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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

Do I need snails?

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30 May 2013 19:35 #1 by fishjam45 (Colin Bolton)
Hello all,

I have a 240ltr freshwater setup with 6 Discus, 5 Angels, 2 Corys, 2 Killifish, 1 Pleco and a small shoal of Cardinals.
I also have a lot of fish waste (poo everywhere) on the substrate, which i dont have the time to "hoover" out everyday - I find this needlessly distresses the fish too. So, my question is - What critter could I add to my set up to help process the fish faeces? Are snails an option?

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30 May 2013 22:24 #2 by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
I have Malaysian trumpet snails in some of my tank and I swear by them. However, I'm not sure they'd help you all that much. Although they do eat waste, snail are not especially coprophagic (in other words, not shit eaters). Also, snails can sometimes reproduce very quickly an you end up with hundreds. Some snails, like larger Sulawesi rabbit snails, reproduce quite slowly and are maybe a better choice. If your tank is soft/acidic parameters it mightn't suit snails either. Is your tank planted?

"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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31 May 2013 07:37 #3 by fishjam45 (Colin Bolton)
Cheers
So what I'm looking for is "coprophagic" then, do you know of anything that falls into that category?

My tank is planted and has a pH of 7.2-7.6

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31 May 2013 09:25 #4 by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
I wasn't very clear in my last post. Since most fish waste contains nutrients and even particles of undigested food, many snails will work away on it. But they won't do half as much in the event of there being other better options, so be very careful you're not overfeeding. In any case, they'll help but maybe not solve your problem. Another consideration would be that many fish meds contain copper which could wipe out the snails.

If you do decide to try snails MTS won't harm your plants but can breed like buggers. It all depends on how much you like seeing dozens of snail when lights out approaches :blink: . Sulawesi golden rabbit snails don't harm plants either (and breed at a manageable rate) but if your fish are too persistently curious they can be bullied into their shell and stop eating, whereas MTS will hide in the substrate during the day if it's fine enough and so stay out of trouble. Hope this helps you decide

"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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31 May 2013 10:19 #5 by fishjam45 (Colin Bolton)
Thanks very much, I'll be in Seahorse soon and ill have a chat with them too.

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31 May 2013 10:38 #6 by Homer (Kevin)
Replied by Homer (Kevin) on topic Do I need snails?

Hello all,

I have a 240ltr freshwater setup with 6 Discus, 5 Angels, 2 Corys, 2 Killifish, 1 Pleco and a small shoal of Cardinals.
I also have a lot of fish waste (poo everywhere) on the substrate, which i dont have the time to "hoover" out everyday - I find this needlessly distresses the fish too. So, my question is - What critter could I add to my set up to help process the fish faeces? Are snails an option?



A quicker solution would be to get bristle noses instead of a pleco, assuming it is the run of the mill "this will keep your Tank clean" Pleco.... the pleco I am thinking of is the culprit, wads of stringy Poop everywhere.

H.

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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31 May 2013 11:00 #7 by fishjam45 (Colin Bolton)
Exactly! Stringy poop everywhere! I've been watchin the other fish poop and their poop does not look like that.
Could that much seriously come from one 3" Pleco?

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31 May 2013 11:02 #8 by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
Homer is right. Some plecos make a lot of mess and do precious little algae eating. Had a clown pleco that did nothing but foul my tank

"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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31 May 2013 11:20 #9 by fishjam45 (Colin Bolton)
Hmmm good to know ... I think I have a Sailfin Pleco, it's the standard issue you see in every fish shop
I'll put up a pic later?

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31 May 2013 11:26 #10 by Homer (Kevin)
Replied by Homer (Kevin) on topic Do I need snails?
That's the bucko!!! Poop factory!!!!!!

Lots of alternatives if you look around.....

H.

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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31 May 2013 11:38 #11 by fishjam45 (Colin Bolton)
I will defo be lookin around!

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31 May 2013 13:16 #12 by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
Bristlenoses are da bomb. Do three times the work with less of the poop and have much more personality

"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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