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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

DAY 1

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20 Oct 2006 15:57 #1 by lampeye (lampeye)
DAY 1 was created by lampeye (lampeye)
Just added 30 kilos of live rock to my rio 240....driving back from dunlaoire my brothers car died twice, had to get out and push during rush hour traffic!! any finally got back and put the rock in ....(not its final resting place)

are you supposed to leave the lights off until the tank setlles (levels etc)?
and has anyone used a red sea prizm hang on skimmer on a juwel tank?
im hooking mine up tomorrow and just wanted to check what to cut!

setup is as follows

-1200 lph powerheads x 2
-red sea skimmer
- 2 38 watt tubes with reflectors
- juwel filter box (just for carbon)

deadly buzz.....cant believe how much a pile of rocks are!


lampeye

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20 Oct 2006 17:04 #2 by platty252 (Darren Dalton)
Replied by platty252 (Darren Dalton) on topic Re: DAY 1
Deadly panda. i heard from your Bro that you were going a bit salty :D

I would leave the lights on for maybe 7 or 8 hours a day.
You may get some good algae ect growing on the rock and yes rocks are verry costly.
Cant help you with fiting the skimmer.
What lighting tubes are you using?

I can picture you in a panic pusshing the car .... a good chuckel to myself.
i gotte get this rock home,i gotte get this rock home,i gotte get this rock home, :lol:

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20 Oct 2006 17:29 #3 by gm333 (gm333)
Replied by gm333 (gm333) on topic Re: DAY 1
Looks good! Just like platty said 7-8hrs a day, keep an eye on the rock for unwanted guests, easier to look and find it now before you get it all setup the way you want it then find out you have a pistol shrimp or large bristleworm you dont want in there.

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21 Oct 2006 06:30 #4 by lampeye (lampeye)
Replied by lampeye (lampeye) on topic Re: DAY 1
phoned up the shop today and one of the staff reckoned that im better off with the lights off until the tank is cycled, then run lights full blast for 2 days and then add snails/hermit craps, otherwise he said the algae will go mental.

what do yee think about this??

lampeye

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21 Oct 2006 06:31 #5 by lampeye (lampeye)
Replied by lampeye (lampeye) on topic Re: DAY 1
ps platty....yeah it was a nightmare, nearly went back on the fags! (been on the patches 2 weeks) gas though.

lampeye

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21 Oct 2006 08:36 #6 by Dave (Dave Fallon)
Replied by Dave (Dave Fallon) on topic Re: DAY 1
Well if there isnt any life in the tank, theres no absolute need to run the lights, however running them for a few hours a day will gently build up some algae, just keep an eye on phos and nitrates as a combination of all 3 could leave you with some algae problems. Otherwise it should be fine.

What do you plan to stock it with.

Qui Vivra Verra.

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21 Oct 2006 11:38 #7 by lampeye (lampeye)
Replied by lampeye (lampeye) on topic Re: DAY 1
the tubes arcadia... one marine white and one blue actinic.

not 100 percent on everything but heres o rough list planning to stock with

- pair of clowns
- 1 blennie
- sand sifting gobie or 2
- flame angel fish
- maybe flame hawkfish
- craps snails and shrimp
- star fish
- maybe some blue chromis
- maybe some featherdusters
- maybe a bubble tipped anenome
- maybe some mushroom
- maybe a firefish

not sure yet but wont be going mad on corals

lampeye

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21 Oct 2006 13:05 #8 by gm333 (gm333)
Replied by gm333 (gm333) on topic Re: DAY 1
Only couple of problems I see you might have would be the sand sifting gobies will need agood established sand bed, if your sand was not live when you started the tank I would wait 4-6mnths for the sand to build up enough food for them.
Be cautious on the flame angel, they are nutorious for nipping at corals.

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21 Oct 2006 14:22 #9 by platty252 (Darren Dalton)
Replied by platty252 (Darren Dalton) on topic Re: DAY 1
Panda if you decide to leave the lights on for a couple of hours a day, i would only use the marine white.
The blue actinic will premote to much algae to soon.
I will be changing some of the sand in my tank, so if you want some live sand let me know. This will kick start your sand with all the critters, bactaria ect.

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21 Oct 2006 16:46 #10 by zig (zig)
Replied by zig (zig) on topic Re: DAY 1
Lookin good panda

How much is live rock per kilo lads?

