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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

New aquarium

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12 Jan 2010 15:47 #1 by siamesefighter (Andrew Watters)
Hello,
My name is Andrew I am 21years old im from dublin but now living in kerry. I have always wanted to be a fish keeper but never really had the time or space. Recently I have come to realise that it is time for a change and I decided to buy a tank.
My tank holds 84 litres of water and is a new home to 30 tropical fish. I started my tank off by adding neon tetras and guppies. after a while or so I felt I wanted new fish that were rare so I brought a black ghostfish and a pictus catfish.I then decided to add some more smaller fish so I got a few mollys and platys. I intend to get a siamese fighter as I feel it will be a great addtion to the tank. Just recently i got myself a kulhi locah, but i feel its best to be kept with a few more of its own kind. So soon im going to be adding a few more to the tank.
I am looking forward to gather helpful tips from every body to keep my aquarium and my tropical fish healthy.

1. Blackghost fish x1
2. Pictus Catfish x1
3. kulhi loach x1
4. Platy x3
5. guppies x3
6. molly x1
7. neon tetra x20

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12 Jan 2010 16:21 #2 by mossy (gavin blanchfield)
hi andrew
welcome its always great to have some more young people joining up
ye are the future of this hobby
nice set up you have going there
big move for you leaving the big smoke to live in the kingdom:laugh: :laugh:
if you can handle that you will do great at fishkeeping
you will get plenty of help with your hobby here
rgds

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12 Jan 2010 16:22 #3 by irishfirepics (Dennis Prior)
might be a little over stocked mate. a general rule is 1 inch of fish per liter and also take into account size when fully grown and filtration used. you may want to re-think your stocking levels. get a few pics up and welcome to the forum.

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12 Jan 2010 17:20 #4 by houseofmil (Martin Bromell)
Welcome to the forum.
I recently only joinded and have found this forum great and very helpful.
Best of luck

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12 Jan 2010 17:23 #5 by JohnH (John)
Replied by JohnH (John) on topic Re:New aquarium
Hello Andrew and welcome.

You might want to rethink your stocking as Pictus can be quite adept at eating whatever fish they can fit into their mouths!
Another potential danger is if your Black Ghost is actually a Black Ghost Knife Fish, maybe it isn't but it's well for you to be made aware of a potential danger up-coming.

As previously stated you are a little over the recommended limit for stocking your tank but as long as you keep a close eye on water perameters and keep diligent with water changes weekly you may just be OK for now.
But remember, it's far better to slightly underfeed your fish if you have a large amount - I firmly believe that more fish are lost to overfeeding than ever die from being slightly underfed.

Sounds like you'll soon be increasing your tank amounts, next step really ought to be a small one for quarantine/hospitalisation purposes...but that's for the future, glad you seem to be enjoying the hobby so far.

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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12 Jan 2010 20:19 - 12 Jan 2010 20:21 #6 by siamesefighter (Andrew Watters)
Thanks,
I would be a newbie when it comes to keeping fish and all offers of advise will be takin into account. heres a few pictures of my tank..



i said ide throw up a amuture picture of my black ghost knife fish

Last edit: 12 Jan 2010 20:21 by siamesefighter (Andrew Watters).

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12 Jan 2010 21:41 #7 by Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
Hey Andrew and welcome to the forum. Im sure you will find a this site to be a great resource as I have along with a great many others. Not trying to whip a dead donkey here but it is a common mistake, especially when starting out, to go a bit nuts on stocking weather it be with the more common species or some of the more hard to come by types. Your a bit over stocked there and I would caution against putting anything else in there unless you plan on removing something. Just my two cents. Im sure in no time you will be eyeing up a bigger tank as we all do when the fish bug bites ;) .


Jay

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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12 Jan 2010 22:03 #8 by scubadim (scubadim)
Replied by scubadim (scubadim) on topic Re:New aquarium
Hello there and welcome to the forum.
I'll have to agree with everyone here,your black ghost knife fish will eventually make a meal out of your neons at night and so will the pictus cat.
Enjoy the forum,
Dimitri

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13 Jan 2010 00:17 #9 by mickeywallace (Michael Wallace Cath Woods)
hi there and welcome
mickey

Mickey Wallace & Cath Woods

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13 Jan 2010 00:22 #10 by reefpaddy (paddy kelly)
welcome aboard :)

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13 Jan 2010 05:14 #11 by Frontosa (Tim kruger)
Hi Andrew,
welcome to the forum.
Regards,Tim

Midlands - in the heart of Ireland.

Keeping and breeding : Frontosa Blue Zaires , Synodontis Petricola , Tropheus Red Rainbow (Kasanga) , Tropheus Moliro . Regulary fry for sale.
Community tank with P.Kribensis and different livebearers.

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13 Jan 2010 19:50 #12 by siamesefighter (Andrew Watters)
Hello,
as reguards over stocking my fish, i got in contact with a expert in fishkeeping. he has been keeping them now for over 14 years experence, he raised every type of tropical and marine fish. He Personally told me the tank was fine. its not due to the numbers of the fish its mainly down to the waste they produce. he then explained why the black then the neons old produce a minimum amount of waste due there shear size. he then went on to check my PH level and Ammonia levels all were perfect.ghost knife fish would not attack and eat the neons mainly because it is only a infant. He said that when it gets older it might attack them, but thats if it feels threatened. He also said that if the Blackghost knife fish was not fed propperly it could attack the neons at a later date but theres no way it would do it at its current age, also if the fish grow up together they would consider each other as there own group and would only be agresive to newbies.
Andy

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13 Jan 2010 22:43 #13 by JohnH (John)
Replied by JohnH (John) on topic Re:New aquarium
Interesting advice.
Presumably - when it grows - the Pictus will also ignore your edible-sized fish as that too won't feel threatened?
Perhaps the Pictus I owned felt under constant threat? - They certainly made very short work of anything they could fit into their mouths!
:o)
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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13 Jan 2010 22:52 #14 by mossy (gavin blanchfield)
pictus need to be kept in large groups or they will go crazy
they will allso eat any fish that will fit into their mouth
they cant be trusted with small fish
rgds

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13 Jan 2010 23:53 #15 by siamesefighter (Andrew Watters)
would you think its ture that if it grows up in the same tank with alot of the other types of fish it wont consider them a treat?

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14 Jan 2010 00:20 #16 by mossy (gavin blanchfield)
my uncle has 3 of them in his 8ft tank which i do the upkeep on it
at the start he had a good shoal of neons in with them
but over time they started to vanish in the night
it only started happening when the pictus got bigger
now he has all large cichlids in with them

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14 Jan 2010 00:21 #17 by Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
I have heard of this being true for certain species but I personally wouldnt risk it. You may get away with it for a while, then one day down the line the predatory instinct kickis in and snap, a meal is a meal. Hope it works out for you whatever you decide bud ;)


Jay

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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14 Jan 2010 10:22 #18 by scubadim (scubadim)
Replied by scubadim (scubadim) on topic Re:New aquarium
Hi,
just as a rule,anything a fish can fit in its mouth can potentially be food.
i always go with this as precaution now there are some exceptions but to be honest i don't see your neons lasting very long:( wether it be the pictus or the black ghost knife fish...
all the best.
Dimitri

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