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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

Freshwater tank day 1

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24 Oct 2009 17:42 #1 by Damian_Ireland (Damian_Ireland)
Well, when the man delivers he delivers..... Fair play to Jaffacakehead he arrived with about 40 fish. There are sticklebacks, minnows and loaches. There was also a crayfish but I am not sure where he has got to. I will keep updating and will add pics..

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25 Oct 2009 16:20 #2 by platty252 (Darren Dalton)
Fair play to him for getting them for you.
Sounds like this could be a very interesting set up. Good luck with it.

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25 Oct 2009 18:13 #3 by ted30 (Damo Mac an Bhaird)
I want pics! I want pics! :)

Location: Carrickmacross, County Monaghan

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25 Oct 2009 21:00 - 25 Oct 2009 21:03 #4 by Damian_Ireland (Damian_Ireland)
Day 2. Some pics and a vid.. Sorry about quality using phone. Still no deaths and saw the crayfish today. Dropped a fair few back to the river as I had way to many.








And a vid

File Attachment:
Last edit: 25 Oct 2009 21:03 by Damian_Ireland (Damian_Ireland).

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25 Oct 2009 21:38 #5 by gardoyle27 (Gareth Doyle)
ya could have sent me a pm save me the hassle :D:P, tank looks cracking

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25 Oct 2009 21:50 #6 by PAULHARTE25 (PAUL HARTE)
looks the business,well done,does it need a cooler or is it just in the shed,wouldn't mind something like that myself,a good river only 100 yards from me,should be able to pick up a few handy enough

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25 Oct 2009 23:03 #7 by Damian_Ireland (Damian_Ireland)
Tank is out the back in a cabin that is not heated at the moment. water is 12oC(feckin cold)
Sorry Gar... I could still throw you a few if you need.

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26 Oct 2009 11:25 #8 by Fishowner (Gavin fishowner)
Great stuff Damian, this is going to be an interesting thread to see how it gets along. What are the loaches like ?

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26 Oct 2009 13:44 #9 by Damian_Ireland (Damian_Ireland)
I dont know alot about the loaches but what i can tell you is that they are getting a hard time from the sticklebacks. Still all good today, no casualties and they appear to be eating the Tetra Pro flake food. I have seen the sticklebacks eating it but not the minnows. I had looked up alot on sticklebacks but not minnows or loaches and I dont appear to be able to find a lot about either other than they are not easy to keep.

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26 Oct 2009 16:32 - 26 Oct 2009 16:34 #10 by Jaffacakehead (John McPartland)
Hi Damian, the tank looks the business. I'm glad they survived for you. Looks like you could have started a craze. I'm going to have to go into the supply business.:laugh:

All I really knew about stone loaches before was that there's loads of them in the local river and they're great bait for pike.

I found this website with some info:

www.loaches.com/species-index/barbatula-barbatula

There's also a few vids on Youtube.

I think they're really cool fish in an ugly kind of way. They kind of look like a miniature Barbel.
Last edit: 26 Oct 2009 16:34 by Jaffacakehead (John McPartland).

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26 Oct 2009 16:46 #11 by Jaffacakehead (John McPartland)
Here's something about minnows (also great bait for trout and salmon)

www.arkive.org/minnow/phoxinus-phoxinus/info.html

I've always found it very hard to keep minnow for more than a few days. They like to jump out of uncovered tanks and they need loads of oxygen. They are very skittish and bolt for cover at any sudden movement.


They are cypranids and actually related to carp and goldfish.
The females are bigger and more full bodied than the males. They get visibly full with eggs when in breeding condition.
The males get spawning tubercles on their heads which look like raised white dots (similar to goldfish) when ready do breed.

I do know a guy who breeds them in a rain barrel to use as bait with no problem at all and he feeds them oatmeal. He has a few stones in the bottom and they lay eggs on those.

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28 Oct 2009 15:31 #12 by gardoyle27 (Gareth Doyle)
how are the minnows doin?
really interested in this, are you gonna add more plants and stuff or leave it as is?

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28 Oct 2009 16:05 #13 by scubadim (scubadim)
Replied by scubadim (scubadim) on topic Re:Freshwater tank day 1
These loaches look brilliant,looking forward to see how your tank goes.great idea!

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28 Oct 2009 16:32 #14 by sincgar (Feargal Costello)
Super looking tank. well done. Great to see native species etc. Keep the pics coming. Is there any chance of such a setup indoors or would the ambient temperature be too high in our cosy insulated homes
would a chiller work or would these guys adapt as the water probably heats up during our tropical summers



PS Used to love catching sticklebacks in the local river when filling tubs for water for cattle in the good old days. all you needed was a bucket!!

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28 Oct 2009 18:12 #15 by Damian_Ireland (Damian_Ireland)
All still alive and seem ok. The minnows are still very nervous and will always hide when I enter the room. The sticklebacks are settling and will mostly stay out even when I am there. The big loach seems to love the air bubbles(I will try to get a vid later). So overall I am very happy so far.
With regards to keeping them indoors I dont think that would be possible with the heat. They are in my cabin at the moment which I am not using for anything so there is no heat on.

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28 Oct 2009 22:37 - 28 Oct 2009 22:40 #16 by Damian_Ireland (Damian_Ireland)
Just feed them again tonight. A couple of the minnows stayed out this time...
Here is a vid. Video is elongated , not sure why...
File Attachment:
Last edit: 28 Oct 2009 22:40 by Damian_Ireland (Damian_Ireland).

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28 Oct 2009 23:02 #17 by duzzy1 (Martin Kennedy)
tank looks really well .. congrats ....... wouldn't mind tryin the same thing myself

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28 Oct 2009 23:13 #18 by PAULHARTE25 (PAUL HARTE)
i really luv this tank,might actually try an outdoor aquarium,thinking of building one into a wooden wall out the back

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30 Oct 2009 23:29 #19 by Damian_Ireland (Damian_Ireland)
Bad day today.... 2 dead loaches.... I still think that its the sticklebacks attacking them, going to add more hideouts tomorrow. On the plus side 5 or 6 of the minnows are now coming out when i am feeding them...

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31 Oct 2009 00:20 #20 by Tom (Tom Brecknell)
Congrats, keep up the good work, this brings me back to my youth when we used to collect minnows in jar’s and bring them home for our parents to see, thanks........Tom.B)

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31 Oct 2009 21:22 #21 by Damian_Ireland (Damian_Ireland)
Day 8.
Bad day.. Lost a stickleback back today and I reckon I am in a bit of trouble with most of them..
The minnows however are the opposite they some to be thriving and are now all out when eating. I am wondering if I need to worm them ?
Maybe its because the temp today was 17oC and the tank is now 16oC...
The best way I can describe them is that the slightly rocking back and forth...

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02 Nov 2009 21:08 #22 by Damian_Ireland (Damian_Ireland)
Well after the drama there were no deaths but i think I will lose 1 or 2 sticklebacks. I think the issue was the water temp. I counted the minnows and I have too many... so it will be another trip to the river or if someone wants some (about 10) let me know asap

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05 Nov 2009 21:03 #23 by Damian_Ireland (Damian_Ireland)
all seems to have settled down nicely.. Couple of pics. a minnow and a loach


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