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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

Otto or Flying Fox

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Poll: Otto or Flying Fox (was ended 0000-00-00 00:00:00)

Otto
15 88.2%
Siamese Flying Fox
2 11.8%
Total number of voters: 17
Only registered users can participate to this poll
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21 Mar 2012 12:23 #1 by JSleator (Jason Sleator)
Been looking into which ill get, for general algae control and plant cleaning. Leaning towards the flying fox at the moment for its hardiness and like of all/most algae, but personally prefer the look of Otto, and they stay smaller. Will eventually want a couple of plecos in the tank so I need to consider this too.

Whats your fav?

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21 Mar 2012 13:56 #2 by ghart (Greg Hart)
I bought a small bristle nose albino plec from seahorse the other day and he is doing a great job of cleaning the bog wood in my tank and eating algae off plants.
I am now thinking of buying another one. Very active little fellas during lights on even.

Greg

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21 Mar 2012 14:01 #3 by JSleator (Jason Sleator)
Cool, Love the bristle nose, defo getting a pair of those when i get the new set up under control.

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21 Mar 2012 21:32 #4 by BlueRam (Sean Crowe)
jason i went for flyin fox as i would have always went for otto if someone asked me this uo till about a few weeks ago i have 1 about 4 SAE and about 8 ottos in my tank and also i have have 1flyin fox and i have to say the only one that does anything to the plants in the flyin fox anytime i look into the tank he is workin away and never stops i never have algae in my tank only small bits on the last once in a blue moon

but the flyin fox just never stops and the other dont seem to be doing much maybe if there was a lot more algae they would but for me they dont

also dont forget that a flyin fox and get to a good size so when he does start growing ill move him on and maybe get a few more small ones

just my 2cents

Sean

Sean Crowe

ITFS Member

Location: Navan

Always Remember Surviving Is Not Thriving

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21 Mar 2012 22:50 #5 by JSleator (Jason Sleator)
Hey Sean - Congrats on becoming moderator.

Any chance you can show me a pic of your flying fox, or give me a link to a google image. Ive found seriously conflicting info as to the ID of an actual flying fox. there seems to be a siamese flying fox as well as the siamese algae eater. There are some in my LFS but im pretty sure they are SAE, and not said flying fox / siamese flying fox :silly:

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21 Mar 2012 23:03 #6 by BlueRam (Sean Crowe)
thanks mate

as for the flyin fox i have being doing s bit off readin up as i have always know them by 2 name as in a flyin fox/chinese algae eater aka CAE

www.aquariumdomain.com/forums/showthread...cheilos-aymonieri%29

that is the link to wat i am talkin about not many ppl like them/ keep them but i have to say they never stop wprkin around the tank

Sean

Sean Crowe

ITFS Member

Location: Navan

Always Remember Surviving Is Not Thriving

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22 Mar 2012 08:54 #7 by eire1978 (eire1978)
Replied by eire1978 (eire1978) on topic Re: Otto or Flying Fox
the flying fox is not the same as the chinese algae eater,it looks very much like the sae but noting like the chinese algae eater.I wouldnt have a chinese algae eater in with discus sean as they can suck the mucus off the discus.

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22 Mar 2012 09:02 #8 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re: Otto or Flying Fox
I have 16 Ottos, amazing little Fish , Algae eating Robots of the planted Tank, constantly on the go but whenever they have a Time-out, they do it together in the same place, like a union meeting.... coolest algae eaters that won't disturb the most delicate of plants.

Kev.

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22 Mar 2012 23:41 - 22 Mar 2012 23:46 #9 by BlueRam (Sean Crowe)
@eire1978 when ever i see them in a few shops they are marked as flyin fox thats y i tot they where known as both flyin fox and CAE

i have heard that befor the about discus but also heard that they only do that when they are full size as in say when they are adult

thats y i said i would move him on and get another small one some worker i have to say and i know not many ppl like them but he seems ok for me

i have being watchin him with the discus and not once in the good few weeks the discus have being in has he gone near them

thanks mate

Sean

Sean Crowe

ITFS Member

Location: Navan

Always Remember Surviving Is Not Thriving
Last edit: 22 Mar 2012 23:46 by BlueRam (Sean Crowe).

