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
Hello there ..
- Guppydave (Dave Ryan)
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Im a bit of a noob.
I have a few guppies in a small tank but this week I became the proud owner of a juwel rio 180

No doubt i will have many questions in the coming weeks and months .
Im sure I will learn a lot from you folks .
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- paddyc1 (Paddy Corrigan)
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Feel free to run a post/blog on the setup of your rio 180.
People can give you tips along the way.
Paddy
Tallaght, Dublin 24
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- katie (Kathrin Guenther)
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Its a great forum with lots of friendly and helpful people. I am only new too but feel right at home already

Welcome

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- Guppydave (Dave Ryan)
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No decent camera at the moment tho.
btw can I upload pics directly or do I need to go to a hosting site ?
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- katie (Kathrin Guenther)
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- paulcavan (Paul Gileoold)
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- dyco619 (steve carmody)
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- Guppydave (Dave Ryan)
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Welcome and remember dont be afraid to ask questions
Indeed .
In fact Ive posted my first noob question in the equipment section , if any of you guys are familiar with the rio 180 filter system , perhaps ye could check it out

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- grgeorge (George Rahmani)
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Enjoy your new tank, and keep us posted. Is it going to be guppies or are you going to try something else?
George
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- Guppydave (Dave Ryan)
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Its early yet but I am planning a 'natural' set up . Im leaning towards an amazon/south american theme.
I will put a few guppies in for sure , some corys and tetras .
Also I would like some medium sized 'centerpiece' specimen . Perhaps Angelfish or Discus .
At the moment Im just thinking of rocks,decor and substrate .
Im trying to cut costs a little , my budget has been slashed due to some unforseen dental work

So any DIY or cheap but effective decor suggestions are very welcome.
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- stretnik (stretnik)
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Kev.
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- Valerie (Valerie)
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Guppies might not be that compatible with the likes of Angelfish as they have colourful and flowing fins. Tetras and corys, ancistrus, clown loaches would be though. I think Discus might outgrow the 180 litre tank fairly quickly.
As far as decoration is concerned, I find non-enamelled terracotta pots are brilliant (boil them before you add them to the tank). They are neutral to the water, inexpensive to purchase and can provide some protection for the fish.
Also make sure you add fish progressively, so that the bio-load builds up in your tank.
Hope this helps.
Valerie

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- stretnik (stretnik)
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Kev.
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- grgeorge (George Rahmani)
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Im trying to cut costs a little , my budget has been slashed due to some unforseen dental work
So any DIY or cheap but effective decor suggestions are very welcome.
Ya I'd definitely go for DIY decor and not DIY dental work!!
Being quite the noob myself I don't have much advice to offer, but if you're thinking South American you should look into dwarf cichlids like apistogramma cacatuoides, blue rams, bolivian rams or keyhole cichlids (not exactly dwarf but very peaceful). I've just set up my tank (120L) and I'm hoping to add 2 trios of dwarfs eventually. You could probably get a nice bunch. I'm pretty sure they get along with guppies too.
Best of luck with it!
George
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- Guppydave (Dave Ryan)
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They are well weathered and I would also boil them . I also have access to some 'builders sand'.
I intend to buy some decent gravel (the reddish ,little round stuff) , just wondering if the sand would be safe , for a bit of contrast .
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- stretnik (stretnik)
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Use the search feature on the Forum to see how everybody regrets using anything other than Sand specifically for Aquarium use, it can contain Lime etc and has silt etc contained in it that will result in a Tank of muddy Water etc. Rocks from the Garden can contain Residual pesticides and Herbicides, what you gain by saving on those two items will very likely cost you more in anguish and Stock.
Kev.
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- Guppydave (Dave Ryan)
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I'll keep on researching .
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- Jambomac (James McConville)
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What you gonna do with the name if you ever stop keeping guppies
“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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- andrewo (andrew)
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regards;
andrew
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- Guppydave (Dave Ryan)
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Welcome along GuppyDave.
What you gonna do with the name if you ever stop keeping guppies
Good question Jambo . I hope to have a lot less guppies in my new tank .
Theyre a nice fish but my gosh , they breed like little aquatic rabbits .

btw what eats guppies ?

Im joking ! kinda..
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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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- ger310 (Ger .)
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Welcome along GuppyDave.
What you gonna do with the name if you ever stop keeping guppies
Nice one,that gave a little chuckle so it did

What do you call a three legged Donkey?
A Wonkey....duh ha

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- BlueRam (Sean Crowe)
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as in an ex filter i would defo get one not that much money if u shop around and much better as u have more room in the tank and that
might even have one for sale ill have a look around and try dig it out and let u know
sean
Sean Crowe
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Location: Navan
Always Remember Surviving Is Not Thriving
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- Guppydave (Dave Ryan)
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As for the ex filter , that would be nice but I would consider it a luxury for now .
Will be after christmas before i could even think about it .
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