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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

New 240 L fish tank.. Looking for some ideas!

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15 Jun 2014 14:05 #1 by MarkTipp (Mark Ryan)
Hi All, I have just bought this 240 L tank and I am looking for some good ideas on how to design it. I do know that I will be putting live plants and tropical fish in. I would also like to put in rocks and driftwood so I would like suggestions for caves (thinking coconut), types of rock and also any suggestions for nice plants. I intend on getting a Knife fish for this tank too so a good cave idea for it would be great.

Mark
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15 Jun 2014 21:01 #2 by Miamiheat (Stephane Lemaire)
Hello,
Nice tank.
But if you refer to the Knife fish in this link then they say its needs a minimum of 150 gallons: that is 560 litres, so i would say your tank is too small.
Best of luck

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15 Jun 2014 21:30 #3 by Q_Comets (Declan Chambers)
I would suggest try to get some height in the decor, some mopani or you can put some suction cups on bogwood.

Enjoy the new tank

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16 Jun 2014 20:47 #4 by MarkTipp (Mark Ryan)
Thanks a mil for the tips.. I'll defo go some Mopani if I can find some!!

The knife fish I was thinking of getting is the black ghost knife fish but I can see mixed reviews on tank sizes required , some say minimum 200 L when others reiterate what you say about the 560 L.. Maybe if I can find a brown knife fish instead I will get that coz I see they do not grow as big.

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16 Jun 2014 21:00 - 16 Jun 2014 21:01 #5 by ger310 (Ger .)
I kept a BGKF in a 170L for about a year with no problems...............You can get them in the shops at roughly 12-14cm if you shop around........They will grow farely quickly but you could keep them in a 240L for at least a year no problem,and because of there popularity you should not have a problem selling them on when they get big.............Dont buy one if you like watching fish during the day!!!

Ger

What do you call a three legged Donkey?

A Wonkey....duh ha :)
Last edit: 16 Jun 2014 21:01 by ger310 (Ger .).

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17 Jun 2014 10:56 #6 by Stem12 (Stephen M)
Ye man same I was looking in the past to get a BGKF, But the lads I think are right, You will need a larger tank or at least a plan to get one after a year or so, Beautiful fish but I heard there not that friendly towards tank mates after dark.. But they do look epic almost flying 'waving' through the water..
But still with 240ltr you have a good bit of room to play with aka décor etc,
Best of luck and don't forget to post update photos

S.

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

Keep The Water Fresh-

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17 Jun 2014 13:50 #7 by ger310 (Ger .)
Yeh it will outgrow a 240L,no doubt about it but not for a good while,were you will be left with the choice of selling on or upgrading.

Very active at night but i cant remember having any problems at all regarding other tank mates.

I had lots of leaves on the bottom of the tank and to see it glide through the leaves after dropping in a load of blood worms after lights out was a great sight :).......you will need a not so bright torch for this though :)

Think i posted a video on here of it........i'll have a look in a while.

Ger

What do you call a three legged Donkey?

A Wonkey....duh ha :)

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17 Jun 2014 13:53 #8 by ger310 (Ger .)
Oh and these guys really need excellent water conditions aswell........nice big weekly water changes needed

Ger

What do you call a three legged Donkey?

A Wonkey....duh ha :)

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18 Jun 2014 19:16 #9 by MarkTipp (Mark Ryan)
Thanks for all the tips lads.. I think I'm just gonna forget about getting one at this stage.. I don't fancy the idea of having to get rid of it after a year or 2 and I don't see myself getting a bigger tank for a long time.

Its a pity coz I was looking for a show stopper of a fish for the tank. Can anyone recommend a different "show stopping" fish that would suit a 240L?

I love the idea of having at least one unusual species in the tank!! The BGKF would of been perfect!

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19 Jun 2014 13:11 #10 by ger310 (Ger .)
Probably a good idea because these guys only become 'show stoppers' in the pitch dark ha

Ok how about some nice branchy driftwood with some nice sized Anubias and Java fern plants tied to it........darkish sand with lots of leaves on it (beech,almond)........2 different pairs of Apistogramma's,15 Rummynose Tetra's,15 Cardinal Tetra's,6-8 Corydoras and a 'show stopper'????

Ger

What do you call a three legged Donkey?

