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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

petshoponline live fish

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20 Dec 2006 17:04 #1 by C M C (C M C)
Has anyone got fish from petshoponline. I have got other stuff and they have delivered the next day every time. Plus they say they will only deliver the fish the same day that it is sent out. But i don't know, any ideas :?

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20 Dec 2006 21:22 #2 by tanks_alot (Denis Coghlan)
Personally I wouldn't buy a fish that I hadn't seen in person before hand.

As for buying fish off the company in question I don't have any experience with them so I cannot comment.

Lead me not into temptation, For I can find it myself!

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21 Dec 2006 17:31 #3 by C M C (C M C)
yea but they say they will take a picture of the fish they will send to you and from that (if the picture is good quality) you could easily tell the fish level of health

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21 Dec 2006 17:42 #4 by Anthony (Anthony)
Replied by Anthony (Anthony) on topic Re: petshoponline live fish

yea but they say they will take a picture of the fish they will send to you and from that (if the picture is good quality) you could easily tell the fish level of health


What if the pic is a year old. :lol:
I am not knocking any shop especially as I have never used it but I would not be too keen to mail order a fish but I will in the new year to see how it turns out. Then I can give a proper view as it contains experience. :roll:

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21 Dec 2006 17:46 #5 by Daragh_Owens (Daragh Owens)
I have never used them, but I did check out their stock list before and again tonight. They seem to have very limited live fish on offer except for discus. I assume they are connected to a retail outlet, anyone know which one? If you or someone here has experience of their retail operation (assuming they have one) you may get an idea of what you can expect of their service and quality online.

Personally I would prefer to see the fish I was buying in advance and the conditions they were housed in. I think I would only resort to ordering online for something rare or unusual I could not get elsewhere.

If you do use them, don't forget to post your experiences.

Daragh

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21 Dec 2006 18:22 #6 by C M C (C M C)
They don't have a retail store and this come directly from their site

"We only sell fish we import. All our fish is supplied by legal fish farms, with health certificates and good quality guarantee. We always quarantine our fish for at least 2 weeks after importing. We never sell sick or suspicious looking fish. We will always return your money if there is any death on arrival or sick fish. We also guarantee you stress free delivery in shortest time- the same day only."

Their selection of discus and flower horns look really good but your right they don't have may other fish at the moment, that could be because everyone is not willing to give them a chance to prove if their fish are good quality or not anyway they are getting live plant in january so while i'm getting some of those i'll give their fish a try.
I'll keep you all posted :D

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21 Dec 2006 19:36 #7 by steven (steven)
c mc if your good to your word its worth a go don't knock it till you try it is my motto

Treat every day like your last, some day it will be??

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22 Dec 2006 03:24 #8 by apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
Replied by apistodiscus (apistodiscus) on topic Re: petshoponline live fish
Just had a look at the fish on offer, especially the discus. For starters they don't give you the size of the fish. They are not particularly cheap. Their rams go for 9€ a pop which is highway robbery. Why would you buy fish online where you cannot see them when you don't even save money? I would never buy a discus online. I want to see them feeding and sh*tting before I buy them.
They sell Flowerhorns at excessive prices and males only. The flowerhorn market in South East Asia has collapsed entirely. Nobody wants these fish anymore and they are still asking for 350 notes per fish. I wouldn't buy flowerhorns or parrots anyway. Hybrids that should never have happened. But most of you will know my opinions about these already.

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22 Dec 2006 15:20 #9 by platty252 (Darren Dalton)

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22 Dec 2006 17:21 #10 by Damian_Ireland (Damian_Ireland)
i dont mean to hijack or diss... but i hope you get better service from them than I have. if you want more info let me know.
but from my experience i would say no

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22 Dec 2006 20:10 #11 by Anthony (Anthony)
Replied by Anthony (Anthony) on topic Re: petshoponline live fish

Just had a look at the fish on offer, especially the discus. For starters they don't give you the size of the fish. They are not particularly cheap. Their rams go for 9€ a pop which is highway robbery. Why would you buy fish online where you cannot see them when you don't even save money? I would never buy a discus online. I want to see them feeding and sh*tting before I buy them.
They sell Flowerhorns at excessive prices and males only. The flowerhorn market in South East Asia has collapsed entirely. Nobody wants these fish anymore and they are still asking for 350 notes per fish. I wouldn't buy flowerhorns or parrots anyway. Hybrids that should never have happened. But most of you will know my opinions about these already.


