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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

snail eaters

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04 Apr 2008 11:49 #1 by oog1111 (Orlagh O Grady)
I had a problem with snails(came as babies with plants) before I stocked my tank and used one of the chemical things to get rid... but there was a few left...these few seem to be breeding. they are all under 1 cm, most about 5mm.
Can't get puffers(cause of other fish in tank) and can't get clown loach because they grow too big in long term.

so looking for something that eats snails, is varily peaceful with other fish (although wouldn't mind if they had the small fault of eating small fish, under 4cm). something that perferably doesn't grow bigger than 15cm.

Tank has medium flowing water, lots of plants, three areas with different substrate, high p.H just under 8 (will be setting up CO2 in next month so this will be going down eventually) and is hardish
any ideas?

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04 Apr 2008 13:19 #2 by sheag35 (Seamus Gillespie)
Yo-Yo Loach, Dwarf Checkered Loach, Skunk Botia and the Bengal Loach are all Botia that may be found in a community tank and will eat snails or alternatively you can try to add an apple snail that will do the same thing as the other fish if you do not have the size tank for a loach or a puffer
hope this helps
Seamus

Fishkeeping the Only way to get wet and wild

currently 25 tanks, and breeding is the aim of everything i keep
location:Limerick

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04 Apr 2008 13:22 #3 by sheag35 (Seamus Gillespie)
if you want to go down a fish free route the best method to remove snails in larger groups is tempt them with food. After the lights go off for the night and the tank is dark, place a jam jar on the substrate at the bottom of the tank with a piece of lettuce or cucumber in the jar and leave for a couple of hours or overnight. When you come back there will probably be several snails attached to the food in the jar. Remove the jar with the snails and throw away. Repeat over a couple of nights and remove whatever snails you see and you cannot go far wrong. You can similarly use spinach, scallions (green onions) or other fresh vegetables to do this and it is useful to anchor the vegetables to the bottom of the tank
seamus

Fishkeeping the Only way to get wet and wild

currently 25 tanks, and breeding is the aim of everything i keep
location:Limerick

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04 Apr 2008 14:09 #4 by oog1111 (Orlagh O Grady)
have been looking at dwarf and yo-yo loach already, didn't know that they ate snails also. can't get dwarfs cause tank only four months old and apparently they need it to be matured for a longer time...maybe yo-yo. do you know if they burrow much in the substrate? I've alot of plants and they are just planted straight in, no weights, so wouldn't be too happy if they pull it all up (bubblenest builders doing enough of that).

read somewhere that skunks were agressive, is this true?

will try the jam jar trick tonight, if I can find an empty jar.if anything at least they might eat that instead of my lovely red nymphea lotus type plant(not great with the plant names!!)

thanks for the info!super!

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04 Apr 2008 14:24 #5 by sheag35 (Seamus Gillespie)
the skunks can be if not given enough room or hiding places but i kept them years ago with no problems, oh yes another trick if you cant find a jar is to overturn a saucer and put a little bit of greens under it... notice the way they disappear when its bright.. they should congregate under this as its dark and then just pick up the plate and scoop them away

Fishkeeping the Only way to get wet and wild

currently 25 tanks, and breeding is the aim of everything i keep
location:Limerick

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04 Apr 2008 14:26 #6 by sheag35 (Seamus Gillespie)
oh yes in my expierence they didnt damage plants i had so worth a try

Fishkeeping the Only way to get wet and wild

currently 25 tanks, and breeding is the aim of everything i keep
location:Limerick

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04 Apr 2008 14:50 #7 by oog1111 (Orlagh O Grady)
looked up bengals on loaches online...think I might like them more (really wanted clowns to begin with, and they sorta similiar(ish)looking and they make loud clicking noises, so it says). did you ever keep them? are they more active than the others?have 7 catfish that hang out at the bottom;3 don't be seen much and the other four are corys that go mad searching for a while and then do nothing for a while. would prefer something that won't want to spend the day in hiding.

are the bengals hard to get in Ireland?haven't seen them before.

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04 Apr 2008 16:42 #8 by Valerie (Valerie)
Replied by Valerie (Valerie) on topic Re:snail eaters
I havce two yoyo loaches and they are great characters, always in movement. And when resting they are amazing the way they stay put on a surface. I love them ! :-)
Plant wise, mine don't root them up :-)

Hope this helps.
Valerie

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04 Apr 2008 19:45 #9 by mickeywallace (Michael Wallace Cath Woods)
They are a treasure and completely wiped out any snails i had but the key to this is how much you feed them! given the chance they will take the easy option. the numbers is the problem i would not have less than a group of three preferably more



i have to say they are great for your heart the amount of times(still) you think they are dead and just when you least expect it they dart off!

amazing little fish

Mickey

Mickey Wallace & Cath Woods

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04 Apr 2008 19:50 #10 by mickeywallace (Michael Wallace Cath Woods)
\"OH no!!! we have a dead fish:) :) :) :)\"



wait a minute wait wait



you little :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

Mickey Wallace & Cath Woods

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04 Apr 2008 22:53 #11 by oog1111 (Orlagh O Grady)
all confused now!!what to do, what to do!!both seem cool fish...but can't do both...It's gonna be 4 of one or the other.

off to find a jam jar first, I thinks!!horrid little things eating random holes in my plants:angry:

Thanks all!!super info super fast,as always!:)

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