A Wonkey....duh ha :)

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19 Jun 2014 18:09 - 19 Jun 2014 18:18 #11 by Joekinsella (joe Kinsella)
My ghost is in a 240l and is very active during the day comes to the front when I go in the room, swims up the siphon during water change and comes to the top for feeding. Grown big since he entered the tank (more than doubled in size according to its previous owner who seen it last week since the tank was set up)





Although it is more active at lights out and I have seen it hunt my small fish at night so I wouldn't recommended anything that is small enough to fit in it's mouth.

Location: Clogherboy Navan.
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Last edit: 19 Jun 2014 18:18 by Joekinsella (joe Kinsella).

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19 Jun 2014 20:54 #12 by Miamiheat (Stephane Lemaire)
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20 Jun 2014 19:50 - 20 Jun 2014 19:53 #13 by ger310 (Ger .)

My ghost is in a 240l and is very active during the day comes to the front when I go in the room, swims up the siphon during water change and comes to the top for feeding. Grown big since he entered the tank (more than doubled in size according to its previous owner who seen it last week since the tank was set up)





Although it is more active at lights out and I have seen it hunt my small fish at night so I wouldn't recommended anything that is small enough to fit in it's mouth.


Jaysus Joe looking at yours remined me of how much i liked my one when i had it :) gorgeous fish :)

Mine wouldn't come out at all during the day except if food went in........he had a hiding place about half way up the tank that he never left!!

Please take a video of yours swimming up the siphon and post it on here the next time it happens will yeh? Deadly :)

Ger

Edit: Sorry for hijacking your post Mark

What do you call a three legged Donkey?

A Wonkey....duh ha :)
Last edit: 20 Jun 2014 19:53 by ger310 (Ger .).

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20 Jun 2014 22:17 #14 by ABdarudeone (Mick)
I've 2 BGKF in a 125l tank - was told that " they would grow quite big ..but should be ok in a 125 liter tank " , and so i belived untill they tripled in size .
Now they are around 20 cm in lenght and growing pretty fast , i have them up for sale as there is not enough room in the tank since i got my angelfish. On top of that they are not letting my angels breed by consuming their eggs regularly - as soon as the lights are off the eggs are gone !! (what did i expect , they're nocturnal predators after all )
I dont listen to people in FS anymore - most of them are just trying to sell as many fish as possible thats my opinion .

**Neither a teacher nor a native speaker**

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21 Jun 2014 06:49 #15 by Bohrio (Alex Rodriguez)
Yes Ghost Knife Fish will quickly outgrow a 125, 250, and, in time, even a 400 l tank

They can grow as much as 50 cm and although they are not very active they do require space...

Like you said, most LFS will say anything to sell you a fish. Specially smaller fish shopts. They do the same thing with clown loaches, plecos, etc...

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22 Jun 2014 11:20 #16 by MarkTipp (Mark Ryan)
Loving the Discus Miami Heat! I think I might go for something like that now instead of the knife fish!

Update on the aquarium.. I bought some wood, 2 pieces of bog wood and one lovely Redmoor root.. I have removed the tannins from the bog wood and added to the tank, it also sank straight away which is great! I'm having no such luck with the Redmoor root tho! Trying to figure out a way to sink that asap!

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22 Jun 2014 21:39 #17 by ger310 (Ger .)
That bogwood will be releasing tannins for a good while yet i'd say Mark,and i had two pieces of Redmoor wood that did not sink after being in a tank for maybe 2 years.......It's pot luck i found especially with the rooty pieces!!

I'm not a Discus fan.......overrated,over priced and a bit boring to me if i'm honest (sorry there Discus people!!)

Ger

What do you call a three legged Donkey?

A Wonkey....duh ha :)

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22 Jun 2014 22:43 #18 by Miamiheat (Stephane Lemaire)

Loving the Discus Miami Heat! I think I might go for something like that now instead of the knife fish!

Update on the aquarium.. I bought some wood, 2 pieces of bog wood and one lovely Redmoor root.. I have removed the tannins from the bog wood and added to the tank, it also sank straight away which is great! I'm having no such luck with the Redmoor root tho! Trying to figure out a way to sink that asap!


I have 34 or so Discus, got into them without knowing about the nitrogen cycle so I learned the hard way, in fact I am still a newbie. Best advice i can give you is learn from specialised forums what "not to buy" and if you buy young ones and despite what people say they needs loads of water changes. So if you are very busy or have kids they may not be for you. I do keep Angels as well and they are graceful fish (a bit aggressive).
Good luck in your choices

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