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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

blackmoors in a pond

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01 May 2017 21:29 #1 by nomad (pat murphy)
Just wondering has anyone kept blackmoors in a pond and over winter,i know that you have to make sure that they get enough feeding bcos being a much slower fish and eye site hindrance is a problem too,cheers.

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02 May 2017 12:12 #2 by robert (robert carter)
Never tried it , but would think they arnt suitable for a pond . Apart from the cold temps and feeding problems, they would get bullied by the other pond fish

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02 May 2017 14:15 #3 by FR85 (Gavin O'Sullivan)
Like Robert never tried. Dojo Loaches have survived two winters in an above ground non insulated pond so maybe they would.
Having done some reading and I think we don't have the climate.....

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02 May 2017 19:50 #4 by nomad (pat murphy)
Think i will give the blackmoors a miss so,maybe get a couple of loaches instead..

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02 May 2017 20:24 #5 by robert (robert carter)
What about the all japan koi show champion only 600,000 us dollars , i getting one next sunday after i win the lotto . Wouldnt it be nice

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02 May 2017 20:32 #6 by nomad (pat murphy)
Its amazing the prices some top koi go for,paying 600,000 dollars for a koi IMO has crossed the line into insanity..

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02 May 2017 20:46 #7 by nomad (pat murphy)
I built my pond above ground on the back yard concrete from 3in x 6in timbers layed on their flat,i then put inch polystyrene on the floor and walls then the liner went in,its 2ft high..Checked the pond water thermometer and it was 12degrees and the one beside the pond on the wall read 14 degrees.

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05 May 2017 12:41 #8 by arabu1973 (. .)
I keep black moors in my pond and they are fine, I just make sure they get food. In saying that my pond is 2 metre deep so i don't know if they'll be ok in a shallower pond over winter.

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05 May 2017 18:41 #9 by nomad (pat murphy)
Howzit going Adrian,wow your ponds 2 metres deep i,d say thats why you can keep blackmoors through the winter.Be interesting to know what temp you would have had at the bottom of the pond during the winter,anyway what fish is your pond stocked with now ...

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06 May 2017 13:20 #10 by arabu1973 (. .)
I wouldn't have a clue about the temp at th he bottom in the winter time but I remember reading somewhere that at that depth would be between 4-6 °C. At the moment I have koi, goldfish, trench, grass carp and surgeon but I have few other that I want to try keeping barbell, order and gudgeon

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06 May 2017 15:27 #11 by robert (robert carter)
Hi i tried barbel a few years ago without much luck , they reguire shallow , very fast well oxygenated water to do well

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06 May 2017 18:18 #12 by nomad (pat murphy)

I wouldn't have a clue about the temp at th he bottom in the winter time but I remember reading somewhere that at that depth would be between 4-6 °C. At the moment I have koi, goldfish, trench, grass carp and surgeon but I have few other that I want to try keeping barbell, order and gudgeon


Nice selection of fish there,have you any pics of the pond,fish and filtration set up that you could post here or better still a running commentary video :)

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06 May 2017 19:41 - 06 May 2017 19:43 #13 by arabu1973 (. .)
The pond is 20000 litre and the filter is in the big box beside it.
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Last edit: 06 May 2017 19:43 by arabu1973 (. .).

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06 May 2017 20:15 #14 by nomad (pat murphy)
Wow thats some transformation in your back garden since the last time i was there,great variety of fish and looks really good.My little back yard pond is a twentieth of the volume that you have,mad with envy LOL

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06 May 2017 20:59 - 06 May 2017 21:07 #15 by arabu1973 (. .)
Yes I finally got the garden landscaped.
Last edit: 06 May 2017 21:07 by arabu1973 (. .).

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06 May 2017 21:01 #16 by robert (robert carter)
Wow thats a beautiful pond

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07 May 2017 11:35 - 07 May 2017 11:36 #17 by arabu1973 (. .)
Thanks. Few photos of the filtration I use.
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Last edit: 07 May 2017 11:36 by arabu1973 (. .).

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07 May 2017 18:37 #18 by nomad (pat murphy)
Thats some size filter you have going there,do you keep it running through the winter time.

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07 May 2017 18:59 #19 by arabu1973 (. .)
The filter is 9 foot long 2 foot wide and 3 feet high. I turn the filter off the moment the fish stop eating, I drain it and dry it and I'll start it again only 1week after they start eating again. No UV just barley straw in the filter.

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07 May 2017 19:56 #20 by robert (robert carter)
If you turn your filter off for the winter and only turn it on a week after you start feeding , surely its going to take about six weeks for your filter to mature. I leave my filters running all year round including the uv , just replace the bulb each march/april . Do you find the barley straw keeps the water clean?

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07 May 2017 21:22 #21 by arabu1973 (. .)
Yes but they eat very little for few weeks so the filter matures by the time they eat properly. The temp at the bottom of the pond is 4-6 °C in the winter if you keep the filter running you move the warm water from the bottom to the top and it would be the same temp as outside temp. The koi hibernate at the bottom for a reason it's warmer there. The barley straw inhibits the growth of algae

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08 May 2017 01:52 #22 by robert (robert carter)
Your pond is much deeper than mine which is only 3 ft deep . I heat mine during the winter , but only to 7 deg c. Just to keep the fish off the bottom for long periods it helps against them getting ulsers , of coarse i dont feed them

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09 May 2017 10:31 #23 by FR85 (Gavin O'Sullivan)
That is a whopper of a pond, well done! What is the workload like when it comes to maintenance? I only have 2500l but it seems like there are always small things to be done.....which I enjoy!
I have a net of Barley Straw in the corner also, didn't think it would be beneficial in a filter box, might look at that!

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10 May 2017 07:26 #24 by arabu1973 (. .)
I clean the filter 2-3 times a year and it takes me 1-2 hours depending how much coffee I drink doing it. Regarding the barley straw it doesn't matter if you put it in the box or pond. In the box it's hidden and I'm sure that water runs thru it.

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