Byron Hoskins RIP

[Alice B]

May he rest in peace. Thank you @AbbeysDad for letting us know

 

[sharkweek178]

Fish keeping lost a great mentor and a great advocate for fish. He was passionate for the well being of tropical fish. I'll always be grateful for the knowledge he passed on to me and others that helped us to be better caretakers for our pets.
RIP Byron.

 

[Alice B]

I think all his threads need to go in one forum in memorial, because he had so much and shared so generously

 

[Uberhoust]

He will be missed.

 

[Colin_T]

I have been dreading this since I first saw the post by AbbeysDad and am sorry for taking so long to post here. I have always had problems dealing with death and the end of anything, and I haven't been able to think of what to write, so I will just write how I feel. First off my condolences to Byron's family and friends, and @AbbeysDad who was one of Byron's friends. I hope AbbeysDad and all Byron's family and other friends are holding up as well as can be expected at this time.

Thankyou to AbbeysDad for keeping us informed about Byron's declining health and finally posting this thread about his death. It's not a nice thing for anyone to have to do but you did it well and I'm sure Byron is thankful for you letting us all know. As unpleasant as it is, I'm glad you posted it and we can say farewell to a great member of the fish forum community. Thankyou AbbeysDad.


I never met Byron in person but we talked online here and I'm sure I would have liked him in person just as I liked him on the forum. He was extremely knowledgeable when it came to fish keeping and in particular, keeping South American fishes from the Amazon and surrounding rivers and tributaries. He knew about plants, water quality, feeding fish, and most things fish related. I consider him a brilliant man with a great mind who would help out on the forum just because he wanted to help people keep their fish better. He put the fish first and he did it in a way that didn't make people feel bad about not treating the fish as well as they could. He even taught me a few things about freshwater angelfish and there aren't many people that can teach me anything about fish keeping.

We started keeping fish in a similar way many years ago, with both of us getting small aquariums and struggling to keep fish alive. This was due to shops being unwilling to volunteer information to new fish keepers back in the day. If you didn't know how to keep fish, they weren't going to tell you how. But with patience and persistence we both worked out how to keep fish. Byron has happily passed on his learned knowledge of fish keeping to many people here and their fish and plants have flourished because of his information.

I second @Alice B idea to put Byron's informative threads into a memorial subsection or even just a sticky at the top of the page so people can have easy access to his information. It would take a bit of work from the moderators but would put a lot of useful info in one spot. And if Byron's family doesn't mind, I would like Byron's research papers added to it (assuming we can get them). I'm sure he has written some truly inciteful papers on fish that could provide a lot of knowledge for a lot more people in the future.

With tears in my eyes and a box of tissues nearby, I write this for you.

To Byron Hoskins, I bid yee farewell and hope you are on a new journey in a much better place. Perhaps in an area with lots of rivers, creeks and tributaries surrounded by trees and flowers, with vast numbers of undescribed fish in the water. You have a nice house somewhere nearby with a fish room (or two) and you can collect all the fish you want and study them in the aquariums at your new home. I will miss you as will many others here and am saddened by your passing. You were a good man and someone I considered a friend and an equal when it came to fish keeping. So long my friend, you will be in my prayers along with the other people that have touched me during my life.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I finally feel able to make a comment more than a single word about him.

Over they past number of years I corresponded with Byron via Email and site PMs. We agreed on pretty much everything with one exception- we disagreed on the use of Flourish Excel. He was very opposed to using it and I have used it in multiple tanks for many years. I think the thing that impressed me the most about him was when I learned that he had been working diligently on SeriouslyFish.com to revise many of the species pages. I could never have done that.

My knowledge in the hobby is mostly limited to cycling and a bit about parameters and water chemistry and then the few species I have actually kept. His breadth of knowledge dwarfed mine. I learned more from him than he ever learned from me.

This week on Planetcatfish we got the news that one of the more well liked and respected members there had passed. Both of these fine people was much younger than I am when they left us.

Byron and I also shared one other thing- we both dealt with cancer. Mine was nowhere near as bad as his and my treatments were successful as they caught it early and I have been free of this curse for almost 2 years now.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Just saw this. Sad news indeed. @AbbeysDad Thank you for keeping us posted--I'm sure that isn't easy. Byron is a true legend in the hobby.

 

[DoubleDutch]

RIP Byron. You will be missed !

 

[Slaphppy7]

RIP Byron, you are & will be missed greatly.

