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
Fish we fell for !
- Fishowner (Gavin fishowner)
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So my choice is the lovely sparkling gourami.A small fish that really shimmers when you view it,their movement is like a hummingbird under water,so graceful,and many a time Ive heard them make that clicking noise in the tank.Get a few of them if you can.A fish thats small in size but has a big personality.So thats my fish...lets hear some of yours...
Gavin
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- JohnH (John)
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Any pic(s)?
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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- Fishowner (Gavin fishowner)
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- Ski (Alan McGee)
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Amazing to watch and great personalities. Make water change time very interesting as well!!
Had to sell tank to make room but will defo be setting up something similar in the future.
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- gunnered72 (Eddy Gunnered)
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- LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
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I love diamond tetras, a vastly underrated fish. Partly because they are unremarkable as young fish but also because they need particular lighting to truly show them at their best.
A recent favourite is the mudskipper. Fascinating, smart, tough and funny as hell

"The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won't let go of your life; your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they're not punishing you.They're freeing your soul."
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- fishmad1234 (Craig Coyle)
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I had 3 of them they would take food from my hand and swim in and out of my fingers amazing fish and my all time favourite great personalities and very entertaining I think I watched them in the tank more then I watched TV.
Regards
Craig
at the end of the day it becomes nite
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- Jonlate (Jon Late)
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Attachment image-2.jpg not found
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- gunnered72 (Eddy Gunnered)
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- alan 64 (alan)
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- Eric (Eric Corcoran)
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Eric
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- paulv (paul vickers)
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- hammie (Neil Hammerton)
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Favourite sub trop is my channa punctata, amazingly interesting feeding habits and hunting habits! Real predatory fish with an amazing personality
Favourite tropical, probably my rams, German blue rams are amazing little creatures, again very interesting to watch them having their little power struggles for who is top dog etc
And during breeding their colours are class
There are many more categories that I could pick and probably name a fish for each
Mainly in fish I look for personality and interaction
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- irish-zx10r (James feenan)
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Something fishie going on here
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- JustinK (Justin Kelly)
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For personality though it tends to be bigger fish.
I miss my Thorichthys meeki (firemouth) that I had to rehome. Their is always one who has that bit extra over others and it shows through just by looking at it as it greets your approach to the tank.
My other favourite going bigger again is my Vieja synspilum. I have him a few years now. Although he can be shy, he also snaps out of it sometimes and appears to want to tell me when theirs something happening. He was sad when his partner died and came to the front of the tank to get my attention to help. I think he tries telepathic communication but I'm still learning that one.
The best one was when he told me the backup heater had failed, he was happy then when I replaced it. He's still waiting for his reward though. I hope he didn't think that now missing swordtail was for him.
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- LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
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If you do find your fish is communicating with you telepathically, might I politely suggest you need to take a break from the hobby...Corydoras are a great little fish, they are so peaceful and keep to themselves.
For personality though it tends to be bigger fish.
I miss my Thorichthys meeki (firemouth) that I had to rehome. Their is always one who has that bit extra over others and it shows through just by looking at it as it greets your approach to the tank.
My other favourite going bigger again is my Vieja synspilum. I have him a few years now. Although he can be shy, he also snaps out of it sometimes and appears to want to tell me when theirs something happening. He was sad when his partner died and came to the front of the tank to get my attention to help. I think he tries telepathic communication but I'm still learning that one.
The best one was when he told me the backup heater had failed, he was happy then when I replaced it. He's still waiting for his reward though. I hope he didn't think that now missing swordtail was for him.

"The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won't let go of your life; your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they're not punishing you.They're freeing your soul."
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- JustinK (Justin Kelly)
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What about my talent for sexing a fish by its looks. The females appear more pretty to me and give of a female vibe ?
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- Homer (Kevin)
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The Glass is always greener on the other side.
It's NOT "Chee lick", NOT "Chee Chee Licks"!!! Cichlids is pronounced as "Sick Lids"!!!!!
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- SpiderMonkey (Mark O'Neill)
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- Homer (Kevin)
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Did u ever breed the Chocolates?
Kev.
The Glass is always greener on the other side.
It's NOT "Chee lick", NOT "Chee Chee Licks"!!! Cichlids is pronounced as "Sick Lids"!!!!!
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- SpiderMonkey (Mark O'Neill)
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Lost interest! But recently got some Shellie's so slowly getting back in
No they didn't breed kev i lost one and didn't have a pair but I'm going to get more!
I'll have to drop out for a chat some time

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- Homer (Kevin)
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Kev.
The Glass is always greener on the other side.
It's NOT "Chee lick", NOT "Chee Chee Licks"!!! Cichlids is pronounced as "Sick Lids"!!!!!
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- SpiderMonkey (Mark O'Neill)
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Pm me if it's changed
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- Homer (Kevin)
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Kev.
The Glass is always greener on the other side.
It's NOT "Chee lick", NOT "Chee Chee Licks"!!! Cichlids is pronounced as "Sick Lids"!!!!!
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- helix8008 (Tomas Novak)
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- wylam (Stuart Sexton)
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Stuart
Multi tasking: Screwing up more than one thing at a time.
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