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21 Oct 2006 18:05 #11 by lampeye (lampeye)
Replied by lampeye (lampeye) on topic Re: DAY 1
deadly platty might take u up on the offer..

thanks for the advice on the gobies gm

it could take a few weeks for the tank to settle down as some of the rock wasnt fully cured, but they were big bits i wanted so i took em anyway (bit smelly!) ill probably leave the lights off so... in case it takes 3 weeks or more

prices on live rock vary but fish shops may give u a deal on a set up

fish antics is 375 for a 20 kilo box (350 if u buy over a box)
not sure about aquatic village

fishantics have a deal at the moment... i spent 500 on live rock and got a 100 voucher for livestock (or 50 for dry goods) which is pretty sweet.

had a close call with the skimmer today, something musnt be tight ,so it was leaking (potentily dangerous) going to investigate tomorrow and stick another pic up.

lampeye

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22 Oct 2006 09:12 #12 by lampeye (lampeye)
Replied by lampeye (lampeye) on topic DAY 2


i think i prefer the first set up though!

lampeye

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22 Oct 2006 09:22 #13 by platty252 (Darren Dalton)
Replied by platty252 (Darren Dalton) on topic Re: DAY 1
Wich ever setup you go for in the end make sure the rocks are secure.
When and if you add turbo snails, they can easily tumble the rocks.
They maybe small but nothing stands in their way.
You can use aquarium epoxy to stick the rocks to stop them moving.

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22 Oct 2006 13:14 #14 by gm333 (gm333)
Replied by gm333 (gm333) on topic Re: DAY 1
By the list if fish you have you wont need a lot of swimming room for the fish. Always better to look like you have more rock than you actually do, cheaper this way in the long run.

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30 Nov 2006 15:04 #15 by lampeye (lampeye)
Replied by lampeye (lampeye) on topic Re: DAY 1


ok heres my 3 rd and final aqua scape....finally got it the way i wanted. so far all i have in it is hermit crabs, snails, algae blennie and 3 cleaner shrimp....doing everything really slowly....clown fish next i think...

lampeye

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30 Nov 2006 15:23 #16 by tanks_alot (Denis Coghlan)
Looks great, your third attempt at aquascaping is the best IMO.

Any pics of the inverts or the blennie?

What species of Amphiprion are you thinking of getting?


Make sure to keep us updated!

Lead me not into temptation, For I can find it myself!

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30 Nov 2006 15:36 #17 by lampeye (lampeye)
Replied by lampeye (lampeye) on topic Re: DAY 1
mee too :wink: ...picof blennie in the nov photo comp and the hermit in the photo section

what a nightmare trying to get it right.....but deadly buzz when u do

lampeye

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30 Nov 2006 16:53 #18 by platty252 (Darren Dalton)
Replied by platty252 (Darren Dalton) on topic Re: DAY 1
nice aquascaping. Handy for maintenance.

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30 Nov 2006 17:00 #19 by lampeye (lampeye)
Replied by lampeye (lampeye) on topic Re: DAY 1
do u have any feather dustera platty?

lampeye

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30 Nov 2006 17:17 #20 by platty252 (Darren Dalton)
Replied by platty252 (Darren Dalton) on topic Re: DAY 1
Yes.(not for sale) What do you want to know about them.
I have some spare mushrooms at the moment. Spreading like crazy. :D

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30 Nov 2006 17:20 #21 by lampeye (lampeye)
Replied by lampeye (lampeye) on topic Re: DAY 1
i picked one up today but he hasnt come out of his tube yet....normal or dead?

send us a pic of the shrooms ... might buy some off ya

lampeye

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30 Nov 2006 18:14 #22 by platty252 (Darren Dalton)
Replied by platty252 (Darren Dalton) on topic Re: DAY 1
This is normal. Place it in the sand or in some rock.
Some times they loose their heads, literally. But don't panic if this happens they will grow a new one.

You will find a picture of the mushrooms here;(second last picture) irishfishkeepers.com/forum/viewtopic.php...rder=asc&start=0

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30 Nov 2006 18:28 #23 by Deeco (Deeco)
Replied by Deeco (Deeco) on topic Re: DAY 1
Tank looks great panda man well done

You know yourself

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01 Dec 2006 04:53 #24 by lampeye (lampeye)
Replied by lampeye (lampeye) on topic Re: DAY 1
cool platty....should i bury the tube in the sand?

lampeye

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01 Dec 2006 06:08 #25 by ChrisM (ChrisM)
Replied by ChrisM (ChrisM) on topic Re: DAY 1
They all look class but you are right,it is the best aquascape.Ill bet you $50 it will be changed by Christmas?????

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01 Dec 2006 11:55 #26 by platty252 (Darren Dalton)
Replied by platty252 (Darren Dalton) on topic Re: DAY 1
Panda only bury the base in the sand. It will settle in itself.

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