I agree 100%

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23 Dec 2006 13:00 #12 by Sean (Fr. Jack)
When you buy a fish from a shop, one should never give it a quick once over, when buying a valuable fish, one should WATCH IT for 20 minutes and observe its swimming habits as well as seeing if it is search for food and scanning the substrate. Buying fish on line is absolutely crazy idea.

On the other hand buying plants could work if they are importing them and storing them in a fringe before dispatch, as opposed to getting a load of slimy half rotten plants from a fish shop.

That would be a ecumenical matter!!!

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24 Dec 2006 06:24 #13 by JohnH (John)
A little while back (well, three months back...) I was in an LFS (no names mentioned) and was told that 'on this occasion' I would be able to select the fish I required from those in the tank but in future I should not be disappointed if I was not allowed to have my choice from those on offer (in this case it ws Firemouths).

Needless to say I have not gone back!!!
Would you go into a pet shop and have to have the puppy given by the seller, rather than your pick of those on offer? - I think not!
Why should it be any different with fish.
I have to say, in balance, that the only other fish establishment I visited in Ireland was totally helpful - allowing me my choice of all fish on offer.

I think, on balance, I wouldn't be too keen on fish-by-mail-order, it smacks too much of my first experience, mentioned here.

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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24 Dec 2006 13:10 #14 by Anthony (Anthony)
Replied by Anthony (Anthony) on topic Re: petshoponline live fish
Imagine going in to buy an Avensis car and being told you will have to take the Lada.

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24 Dec 2006 14:33 #15 by C M C (C M C)
These are all great points and i will think about them but NO ONE that has given a point has told me how they were burned when ordering fish online. so everyone is just assuming that its a bad thing to do with no evidence at all of why it shouldn't be done.

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26 Dec 2006 03:35 #16 by Sean (Fr. Jack)

These are all great points and i will think about them but NO ONE that has given a point has told me how they were burned when ordering fish online. so everyone is just assuming that its a bad thing to do with no evidence at all of why it shouldn't be done.


O.K let me approach it from a different angle, I live in Spain, and with my work I do not have much time to buy food in a supermarket, the equivalent of Harods is "el corte de ingles", we buy it all on line. Ihave notice they always seem to send us the UHT milk with the expiry date close to last date, even though when one bothers to go into the shop you can buy the same milk with a 2 month expiry date.

I assume you are promoting buying fish on the Internet, and you feel that half the post against it, and that they do not have much merit? I used to be in the fish business in Tampa Florida, mainly fish tropical farms and wholesale freshwater and saltwater, and I am telling you its not a good idea. On the other hand I want you to make a living from it but I may I suggest a few ideas which may work better.

Retail angle>The disadvantage of fish shops is although they will let you point out the fish you want, they insist on the owner netting the fish, in the states there is warehouse type places with security camera/ CC where you can go in a net you own fish and ring them in bags placed in trays, and at check out the owner blows inn o2, or if badly packed, i.e a spiky catfish, they will triple bag it and tie the corners to ensure survival.
Your fish house may not be very glamours but is still O.K if it was sett up on the outskirts of Dublin.

Wholesale angle>Another angle to explore is "trans shipping" this is when you take wholesale orders from a dozen shops, then place a big order and import them, where client A gets all his fish in box A, and you meet all your clients at Dublin Airport, by passing "Glen Crxp"
The advantage of this is the shops get their fish at half price and more quality, this systems is the main way the wholesalers work now a days in Los Angles, this way is some time modified where the importer brings the boxes back and re bag all the fish then blows the bag up with o2, and delivers them the next day, at a higher cost than meeting the clients at the airport.

