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
My first planted tank - Iwagumi
- dcb (David B)
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Just thought I'd post some pictures of my first planted tank.
It feels like it's been ages in planning so delighted to finally have something to show for my work

I hope the pictures upload fine (it's also my fist time uploading pictures).
Let me know what you think. Any constructive criticism is very welcome.
dcb
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- Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
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Jay
Location: Finglas, North Dublin.
Life
may not be the party we hoped for, but while we
are here we might as well dance.
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- dyco619 (steve carmody)
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and just for you chris heres a video of my new tank..

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- ceech (Desmond Gaynor)
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wow the video of the other i see the childern have a healthy interest in the tank

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- dar (darren curry)
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finally, someone showed something really kick-ass (f ****** great.) Ladies and Gentlemen learn, no f****** sunk helicopters, shipwrecks, and other crap - pure nature. DCB I love you man
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cheers
chris
nice to see alcohol has not gone out of fashion. are you on the sauce chris lol
Check out the angling section, it is fantastic
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- Valerie (Valerie)
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@ DCB - This tank is looking great - make sure to update the pictures on this thread when the plants are getting bigger.
What kind of fish are you thinking about adding in there ?
Thanks
Valerie

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- dar (darren curry)
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Check out the angling section, it is fantastic
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- dyco619 (steve carmody)
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- dcb (David B)
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Lol, love the Disney land plastic-fest! You wouldn't want a hangover looking at that tank.
In terms of stocking I was thinking Harlequin Rasboras, Otocinclus and Red Cherry Shrimp.
Galaxy Rasboras only just lost out to the Harlequins. Great looking fish though!
The plants are only in for a week so it'll be a little while before I'll add any fish or inverts.
HC is a nightmare planting by the way.
I'll update this with pics soon, wish me luck.
dcb
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- Dejwys (Deividas K.)
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- Jambomac (James McConville)
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Good work can't wait to see draco's aquascaping haven't noticed any pics probably just me though?
“A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.”
quote Bruce Lee
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- Kopidol (Mark)
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- dcb (David B)
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@Kopidol
The substrate is ADA Amazonia New & ADA Power Sand Special. I got the sand from the lfs, unlabeled. I'm assuming it’s either off white silica sand, or just plain fine play sand?? Have used it in a previous setup so knew it is safe to use. Regarding the rock used, the honest answer is ... I'm not 100% sure. I think its quartzite?? Passed the tests so far...
@Draco & @Jambomac
Yeah, can't wait to see more pictures of other aquascapes!!
For an update: The tank has been running for just over a week and the first signs of algae are appearing.
I've been performing approx. 15% water changes per day with regular dosing of EasyCarbo and ProFito with a 6hr photo period. Let’s hope that these algae don't turn into a persistent problem once the plants grow and spread. I don't plan on adding otos until the hairgrass has created a nice carpet.
Will post more pics once visible changes can be seen; let’s hope it won’t be a carpet of algae.
dcb
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- Jim (Jim Lawlor)
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Seriously though - fair play to you for going for it - it looks absolutely brilliant - well worthy of a couple of pages in PFK
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