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
Where should I buy my tropical fish?
- DaveyH (Dave Horan)
- Offline
- Junior Member
-
- Posts: 57
- Thank you received: 0
I recently set up a 25 gallon tropical tank, at the moment there are 5 random guppys I bought at the same store I bought the tank...but...
I would like to fill the tank with good quality fish - where should I shop in or near Dublin?
Thanks,
Dave
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
-
- Visitor
-
Sometimes it depends on what species of fish you are looking for.
Never buy fish from a tank where you can see sick or dead fish. If the shop runs a centralized filtration system, give the entire shop a miss
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- Acara (Dave Walters)
- Offline
- Moderator
-
- Posts: 1048
- Thank you received: 28
Ask what guarantee the shop has regarding live fish.
Like I said,the sponsors on here are all pretty spot on and I would buy fish from any of them.
Good luck with your purchasing.
Dave
always on the lookout for interesting corys.pm me if you know off any!
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- Anthony (Anthony)
-
- Visitor
-
If the shop runs a centralized filtration system, give the entire shop a miss
That will rule most of the shops then.
Nearly all the shops have installed new centralised systems but
they are restricted to about 9 tanks each.
It saves a lot of money regarding heating.
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
-
- Visitor
-
Unfortunately a lot of shops don't quarateen fish before they put them out for sale and you will get fatalities due to transport stress. But I'd rather be safe than sorry, though
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- Anthony (Anthony)
-
- Visitor
-
. But I'd rather be dave than sorry, though
Well Dave,
That wold rule you out of buyng from AV, the new Wackers, Petstop,Aquarium Solutions and the new Kinsealy set up.
All these run seperate centralised systems.
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- Peter OB (Peter O'Brien)
-
- Offline
- Senior Member
-
- Posts: 410
- Thank you received: 0
I'd rather buy from a shop with a centralised system rather than a load of tiny tanks with undergravel filters in each one.
Fair enough disease can spread from tank to tank easily but I wouldn't go as far as saying to avoid the shop completely.
But hey different strokes.... yada yada yada
Smoke me a Kipper, I’ll be back for breakfast.
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
-
- Visitor
-
I hope you will correct me on this one. Are you trying to tell me that they have all sorts of species swimming in the same water? Say Malawis and South American dwarfs at the same water parameters run through one filtration system?
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- MonsterFish (Monster Fish)
- Offline
- Junior Member
-
- Posts: 44
- Thank you received: 0
This means that not all species are in the same water, any number of banks can be present. Fish only share water with those in the same bank as themselves. This way fish with similar requirements can be housed in a single bank, while the bank next to it can have completely different parametres.
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
-
- Visitor
-

Ok if you see sick/dead fish don't buy from the tanks that run on the same filter ( I know it might be hard to tell which tanks run on the same fikter if you can't look behind the tanks)
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- Fishanticskid (Fishanticskid)
-
- Visitor
-
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
-
- Visitor
-
Interesting thoughts on the centralised systems guys but want too throw a cat amongst you. If the store is any good they will honour there stock if they die they will replace them !!! (with a water sample). if a centralised system is maintained properly you should not have any prob’s with fish due to the volume of water in a centralised system combined with the benefits of p/skimmers,Uv,wet and dry filters etc …… all of which fair out way anything you could put into a holding tank
In an ideal world, yes. But I have seen a lot of shops with a centralized filtration system that was plain awful. UV bulbs not working or not changed in Gods knows how long, etc. An UV filter will kill most bacteria/protozoa if run correctly but very often flow rates are too high and render it ineffective and thus a centralized system is a very easy and effective way to spread disease.
I used to work wholesale and all new fish were quarantined for several weeks, treated as and when required and only then added to the centralized system. Best practice I guess
Please Log in to join the conversation.