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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

Community tank, 30+ years running

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22 Dec 2012 13:05 #1 by Melander (Andreas Melander)
I have posted photos of this tank before but took a new one yesterday.

The tank is about 360 litres, run by two internal filters; one Eheim and one unidentified The tank is heated by a Jäger heater.

This tank was bought second hand 1980, it was moved once in the early eighties and had a leak once also in the early eighties. Apart from those disturbances the tank has been running since.

I would probably have chosen a different background and substrate today but has it been there for that long it can be there for while more.

The inhabitants have changed; the main difference has been if there has been Discus or Angelfish inhabiting the tank.

The stocking today:
5 Angelfish
around 100 Cardinal tetras
aAround 20 Platys
3 Bristlenoses

I was saddened not to find the 10-15 year old Banjo catfish I spotted last year, I hope it’s still around in there though.

The interior has been the same, the small piece of bogwood in the middle once took up 1/3 of the tank and the Anubias originated from one plant.

I really, really regret not having taken one photo of it per year as it would have been very cool to have seen the evolution of the tank. This is something ill try to do with other tanks from now on and that could be an idea for fishkeepers in general.

Melander

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22 Dec 2012 13:23 #2 by igmillichip (ian millichip)
Cool.

ian

Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.

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22 Dec 2012 13:43 #3 by JustinK (Justin Kelly)
Thats nice setup. Talk about a mature tank :-)
Is there really 100 cardinals. I got to 40 on a quick count :-)

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22 Dec 2012 14:36 #4 by Melander (Andreas Melander)
Cheers!

@Justin: I don't know, let's say that there is supposed to be 100 Cardinals ;)

Melander

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22 Dec 2012 15:22 #5 by Tigger (Abe Bardez)
That is a funky background Melander. :cool: What is made of?

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23 Dec 2012 12:13 #6 by Melander (Andreas Melander)

That is a funky background Melander. :cool: What is made of?


It's a fake :-(( It's one of those pre-made paper backgrounds what were popular, I think it's a photo of bark on trees.

There were actually a few of those bark pieces lying around below the tank for awhile and they would have looked great but I have no idea how you could made them stay below water as they were very similar to cork. They ended going in with my snakes at the time instead.

Andreas

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23 Dec 2012 14:11 - 23 Dec 2012 17:02 #7 by SpiderMonkey (Mark O'Neill)
30 years running! Wow what a accomplishment well done that's a lot of work and I'd say it's a record for a fishtank lifespan too, you should ring
Guinness World Records ;)


Mark
Last edit: 23 Dec 2012 17:02 by SpiderMonkey (Mark O'Neill).

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23 Dec 2012 16:34 #8 by Melander (Andreas Melander)
Thanks Mark! It's not my doing though. It's my fathers tank, we had it together when i was a kid but since I moved out 97 or 98 he has run it himself. I still have my way with it during Christmas times though :)

Here's the same in UV light:



Melander

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23 Dec 2012 17:04 #9 by SpiderMonkey (Mark O'Neill)

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23 Dec 2012 18:33 #10 by Patrick888 (Patrick Drummey)
Lovely story and lovely tank. Really like to see these tanks that have been around for a long time. Wonderful spectacle and the UV makes it "pop". Well done to both yourself and your dad

Patrick

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24 Dec 2012 00:08 #11 by Melander (Andreas Melander)
Cheers lads, appreciated.

Yeah the UV is great, it makes it look like a different tank. It's just the rampart algae growth it can create that keeps it from being used more.

Melander

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29 Dec 2012 00:02 #12 by jeff (Jeff Scully)
Fantastic looking, 30yrs has me thinking no way still the same silicone has it been resealed a few times, or is it one of these old school hard ass tanks, ha, built like an Army Tank, great story too and brought back some great memories of my own father with his old dodgy tanks (that were resealed a number of times)

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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30 Dec 2012 18:29 #13 by Melander (Andreas Melander)
@Jeff: Thanks Jeff!

I have been thinking about the same myself. The tank was resealed once due to a leak which happened as a child (not me) was banging the corner of the tank with a hammer. Must be a hard ass tank.. I have resealed tanks below 5 years old several times now.

The tank has one of those aluminium frames and I wonder if this will lower the pressure on the silicone?

Another point is that the tank has not been moved or been left dry, I suspect that it would need to be resealed a.s.a.p . if it was to be moved or left standing dry for awhile.

Talking to my father about it he mentioned some tanks he had before without silicone, using something similar to putty or lute(?) for windows.

Melander

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30 Dec 2012 20:08 #14 by m4r10 (m4r10)
I remember those types of tanks with metal frames and sealed with glazing putty when my older brother used to keep fish. As you say, the key with them is not to let the putty dry, otherwise it comes off in chunks and the whole tank needs resealing. They weren't the best looking tanks and did weight almost a tonne :blush: , but were very sturdy.

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31 Dec 2012 23:18 #15 by hammie (Neil Hammerton)
Remember an old family friend having a tank sealed with glazing putty when I was a kid......
He might actually still be using it now, but its 20 years since I would have been in his house!!!!!

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01 Jan 2013 01:27 #16 by MichaeLO (MichaeLO)
Replied by MichaeLO (MichaeLO) on topic Community tank, 30+ years running
..cant find right word.....lots of memories comeback.THXX

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05 Jan 2013 19:14 #17 by jeff (Jeff Scully)

@Jeff: Thanks Jeff!

