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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

Getting started with plants

  • pjq (pjq)
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20 Jan 2007 17:02 #1 by pjq (pjq)
Getting started with plants was created by pjq (pjq)
I saw this collection (90 plants) for less thgan €20- www.java-plants.com/cart/prod-col.asp , it has 18 different plants in the collection and I thought of sharing it with a neighbour . BUT I really dont want to invest a lot of money in lights CO2 and reflectors .
I have a 180l tank with 2*30w T8 6000k 90cm tubes , no reflectors .I have a few plants and they are growing .
Questions;
-Is the collection good value ? Somebody said that there are also German shops online . Even if I only
-If I put a reflector on the lights will I double the useful light as claimed by some reflectors ? Where to find them at a reasonable price ? Would this allow me to say , get 12 of the 18 plants to grow .
-If I wasn't so tight , how would I prioritize , Reflector v stronger light tube ? will I need CO2 if I increase the light ?
I would appreciate any advice that will allow me to have a few more interesting plants , without spending time ( or money) researching the issue plant by plant .

pjq

180l 4guppy 2 neon t 3 danio 3 platy 4 prisella t 2 molly

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  • apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
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22 Jan 2007 06:04 #2 by apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
Replied by apistodiscus (apistodiscus) on topic Re: Getting started with plants
hi,

I can't comment on the plants collection. I haven't ordered of them.

If your tank is a Rio 180 it will be worth your while to remodell the tank hood somewhat. I would actually build a new hood. Much cheaper in the longrun. The 90cm 30 Watt bulbs are not standard bulbs and cost a fortune (around the 20€ mark a pop if I remember correctly) You can use the starter unit and sockets that come with your tank. I would also install a second pair of bulbs. The double starter unit should cost you around 40€.
Use ordinary run of the mill flourescent light bulbs. One daylight and one warm white or 2 and 2 respectively.

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22 Jan 2007 06:22 #3 by pjq (pjq)
Replied by pjq (pjq) on topic Re: Getting started with plants
Tank is an Aqua El and tubes are philips www.eibmarkt.com/cgi-bin/eibmarkt.storef...d=3685112C1966748218 ,is your advice still to build a new hood :o
What Im looking for is a happy medium , maybe invest in reflectors &/or a better tube and on the other hand cut my cloth to measure regarding the plants that I can grow . Im not just being tight ,, it's just more interesting to read up on plants , fert, and substrate when you have a few plants .
pjq

Ps did you say in another post ,that there are also good German online plant suppliers ?

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22 Jan 2007 07:58 #4 by apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
Replied by apistodiscus (apistodiscus) on topic Re: Getting started with plants
To start off with you might want to try reflectors and see how you are getting on. It might be enough light for the plants you are intending to grow. You should be able to buy reflectors in most LFSs. Jewel make them for their hoods. You can always cut them to size. They are cheap enough.
I don't think that they will double the amount of light as compared with bulbs only but they do make a difference.
You can always upgrade your hood if that doesn't do the trick.
It all depends on the plants you are intending to grow. Red leaved plants generally need more light than green leaved ones.

I will pm you the ebay stores later tis evening where I ordered plants before. However, now may be the wrong time to order since aquatic plants will tolerate cold temperature but not frost

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