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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

80L coldwater tank

  • Alex (Alex)
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19 Apr 2012 21:27 - 19 Apr 2012 21:29 #1 by Alex (Alex)
80L coldwater tank was created by Alex (Alex)
This tank is finally coming together so i thought id post a pic..

The floating plants are Azolla fern and duckweed. Spider plants sticking out of the water and Gaint Vallis in the centre.

Right now i have some Golden WCMM but i'm eventually going to put an axolotl in there and put the fish in my pond.. probably in a few weeks.


Last edit: 19 Apr 2012 21:29 by Alex (Alex).

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20 Apr 2012 11:32 #2 by anglecichlid (ciaran hogan)
im seriously considering doing one of these tanks.when you say coldwater would that one be at room temp(which is lovely btw)?and if i was to do one what sort of fish and plants should i look out for?

Anyone with a aquarium can keep fish,
But it takes real skill to be a fish keeper,


And it's spongeBob,
SpongeBob lives in a pineapple under the sea
BLANCHARDSTOWN

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20 Apr 2012 14:16 - 20 Apr 2012 18:34 #3 by Alex (Alex)
Replied by Alex (Alex) on topic Re: 80L coldwater tank
Yeah its room temp...

Sure most hardy plants do well in cooler water. Java fern, Anubias, Vallis, Anacharis, Most mosses prefer cooler water....

fish... If you have a large tank weather loaches are good ones.

Paradise fish prefer cooler water and would do fine in room temp. (I currently have one in a planted tank, Temp 22 degrees)

I currently have minnows in the above tank... great little fish for coldwater.

Other fish that do fine in room temp include gold barbs, zebra Danios, guppies....
Last edit: 20 Apr 2012 18:34 by Alex (Alex).

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20 Apr 2012 15:01 #4 by anglecichlid (ciaran hogan)
lovely stuff.you have made up my mind.what direction could you point me in as far as coldwater stock? And what filtration if any are you using?

Anyone with a aquarium can keep fish,
But it takes real skill to be a fish keeper,


And it's spongeBob,
SpongeBob lives in a pineapple under the sea
BLANCHARDSTOWN

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20 Apr 2012 18:29 - 20 Apr 2012 18:31 #5 by Alex (Alex)
Replied by Alex (Alex) on topic Re: 80L coldwater tank
Im using two cheap spongefilters i got on ebay. They work great in lightly stocked/ heavily planted tanks.

(This type) www.ebay.ie/itm/Aquarium-Biochemical-Spo...&hash=item2a1062e09a

Your better off with proper filtration if ye want to properly stock the tank.

What size tank r you thinking of? I think gold barbs are pretty nice and only get around 2.8".. I wouldnt put em in anything less than a 70L though..
Last edit: 20 Apr 2012 18:31 by Alex (Alex).

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20 Apr 2012 20:20 #6 by anglecichlid (ciaran hogan)
i have a 120l there i was thinking of using,i was thinking of going down the walstad variation.what is the wattage on the filters?

Anyone with a aquarium can keep fish,
But it takes real skill to be a fish keeper,


And it's spongeBob,
SpongeBob lives in a pineapple under the sea
BLANCHARDSTOWN

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20 Apr 2012 20:30 #7 by des (des)
Replied by des (des) on topic Re: 80L coldwater tank
wow
that's a really nice cold water tank
love WCMM myself, cool fish, Axolotl are fascinating creatures...
have to say, I think it's probably the nicest cold water tank I've seen
love the plants, looks great
fairplay Alex

Des

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20 Apr 2012 20:39 #8 by BlueRam (Sean Crowe)
looks very well

have something the same on the go but not coldwater as i plan to use for breeding apistos

keep us posted


Sean

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21 Apr 2012 09:01 #9 by Alex (Alex)
Replied by Alex (Alex) on topic Re: 80L coldwater tank
Thanks all for the great comments :woohoo: !!

@anglecichlid Well the two sponge filters are driven by a strong air pump... Eheim (It has two outputs)

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21 Apr 2012 12:16 #10 by JennyF (Jenny F)
OMG that's gorgeous! I have a 60l coldwater with some minnows and weather loaches, but only fake plants and rocks and such - wanted real plants but at the time didnt have the money or experience, and then I moved onto marines.

Absolutly amazing though, what do you have in the tank stock-wise?

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21 Apr 2012 14:36 #11 by Alex (Alex)
Replied by Alex (Alex) on topic Re: 80L coldwater tank
Thanks!

I have 10 Golden White cloud mountain minnows in there.

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21 Apr 2012 16:27 #12 by JennyF (Jenny F)

Thanks!

I have 10 Golden White cloud mountain minnows in there.


I have the same minnows, they're in the breeding mode at the moment, males are at full colour and females fit to burst haha.
Amazing tank! I love a good planted tank even though I've never had one! (Unless a reef counts ...)