I have been thinking about the same myself. The tank was resealed once due to a leak which happened as a child (not me) was banging the corner of the tank with a hammer. Must be a hard ass tank.. I have resealed tanks below 5 years old several times now.

The tank has one of those aluminium frames and I wonder if this will lower the pressure on the silicone?

Another point is that the tank has not been moved or been left dry, I suspect that it would need to be resealed a.s.a.p . if it was to be moved or left standing dry for awhile.

Talking to my father about it he mentioned some tanks he had before without silicone, using something similar to putty or lute(?) for windows.

Melander


Yeah sure it wasnt you hahaha, hard ass tank alright
if i seen one of the kids near one of my tanks with a hammer i think my heart would stop
i remember now them tanks with the aluminium frames, jasus that yrs ago

tanks without silicone is very scary never heard of using putty thats mad

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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27 Jan 2015 13:03 - 27 Jan 2015 13:15 #18 by Melander (Andreas Melander)
It's has been awhile lads, but I'm still lurking around :evil:

Just wanted to share the evolution of this tank:

File Attachment:


Changes:
- ca. 70 Cardinal tetras went missing!!! (I blame the Angels)
- x number of platies
+ 20 Black Widow Tetras
+ 4 Hypancistrus sp. L400 (my contribution)
+ 1 Cryptocoryne (thanks Bart)
+ 1 large birch branch

I saw the tank for two weeks during Christmas and the two pairs of angels were breeding as well as the Ancistrus sp. L100s. Nothing survives though which is a bit of a shame. Still hoping to see a a few Ancistrus survivors one day as it is a rare enough species.

Possible future changes that we have talked about (things go slow with this one):
* Adding a layer of fine sand at the front to cater for some Cories.
* More roots, especially at the top level, more shelter at the top would allow for some interesting options regarding stock.
* With the cats originating from the Xingu, one idea could be to slowly move towards that direction with other stock, then again half of the beauty of this tank is that it's an old fashioned community which I'm not sure that we want to mess with.
*Perhaps a top dwelling species of some sort, hatchet fish maybe?


Thanks for watching, hope everyone is keeping well out there!

Andreas
Last edit: 27 Jan 2015 13:15 by Melander (Andreas Melander).

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27 Jan 2015 15:00 #19 by alan 64 (alan)
deadly I wonder if there are any older tanks on here and it looks great

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27 Jan 2015 15:05 #20 by JohnH (John)
Thanks for the update Andreas.

John

Location:
N. Tipp

We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.


ITFS member.



It's a long way to Tipperary.

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27 Jan 2015 15:42 #21 by Aroshni (Lydia Olivera)
Amazing tank Andreas, first time I hear of birch wood in a tank!

Yeah you can blame the angels...bought 12 lampeyes and the angels ate them within a week.

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27 Jan 2015 18:47 #22 by Stem12 (Stephen M)
Great Setup and cool story behind thanks for the pics mate

S.

Juwel Vision 260-
20ltr-Fluval Spec-
19ltr-Fluval Chi-

Keep The Water Fresh-

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27 Jan 2015 19:32 #23 by Ski (Alan McGee)
Very cool Melander :)

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27 Jan 2015 19:43 #24 by Gonefishy (Brian oneill)
Amazing Andreas to think of a tank running for that many years...a well established ecosystem for sure :) where is the tank btw? You said you saw it for 2 weeks at Xmas so I'm guessing it's at your folks house or something? Who does the water changes etc?

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27 Jan 2015 20:18 #25 by Melander (Andreas Melander)
Cheers for the kind words everyone.

Yeah the tank is at my folks in Sweden. It's really my dads tank so he does the water changes, feedings etc.. I just get involved whenever I am over there so the credit is his.

It's well established indeed, and that thick layer of gravel must contain all sorts of goodies.
It actually requires very little maintenance compared to the amount of water changes I'm doing with my own tanks.

Keep your eyes peeled for the next update in January 2016

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25 Dec 2015 14:04 - 25 Dec 2015 14:05 #26 by Melander (Andreas Melander)
Here's this years update of the tank. There are not many Cardinals left now...

File Attachment:
Last edit: 25 Dec 2015 14:05 by Melander (Andreas Melander).

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29 Dec 2015 15:09 #27 by alan 64 (alan)
do u think the cardinals were eaten or just victums of old age

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30 Dec 2015 13:13 #28 by Melander (Andreas Melander)
I'm not really sure Alan but my guess is that the angelfish Ickes them off.

The Black Widow Tetras are all there and seem to be thriwing so I think it's a size thing.

The tank would look great with small tetras so I think the plan is to just wait it out a few years

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30 Dec 2015 20:45 #29 by hammie (Neil Hammerton)
No matter how many times I see it, it's a setup that excites me and makes me want to do something that will stand the test of time like that!!!!!
However I don't think tanks built in recent years will last as long as that 1 has so far

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01 Jan 2016 17:28 #30 by Melander (Andreas Melander)
Thanks for the reply Hammie! I'd say go for it, I can't see why a modern tank would not last as long, with TLC.

I have actually chased the two small tanks that I had as a kid, thinking of restarting one:)

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