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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

Do Plecs shed their skin?

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07 Nov 2008 15:26 #1 by Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
Hi,
Ive noticed that my plec seems to be shedding it;s skin with pale bits floating around the tank
and was wondering if this is normal. Ive tested the water and it's fine, plus he is still active and eating properly.
He is about 4" long and I think he ia a spotted sailfin plec. He is in a 125ltr tank with barbs, including tigers but
they dont seem to be bothering him and the rest of the fish in the tank appear healthy.
Any info would be great,

Viperbot

Location: Finglas, North Dublin.

Life
may not be the party we hoped for, but while we
are here we might as well dance.

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07 Nov 2008 16:19 #2 by LimerickBandit (Donal Doran)
Hi Viperbot

I’m not sure about them shedding skin
But I do know that when there stressed they will look patchy for a while till they chill out again is there a cave in the tank for him/her?

LB

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07 Nov 2008 16:32 #3 by Fishowner (Gavin fishowner)
From my reckoning they dont mould. It sounds like a water issue,the shovelnose pleco can shed its outter mucus if water conditions are bad but to me it sounds like water problems or perhaps the fish is being bullied? If the reading are alright,is the temp also alright ?
Id do a 50% water change to be on the safe side. I dont have much pleco experience,Darragh Owens is good on them though.
Gavin

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07 Nov 2008 18:58 #4 by derek (Derek Doyle)
plecs sometimes sit under tank heaters, and the skin is burned leading to sympthons as you describe.

30 tanks specialise in african cichlids, angelfish and various catfish

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07 Nov 2008 19:05 - 07 Nov 2008 19:07 #5 by Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
Yep, theres plenty of hiding places for him alright, however he does tend to get close to the heater.
Do you think it's suffering? I cant see him staying near the heater if its burning him, but theres no other explanation, as far as I can tell the other fish are not bullying him. Recently had a jump in ph. It went from 6.8 to 7.4 in less than 48 hrs. I have no idea what caused it. Tap water here in Finglas is hard but has always been at a constant 6.8. Temp is maintained at 24-25 degrees.

Location: Finglas, North Dublin.

Life
may not be the party we hoped for, but while we
are here we might as well dance.
Last edit: 07 Nov 2008 19:07 by Viperbot (Jason Hughes).

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07 Nov 2008 19:25 #6 by derek (Derek Doyle)
the skin is leathery and they dont feel the heat till too late.
if it is heater burn it should heal up ok. as long as no secondary infection sets in.
after a few burning episodes they usually wise up.

30 tanks specialise in african cichlids, angelfish and various catfish

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07 Nov 2008 19:56 #7 by Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
Thanks for the info Derek. Ill let you know how it turns out.

Location: Finglas, North Dublin.

Life
may not be the party we hoped for, but while we
are here we might as well dance.

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07 Nov 2008 22:37 #8 by platty252 (Darren Dalton)
It is a good idea to have heater guards when you have any plecos in a tank.
I have seen wood cats (Tatia perugiae)sitting on heaters untill they get burnt.
I have also seen plecos peel like onions when the temp was to high combined with an increase in Nitrates. I dont know why this is but it's no harm re-checking these.

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08 Nov 2008 02:01 #9 by LimerickBandit (Donal Doran)
Viperbot, if you think it might be the heater then move it a few inches.
Normally we put heaters on the back/side of the tank; a peleco will use it to rest.
if you see tissue damage rather than color change then use something like Melafix or Primafix depends on how the plec is, let us know

LB

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