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25 Mar 2012 08:41 #10 by Pat (Pat Coogan)
I have Ottos at the moment but had the foxes in the past. They are an extremely fast moving fish and are likely to spook the discus.

www.google.ie/search?q=siamese+flying+fo...sAQ&biw=1366&bih=643


Not sure this link is copied right but if you google siamese flying fox the first thing that comes up is images for them.
Hope it works

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25 Mar 2012 22:15 #11 by christyg (Chris Geraghty)
Otos are brilliant lttle fish and do a great job, however quality can be unreliable due to the way they are collected and shipped.

As for the flying fox, there are 3 different species that get confused. Flying fox, siamese algae eater and chinese algae eater. The true Siamese is the best for algae but is often confused/mislabelled as flying fox. The chinese is good whe young, but can get very beligerent as it gets older, so you need to be sure what you are getting and do lots of research :)

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25 Mar 2012 22:18 #12 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re: Otto or Flying Fox

@eire1978 when ever i see them in a few shops they are marked as flyin fox thats y i tot they where known as both flyin fox and CAE

i have heard that befor the about discus but also heard that they only do that when they are full size as in say when they are adult

thats y i said i would move him on and get another small one some worker i have to say and i know not many ppl like them but he seems ok for me

i have being watchin him with the discus and not once in the good few weeks the discus have being in has he gone near them

thanks mate

Sean


Best of luck catching them Sean, they are the ICBM of the Aquatic World :crazy: :crazy:

Kev.

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26 Mar 2012 01:21 - 26 Mar 2012 01:23 #13 by gunnered72 (Eddy Gunnered)
True Siamese Algae eaters are "Crossocheilus Siamensis" (Terrific algae eaters and very friendly)

Flying Foxes are "Epalzeorynchos Kalopterus" (Rubbish algae eaters and very territorial towards similar fish)

Chinese Algae eaters are "Gyrinocheilus Aymonieri" (Good algae eaters when young but when they get older watch out!!!! They suck the slime coat of other fish and are complete terrors to all other tank mates)

False Siamese Algea Eaters are "Garra Cambodgiensis" (Rubbish Algae Eater and very territorial towards similar fish)

It is actually said that "TRUE" Siamese Algae Eaters(Crossocheilus Siamensis) are actually hard to get and what is sold in shops is actually an extremely similar species called Crossocheilus Langei and passed off as Crossocheilus Siamensis....This said Crossocheilus Langei are equally as good at eating algae as Crossocheilus Siamensis and well worth buying for algae eating abilities :)

The thing to watch out for in True Crossocheilus Siamensis/Langei is the dark stripe down the middle of the body...It goes right through into the tail....In fake or similar species like the ones listed above the stripe stops where the tail begins......I must also mentione that True SAEs like the company of their own kind and its recommended to keep them in groups....For this reason i wouldnt recommend them for smaller tanks.....

As for Ottos! I love them....They work tirelessly to keep plants,glass and other surfaces clean...The downfall is transporting them...They are notriously weak from transportation and just seem to die for no reason even days after settling happily into a new home when all seemed fine......Try to buy specimens with fat bellies and that have been in the shop tanks for a few weeks.....That way the shop takes the hits on the weaker ones and the ones with the fat bellies you will know have been eating (Ottos commonly die from starvation during transportation and while in the shop tanks)

SAEs tough fish but grow big so tank size must be big to house a group!

Ottos notoriously weak but can be kept in small tanks!

Both are great algae eaters but honestly if algae is a real problem in your tank you need to look at your stocking levels,feeding regime and also at your water changing and gravel cleaning schedule...Overstocking,overfeeding and infrequent water changing routines are the real reasons for green tanks :sick:
Last edit: 26 Mar 2012 01:23 by gunnered72 (Eddy Gunnered).

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