That would be a ecumenical matter!!!

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26 Dec 2006 04:43 #17 by C M C (C M C)
yea i don't work for petshoponline, i'm a customer thinking about buying fish online not selling fish online but thanks for your idea if i do ever get into the fish business i might use it. :D

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27 Dec 2006 04:28 #18 by apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
Replied by apistodiscus (apistodiscus) on topic Re: petshoponline live fish
You should have enough choice in the Dublin shops. Why order online if you can go into a shop and have a look at them. And from what I have seen petshopline's range of fish is nothing to write home about and should easily be matched by any decent retailer. Is there any fish you were looking at in particular?

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03 Jan 2007 04:49 #19 by darragh (Darragh Sherwin)
While I would prefer to see the fish before I buy them, I wouldn't knock the idea of ordering online especially if there are willing to send you a pic of it.
It's quite easy to view when the pic was taken if it was taken with a digital camera, just open it in any half decent photo editor and look at the properties of it, it should give you the time the shot was taken.

Beyond not seeing them, mail ordering fish seems like a good idea if they they box them up right. Most of LFS in Ireland have to import their fish from the suppliers in the north or international suppliers, so the fish would have to be boxed up anywhere from 24 hours to several days.

They seem to be very conscious about delivery of fish.
Mail ordering fish is not a new idea, I think quite alot of shops and specialists breeders in the UK and on the Continent do mail order.

I think it is great that some company is offering this service especially for fish keepers outside the Dublin area who may not have such a great variety and choice of fish on offer to them in their local pet store.

That's my €0.02 on the subject

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03 Jan 2007 06:57 #20 by C M C (C M C)
Finally someone that thinks that this isn't such a bad idea.
I'm going to order one fish at least this month just to see how good they are and I'll keep everyone updated on the subject.
Thanks darragh for your 2 cents much appreciated to see I'm not the only person that thinks that this is a good idea. I used to work in wackers in Donaghmede for nearly two years so I know myself the time from packing the fish to the time they were put in the tank was longer than that same day it was usually 24 hours. Are you all shocked :shock: this is the norm for any Fish shop that gets fish from the north. they pack the fish the day before in the evening and send them out at about 5 in the morning we usually got the delivery at 2 and let them float for about an hour. As you can see the time in the bag is coming very close to 24 hours.

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03 Jan 2007 07:19 #21 by apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
Replied by apistodiscus (apistodiscus) on topic Re: petshoponline live fish
Not that unusual for fish to be on the road for that long. Just think of all the fish coming from South America or South East Asia. The transit time does not worry me. If you buy from your local dealer you can see the fish for yourself. It's cheaper, you are eliminating most of the transport issues and if something goes wrong you can go back to your local dealer. I didn'
t find any address on their website which is incidentially also illegal by EU law

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03 Jan 2007 07:30 #22 by C M C (C M C)
Go to company info on the bottom left and their address is there. You should also read the guarantee that they give on the live fish section of the site i think they have it covered because if i didn't think so i wouldn't have brought it up in the first place. All i'm looking for is feedback from another customers but since most people are not willing to take a chance (even a small one) I'll have to try myself. :roll:

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03 Jan 2007 07:40 #23 by Sean (Fr. Jack)
Darrah,
if some one is living in the back of beyond and the LTF is a petrol station with a small pets section, one has nothing to loss going down this route, if you live in within 1.5 hours of Dublin, then that a diferent story.

That would be a ecumenical matter!!!

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03 Jan 2007 09:30 #24 by Daragh_Owens (Daragh Owens)
Hi Sean, not sure, which "Daragh" you are replying to, however I agree with what you say, my point was

"I think I would only resort to ordering online for something rare or unusual I could not get elsewhere."

If you can't get to a LFS that supplies what you need, then of course online is an option.



Daragh

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