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03 May 2012 19:02 #13 by Alex (Alex)
Replied by Alex (Alex) on topic Re: 80L coldwater tank
I popped in some plants from my pond (Anacharis) and changed around the tank a bit.

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03 May 2012 22:23 #14 by BlueRam (Sean Crowe)
looks very well

i would love to do something like this for an south American breeding tank

more and more photos please

ya should take a few more photos for the photo comp

Sean

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03 May 2012 22:29 - 03 May 2012 22:29 #15 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re: 80L coldwater tank

Im using two cheap spongefilters i got on ebay. They work great in lightly stocked/ heavily planted tanks.

(This type) www.ebay.ie/itm/Aquarium-Biochemical-Spo...&hash=item2a1062e09a


Hi Alex, how quickly were they delivered and have you any dimensions of them to give me an idea??

I have kept Galaxy danio, Emerald danio, Danae choprae and Leopard and Zebra danios at 20 deg.

Kev.
Last edit: 03 May 2012 22:29 by stretnik (stretnik).

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03 May 2012 22:29 #16 by BlueRam (Sean Crowe)
by the way mate have u any off that surface plant to spare or could u tell me the name so i can look out for it

Sean

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03 May 2012 22:36 #17 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re: 80L coldwater tank

by the way mate have u any off that surface plant to spare or could u tell me the name so i can look out for it

Sean


Hi Sean, Azolla is a potential invasive species but a cracker, in cold Winters, it will turn the most beautiful shades of Red and orange. It is a native of Eastern America, Carolina etc, where winters can be quite cold. filiculoides is the one in Ireland as an escapee. In an Aquarium it is a fabulous remover of Nitrates etc.

Kev.

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03 May 2012 22:52 #18 by BlueRam (Sean Crowe)

by the way mate have u any off that surface plant to spare or could u tell me the name so i can look out for it

Sean


Hi Sean, Azolla is a potential invasive species but a cracker, in cold Winters, it will turn the most beautiful shades of Red and orange. It is a native of Eastern America, Carolina etc, where winters can be quite cold. filiculoides is the one in Ireland as an escapee. In an Aquarium it is a fabulous remover of Nitrates etc.

Kev.


thanks mate would this last/trive in a heated Aquarium?

if so ill defo get some as love the look off it

Sean

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04 May 2012 00:16 - 04 May 2012 00:19 #19 by Alex (Alex)
Replied by Alex (Alex) on topic Re: 80L coldwater tank
Thanks Lads!! Yeah deffo gonna snap a few shots for the photo comp.

Hi Alex, how quickly were they delivered and have you any dimensions of them to give me an idea?


I got them around 3 years ago so im to sure but usually its around 2 weeks (3 weeks tops) if they are coming from Asia which is cheapest. The filter in the link which is the exact same type as mine is 14cm x 14.5cm x 4.8cm.

by the way mate have u any off that surface plant to spare or could u tell me the name so i can look out for it?


As Stretnic pointed out its an invasive species... well It invaded my pond a few years back and im always throwing the stuff out every few weeks during the summer. I wont be around for 2 weeks as i have exams goin on in galway but after that im happy te give you as much of the stuff as you want. Azolla fern is also a super food, really healthy... you can boil it and eat the stuff :laugh:.

thanks mate would this last/trive in a heated Aquarium?


I tried it 2 years ago and it never thrived in my tropical tank... I didnt die but i never noticed much growth and it didnt look all that healthy, I removed it after a while. It does best in cooler water alright.

Quick Vid of the male Minnows havin a scrap.
Last edit: 04 May 2012 00:19 by Alex (Alex).

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04 May 2012 20:24 #20 by seamusmacc (Jimmy Chang)
wow, it's very impressive, well done Alex

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06 May 2012 22:56 - 06 May 2012 22:57 #21 by Melander (Andreas Melander)
Last edit: 06 May 2012 22:57 by Melander (Andreas Melander).

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06 May 2012 22:56 #22 by Melander (Andreas Melander)
Very, very nice looking tank! I especially like how the light come across with shaded areas created by the floating plants.

I would not have guessed it was coldwater unless you said it.


Melander

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08 May 2012 14:56 #23 by Alex (Alex)
Replied by Alex (Alex) on topic Re: 80L coldwater tank
The sand i used has already been in a few tanks and has pebbles, snail shells and all types of stuff in it.
I decided to filter everything out using a siv and it looks a lot cleaner now. i also added some stones.

Before..

After...

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03 Jun 2012 23:17 - 03 Jun 2012 23:18 #24 by Alex (Alex)
Replied by Alex (Alex) on topic Re: 80L coldwater tank
Well i might as well finish this thread off.

Couldnt get my hands on a brown Axolotl so i went tropical and stuck a heater in...

Last edit: 03 Jun 2012 23:18 by Alex (Alex).

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04 Jun 2012 16:35 #25 by ck1 (chris)
Replied by ck1 (chris) on topic Re: 80L coldwater tank
very nice setup.looks alot bigger than 80l in the pictures.some mosss on the stones would be nice

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