Posts: 2309
- Thank you received: 127
As for the talk on microscopes, i think this will be great.
I know a lot of people who keep fish end up using one at some point or another but are we using them correctly?
I will try bring something interesting to view under the microscope.
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- Andrew (Andrew Taaffe)
-
Topic Author
- Offline
- Moderator
-
- Posts: 580
- Thank you received: 52
I will pack my killie eggs safely and bring some water that I would use to hatch them in.
ITFS Club Secretary
email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
see the ITFS tab above for more information www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php/itfs
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- igmillichip (ian millichip)
-
- Offline
- Moderator
-
- Posts: 3366
- Thank you received: 536
People who wish to show fish in the future, and people who would like to attain the required perfection for their fish even if they have no wish to show fish should pop along.
ian
Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- Gedas (Gediminas Derkintis)
-
- Offline
- Junior Member
-
- Posts: 94
- Thank you received: 3
Worth to come from Cavan

Gedas
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- derek (Derek Doyle)
-
- Offline
- Platinum Member
-
- Posts: 1397
- Thank you received: 133
30 tanks specialise in african cichlids, angelfish and various catfish
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- Valerie (Valerie)
-
- Visitor
-

The talk by Derek on judging fish was very interesting and the exposé on microscopes by Ian (ipmillichip) was equally captivating.
The only horrifying thing was this video magnifying a Callamanus worm by Daragh !!!!



Good day which was well worth getting back home at 2.30am !!!!

Valerie
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- Valerie (Valerie)
-
- Visitor
-

*goes back to sleep*
Valerie
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- derek (Derek Doyle)
-
- Offline
- Platinum Member
-
- Posts: 1397
- Thank you received: 133
hope to see everyone again next month.
30 tanks specialise in african cichlids, angelfish and various catfish
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- pkearney (Phil Kearney)
- Offline
- Junior Member
-
- Posts: 164
- Thank you received: 9
ps. 4 more posts derek and you will catch up on valerie!!!
phil.
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- Gedas (Gediminas Derkintis)
-
- Offline
- Junior Member
-
- Posts: 94
- Thank you received: 3
Thanks to Derek,Ian and Daragh for interesting evening!!!
Was really nice meet real FISH KEEPERS!!!!!
Gedas
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- igmillichip (ian millichip)
-
- Offline
- Moderator
-
- Posts: 3366
- Thank you received: 536
(That is awful grammar….but so what).
Justine sends her apologies for not being able to attend.
As usual, always a great chat before, during and after the meet.
Derek’s talk was excellent and gave some insights that you would find hard to get on the internet. A valuable talk for keepers, people wishing to show, and even for our future judges.
I knew he’d give a good talk.

The slide show of altum showed a picture of beauty….and great to see a members fish being showcased.
As life is with times and priorities, the brief intro to microscopes didn’t quite get to the stage of a workshop…..(now, I could have easily pushed the meeting to 1am in the morning, but some people have lives to get on with and long distances to travel.)
So: a future date would be good for a dedicated hands-on workshop….and I’d be happy to see a showcase people’s microscopy videos of their worms (their fishes worms I mean).
Ian
ps.....pkearney, but who has the most chatter-box bits on here between Derek and Valerie?

Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- roscelt (Paul Egan)
- Offline
- Junior Member
-
- Posts: 31
- Thank you received: 2
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- ciaranm (ciaran murray)
- Offline
- Moderator
-
- Posts: 76
- Thank you received: 5
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- Valerie (Valerie)
-
- Visitor
-
ps.....pkearney, but who has the most chatter-box bits on here between Derek and Valerie?
I'd easily win that one in real life I'm sure though

Valerie
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- igmillichip (ian millichip)
-
- Offline
- Moderator
-
- Posts: 3366
- Thank you received: 536
ps.....pkearney, but who has the most chatter-box bits on here between Derek and Valerie?
I'd easily win that one in real life I'm sure though
Valerie
are you saying, then, that Derek is not a chatter-box in real-life.

....I also don't think you've met Justine yet.
Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.
Please Log in to join the conversation.