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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

Has it been a year ?

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05 Jul 2011 18:59 #1 by Jim (Jim Lawlor)
Has it been a year ? was created by Jim (Jim Lawlor)
Yes it has! a whole year since I started back at this fishkeeping lark.

Its been great to be back - great to see some of the old-timers still here and loads of new faces/ names.

fishkeeping has certainly moved on since my last stint - the level of knowledge and expertise amongst people is really outstanding and the willingness to share hasn't been diluted by time.

Thanks to the many folks on this forum my enthusiasm has really grown - 12 months on and I'm up to 12 tanks. If I had known this from the start I probably wouldn't have started again!

Thanks to all the folks here who responded to my many queries - I'd have repeated a good few beginners mistakes if it weren't for your help.

Jim.

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06 Jul 2011 21:51 #2 by andrewo (andrew)
Replied by andrewo (andrew) on topic Re: Has it been a year ?
Hey Jim; the pleasures mine; like you say; glad to see more fishkeepers here; more pics/suggestions/ideas all round....and 12 tanks in 12 months is incredible! :laugh:

regards

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08 Jul 2011 22:34 #3 by derek (Derek Doyle)
Replied by derek (Derek Doyle) on topic Re: Has it been a year ?

fishkeeping has certainly moved on since my last stint - the level of knowledge and expertise amongst people is really outstanding and the willingness to share hasn't been diluted by time.

Jim.

interesting observation jim and sets up a debate nicely.
although there are lots of new and enthuasiastic fishkeepers who will hopefully stay with the hobby, i don't believe the hobby is in a better state than when you were last active 10 or so years ago. a lot of the older heads with massive hard earned knowledge have either died or retired and not all of the more recent happenings and trends are in our best interests.
the internet although it can be a great asset is full of misinformation and is only really valuable to those who have sufficient knowledge to accurately filter what they are googling.
new and exotic species are more easily obtained but the quality of fish is not always what it could be.
equipment is in many cases better but the old fishkeepers could build and repair tanks and filters and spent more time actually studying their fish before the internet, skysport and 24 hour tv revolution.
commercialism has taken a massive hold and is not always best for us fishkeepers. before if good quality fish were bred the shops would prefer to take this fully acclimated stock in preference to the imports. now this is rarely the case and this can curtail the learning curve which builds the husbandry skills.
anyway there are as always the pros and cons, so lets hear the views.
30 tanks specialise in african cichlids, angelfish and various catfish

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08 Jul 2011 22:53 - 08 Jul 2011 22:54 #4 by Acara (Dave Walters)
Replied by Acara (Dave Walters) on topic Re: Has it been a year ?
Agree with you Derek. I first started as a 13yr old back in about '85,and I lost a lot of my fish for no known reason(then,I know now). I know now it was lack of sufficient filtration,all I had was a hang on the back filter,with a bit of floss in it. I knew nothing of biological filtration,but how would I? All that was available to me was a couple of Dr. Axelrod's Atlas of Freshwater Aquarium Fishes,basically just picture guides,in the local library. There was no magazines,internet,etc. We certainly weren't handed the money youngsters are these days,and every cent I had was hard earned. I was as passionate as hell,and carried the atlas around the house with me,but soon gave up,other interests came along. It wasn't for another 20 years that I got back into it,mainly through a friend here in Ireland,and I have to say,without the internet,I would never have learned so much,or met the people I have(some I'd rather.... :laugh: ) I'm still not a great fish-keeper,I've learnt a few things the hard,and wrong,way,and no doubt due to my pig-headedness I will continue to do so,but that passion is still there,ask my poor widow!
Technology,and with it,the internet,and the demand for more and cheaper,have bought great advances to the hobby,but,alas,have also bought a lot of dis-advantages,many of which you mention. But,as you say,it's up to us to try and filter through it.
always on the lookout for interesting corys.pm me if you know off any!
Last edit: 08 Jul 2011 22:54 by Acara (Dave Walters).

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08 Jul 2011 23:21 - 08 Jul 2011 23:23 #5 by wylam (Stuart Sexton)
Replied by wylam (Stuart Sexton) on topic Re: Has it been a year ?
Derek.[/quote]the internet although it can be a great asset is full of misinformation and is only really valuable to those who have sufficient knowledge to accurately filter what they are googling. [/quote]

I agree with this totally,I stumbled my way through loads of websites and forums looking for information, not to mention going into to many different pet and fish shops.All seemed to have different ways of doing things and different points of view.My complete lack of knowlage meant that i didn't know who or what to believe.

my father kept fish for a long time when i was younger back in the 80's.He knew nothing of the science behind the hobby, the water was changed when the glass went green.I remember it well all the fish into a big pot in the kitchen sink. the whole tank was emptied the glass was scraped clean and all the stones were washed.tank was filled with "untreated" tap water and back in went the fish, some of which lasted over ten years.

Do you guys think there is maybe too much emphasis placed on cycling these days? And is it nessesary to place so much importance in it?If so did the fish we have back in the 80's live a horrible life full of stress and discomfort?

Cheers Stuart.
Multi tasking: Screwing up more than one thing at a time.
Last edit: 08 Jul 2011 23:23 by wylam (Stuart Sexton).

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09 Jul 2011 01:34 #6 by JohnH (John)
Replied by JohnH (John) on topic Re: Has it been a year ?
Stuart,
It's not altogether easy to say, but I think 'yes' is the answer to your question - they did have a life of misery, I'm sure.
I personally don't think too much emphasis is placed on tank and water cycling. Our fish didn't choose to come to our houses so we owe it to them to create the very best environment for them that we can.
Thirty years ago we knew a lot less than we do now and doubtless in another thirty years we will know even more - but we can only keep our fish to the best of our ability and probably thirty years ago what we were doing was the best we were able to - but that was then!
We have to move with the times, even older lads like myself, and these times demand cycling. A bit of a 'chore' for newcomers - I agree - but for now it's the only way but may not be for too much longer...

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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09 Jul 2011 08:56 #7 by wylam (Stuart Sexton)
Replied by wylam (Stuart Sexton) on topic Re: Has it been a year ?
The poor fish lol, the 80's must have been a bad time for them.I wouldn't say it's a chore tough, now it's a big part of the hobby and something that needs to be done, to give them a good life.And its good to learn new things along the way.

Cheers Stuart.

PS it beats the hell out of my old hobby, world of war craft, alot of time wasted on that with little or nothing to show for it in the end.
Multi tasking: Screwing up more than one thing at a time.

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09 Jul 2011 09:27 - 09 Jul 2011 09:29 #8 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re: Has it been a year ?

PS it beats the hell out of my old hobby, world of war craft, alot of time wasted on that with little or nothing to show for it in the end.


Holy Crap ! So well put, my "other half" has three Kids, I was only saying to her recently that so much of their time is wasted on the Xbox but truth be known, if it wasn't for my PS2, psp AND Xbox motion sickness problem, I'd be competing with them well into the small hours, I was a Formula 1 nut years ago and would catch myself looking at the Clock at 4.30 in the Morning and feeling guilty for wasting good sleeping time !

With Fishkeeping, this can be as time absorbing but at least you are dealing with living things, getting great excercise via Water changes and meeting People whether in your LFS or other hanging with other Hobbyists.

YOU CAN NEVER OVERDO CYCLING !

Kev.
Last edit: 09 Jul 2011 09:29 by stretnik (stretnik).

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