 

[GaryE]

I just read this, as I was offline. My condolences to all who knew him personally, but also to all who knew him online. His kindness shone through his writing, and while I wish I had met him him in person, I am glad I met that mind here on the forum. He shared the wealth of knowledge he had, and I see his influence in many of the posts I read here. He had a distinct philosophy when it came to fishkeeping, and I think for those of us who share the views he expressed, we'd do well to consciously carry it forward and develop it in our own ways.

We meet here in a tiny corner of our lives and interests, and we participate in a 'fishkeeper's culture' that has been built by people like Byron. I've missed his voice here for some time, and am sorry he's gone. He was a great teacher, and a great learner.

 

[emeraldking]

Byron and I also shared one other thing- we both dealt with cancer.

Unfortunately, that makes three of us... And I'm still dealing with it for 12 years now. I was hoping that Byron would be blessed with recovering from it. Sadly, that didn't happen. And while I know that I can't do much for him, I've decided to light a candle for him at our basilica.

 

[Oldspartan]

Actually that makes four of us, five if I count my beloved who has defeated the scourge three times beginning at age 19. Mine is not immediately life threatening and responding to treatment. I have no concerns and have follow up in a couple weeks.

 

[sharkweek178]

Something that I'll always remember about Byron was how honest he was. Sometimes he would tell people advice that they didn't want to hear, myself included. But Byron was right. It's easy to tell people what they want to hear. It's tougher to tell them the opposite of that. Byron never shied away from that. He was never mean or rude about it. But he was always frank and honest when it came to telling people if they were doing something that wasn't good for fish.
He didn't just stop at that though. He was always willing to help people explore other options so that they could enjoy fish keeping while the needs of the fish were also met.

 

[Fishfunn]

I have been dreading this since I first saw the post by AbbeysDad and am sorry for taking so long to post here. I have always had problems dealing with death and the end of anything, and I haven't been able to think of what to write, so I will just write how I feel. First off my condolences to Byron's family and friends, and @AbbeysDad who was one of Byron's friends. I hope AbbeysDad and all Byron's family and other friends are holding up as well as can be expected at this time.

Thankyou to AbbeysDad for keeping us informed about Byron's declining health and finally posting this thread about his death. It's not a nice thing for anyone to have to do but you did it well and I'm sure Byron is thankful for you letting us all know. As unpleasant as it is, I'm glad you posted it and we can say farewell to a great member of the fish forum community. Thankyou AbbeysDad.


I never met Byron in person but we talked online here and I'm sure I would have liked him in person just as I liked him on the forum. He was extremely knowledgeable when it came to fish keeping and in particular, keeping South American fishes from the Amazon and surrounding rivers and tributaries. He knew about plants, water quality, feeding fish, and most things fish related. I consider him a brilliant man with a great mind who would help out on the forum just because he wanted to help people keep their fish better. He put the fish first and he did it in a way that didn't make people feel bad about not treating the fish as well as they could. He even taught me a few things about freshwater angelfish and there aren't many people that can teach me anything about fish keeping.

We started keeping fish in a similar way many years ago, with both of us getting small aquariums and struggling to keep fish alive. This was due to shops being unwilling to volunteer information to new fish keepers back in the day. If you didn't know how to keep fish, they weren't going to tell you how. But with patience and persistence we both worked out how to keep fish. Byron has happily passed on his learned knowledge of fish keeping to many people here and their fish and plants have flourished because of his information.

I second @Alice B idea to put Byron's informative threads into a memorial subsection or even just a sticky at the top of the page so people can have easy access to his information. It would take a bit of work from the moderators but would put a lot of useful info in one spot. And if Byron's family doesn't mind, I would like Byron's research papers added to it (assuming we can get them). I'm sure he has written some truly inciteful papers on fish that could provide a lot of knowledge for a lot more people in the future.

With tears in my eyes and a box of tissues nearby, I write this for you.

To Byron Hoskins, I bid yee farewell and hope you are on a new journey in a much better place. Perhaps in an area with lots of rivers, creeks and tributaries surrounded by trees and flowers, with vast numbers of undescribed fish in the water. You have a nice house somewhere nearby with a fish room (or two) and you can collect all the fish you want and study them in the aquariums at your new home. I will miss you as will many others here and am saddened by your passing. You were a good man and someone I considered a friend and an equal when it came to fish keeping. So long my friend, you will be in my prayers along with the other people that have touched me during my life.

An article that was referenced spells the last name as Hosking? Also, an obituary for him may be here: John Byron Hosking obituary
I assume this is the person to whom you are referring.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

@Fishfunn

In lieu of flowers, donations to the Maple Ridge SPCA would be greatly appreciated.

https://spca.bc.ca/locations/maple-ridge/

Ty for the information that led me to the above. I made a donation in Byron's name. I wish it could have been more.