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
New 70L Moss Tank
- Alex (Alex)
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Its been a while since i posted here, Iv finally set up a new tank after a long break n thought id pop up some pictures and do some updates.
I made a moss Wall (Java Moss) for the tank a few days ago, Other plants include Vallis which i hope will eventually cover the filter and Marimo balls. Iv also ordered frogbit and anubias Nana.
I made a DIY C02 Reactor the other day and im going to be dosing the tank with liquid ferts..
Gonna get some cherry shrimp in a week or two and once they start breeding im gonna get a fish to control the population... Maybe CP Danios, Killifish or dwarf gourami.
Anyways hope ya like it!!!

I cycled the tank with prawns... Smells Like @@@@@ but it does the job! Its been set up for a little under 3 weeks now.
I got the Moss Wall fairly cheap of ebay... Easy enough to make too!!
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- AquaticGardenDan (Daniel Madziag)
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What mosses You've use for it?
Good luck with it.
Dan.
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- Alex (Alex)
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Its Java moss.
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- ghart (Greg Hart)
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Looking good. I seem to recall someone on the forum may have mentioned that the Marimo balls are good for reducing Nitrates in the tank. If this is true I would consider buying some for my setup.
Any comments from the forum members on this.
Just curious .. The picture you use for your logo. Is this a picture of a tank you have or had?
Greg
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- Alex (Alex)
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Yeah thats my old 800L tank. Sadly i had to take it down last summer.
Here is a little vid if ya wanna see it
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- ghart (Greg Hart)
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I love the tank layout. The big Pleco hand feeding was great. This must have been a favourite of yours.
Just on the plants what were the 2 smaller plants in the foreground. I assume the background are Giant Vallis and the one on the left was java fern.
Thanks for sharing.
Greg
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- Alex (Alex)
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Two smaller plants are Amazon swords.
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- Mike53 (Michael)
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Mike
Ps I take it you have two sheets of mesh and have wedged your moss between the two.

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- dave k (david)
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.·´¯`·.. >`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸>
>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·...¸>
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- ger310 (Ger .)
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Ger
What do you call a three legged Donkey?
A Wonkey....duh ha

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- Alex (Alex)
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What you need:
-Two pieces of plastic or wire mesh.
-Cable ties
-Suction cups
-Moss
-Stanly knife, cutting board and a ruler
Method:
Step 1. Measure the area you want to place the moss wall and cut the two pieces of mesh to size using a stanly knife.
Step 2. Overlap the two pieces of mesh and cut little square holes around the corners and centre big enough to fit the suction cups in place
Step 3. Cover one peice of mesh in Java moss and place the other piece of mesh over it.
Step 4. Carefully push the suction cups through the holes you previously made.
Step 5. finally you need to secure the two peices of mesh together. I find the esiest method is to use cable ties. Secure the corners first and then tie a couple throughout the centre. You can also use fishing line or wire to do this.
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- Mike53 (Michael)
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- Mike53 (Michael)
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I took your advice and ordered some mesh off eBay and hopefully should get it this week.
Gonna give it a go with some Xmas moss and some weeping moss, they had a good selection in FFF the other day so got a couple of boxes.
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- Alex (Alex)
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Yeah weeping moss is gonna look great!! throw up some pics when ye got it setup.
I stuck a little anubias nana on the bogwood.
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- smitas5 (Marius Smitas)
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I'd say it was hard to let go of the tank like that? was it high maintenance?All plants will reduce nitrates alright... I cant say Marimo balls would be the best as they grow very very slowly... But they certainly do help.
Yeah thats my old 800L tank. Sadly i had to take it down last summer.
Here is a little vid if ya wanna see it
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- Mike53 (Michael)
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Hopefully should recieve this week.
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- Alex (Alex)
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- Alex (Alex)
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- Melander (Andreas Melander)
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There is some irony in that you cycled the tank using prawns(which I think smell lovely:)) and now their relatives are living in there.
Melander
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- ghart (Greg Hart)
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Looks great.
What is the name of the floating plants with their roots reaching down.
Greg
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- Alex (Alex)
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The floating plants are called frogbit!
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- woodstock500 (Robert Glascott)
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- Alex (Alex)
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Cheers!
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- Alex (Alex)
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- Melander (Andreas Melander)
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I know you have hidden the blue tube for the air stone but I would see If I could find a black one.
Continue to keep us posted!
Melander
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- JSleator (Jason Sleator)
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They are with doubt my fav fish. Have to try that.
The vid has only further fueled my inspiration further as i restart the hobby after a 6 year break.
I saw those torpedo barbs for sale the other day. 20 yo yo each for juves, and the colour was nothing like in the vid.
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- Alex (Alex)
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I decided to get a male paradise fish today. He is only a young male so he still has lots of colouring up and growing to do.
The moss wall is coming along great. Took a while to start growing but now im getting loads of growth every week.
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- Alex (Alex)
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- jeff (Jeff Scully)
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All plants will reduce nitrates alright... I cant say Marimo balls would be the best as they grow very very slowly... But they certainly do help.
Yeah thats my old 800L tank. Sadly i had to take it down last summer.
Here is a little vid if ya wanna see it
WOW thats cool
Where the tongue slips, it speaks the truth.
A life making mistakes is not only more honourable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing at all.
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