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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

tip for subdued lighting

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14 Mar 2014 12:11 #1 by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
So my cave tank is empty, cleaned out and the back is painted. Now comes the hard part - making it look good (or in my case, making it not look $h!t).

As I was putting the lid and lights back on a brainwave hit me! As you can imagine, I was unprepared and needed a lie down after, but once I'd recovered i tested my new theory.

I want a subdued lighting arrangement for the new setup and I'd been considering several possibilities. One was placing PVC tubing over the bulbs and making a few holes in it for a spotlight effect. Another wad creating a tinted screen to place underneath them. I hit on a much simpler solution though.

I turned the reflectors upside down.

Yes, i may get blinded every time i open the hood and as a consequence need laser eye surgery in later life, but that's a price I'm willing for the HSE to pay!

The effect is perfect; dim, soft light that will presumably be slightly dimmer again once it's full of water. I may use some LED spots later to highlight a few features but I'll see how it looks first. I'll try and post a photo later. I tried to take one this morning but in daylight it still looks like a fully lit 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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14 Mar 2014 14:49 - 14 Mar 2014 14:53 #2 by hammie (Neil Hammerton)
Out of curiosity, would you use a yellow (soft) mini spot and make it look like an old flooded mine shaft?

(something like this only not so bright) www.underwaterwarehouse.com/images/categories/C4095-1.jpg

To get the effect, you could use black sand/gravel (fine stuff) and put a skattering of lighter sand thru it.......

I think i know what effect your going for and this might fit in well with it?
Last edit: 14 Mar 2014 14:53 by hammie (Neil Hammerton).

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14 Mar 2014 16:09 #3 by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
I have a few Marina LED spots which are quite weak and have exactly that shaft-of-light effect. I think only 3-4 will be needed to give the effect i want.

I'm not a huge fan of mixing gravel/sand. It never seems to work out like I want it to. At the moment I'm split between using about an inch or so of silver sand (inert and easy to keep clean) and actual river gravel. The only real downside of using river gravel is that it isn't inert. It's mostly granite but there's always a fair bit of marble and limestone un it too.

The overall effect is to be a tank that is best viewed in the evening with the room lights out.

"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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