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
Newbie here,1st tank and its 500 litres.
- pjd30 (pjd30)
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Im only a newbie to this forum,so please go easy on me.
Im also new to fish keeping,and I jumped in at the deep end and bought this Clearseal 500 litre aquariam as a 1st tank.Im still in the process of setting it up,with the help of my trusty girlfriend and daughter
So I will have learn fast if I want to keep aflot of things (no pun intended).
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- Ieva star (Ieva Fogta)
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- mickdeja (Mick Whelan)
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Mick...

Follow me up to Carlow
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- pjd30 (pjd30)
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This aquariam is a project between myself,girlfriend and daughter.
Going for long flowing plants,pieces of bog oak and some youung tetras and some young angel fish,also some sucker type of fish.
Again,please excuse my lack of knowladge and potential dumbness as Im not very good with fish names or technical things with regards fish keeping.
My girlfriend know more about fish keeping than I do,as she has several tanks in her house.
TYhis is they sort of look and style we are aiming for.
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- pjd30 (pjd30)
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I googled and read about boiling it,but problem is that I dont have a pot big enough.
Looking into using some flat slate rock that I got in a pet store today,then drill int a 5 mm hole with a masonary drill bit and using long screws to screw the slate up to the base of the dead wood.
Would that work and would the screw cause any polution or chemical reaction with the tank water and kill the fish or plants??
Funny pic or what???
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- SpiderMonkey (Mark O'Neill)
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I put my bogwood in a big bin in the shower on max hot left it for a few hours empty and do again did that four or five times
Mark
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- pjd30 (pjd30)
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- stretnik (stretnik)
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www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/37200-bes...-driftwood-rock.html
PS. keep Daisy away from the wood !! even a small amount and disaster will strike.
Kev.
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- pjd30 (pjd30)
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I have tons and tons of stainless steel screws and 4-5mm masonary and steel bits too.Also have a tube of clear aquariam sealent too.
Maybe no harm to boil the 4 flat pieces of slate rock that I got in the pet store today,just to get rid of any impurities off them.
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- Frontosa (Tim kruger)
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Midlands - in the heart of Ireland.
Keeping and breeding : Frontosa Blue Zaires , Synodontis Petricola , Tropheus Red Rainbow (Kasanga) , Tropheus Moliro . Regulary fry for sale.
Community tank with P.Kribensis and different livebearers.
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- Peteemax (Pete Maxwell)
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Pete Maxwell
ITFS Member
Location: Ashbourne
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You will learn a great deal on here
Des
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- buachailldocha (Denis Doherty)
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- pjd30 (pjd30)
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hi, I'm just wondering where is this tank located, is it in one the shops in Dublin ?
rgds
Des
MaxiZoo Petstore in Clearwater Finglas.
www.maxizoo.ie/finglas.html
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- gunnered72 (Eddy Gunnered)
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- A1_aquarist (Aidan Dalton.)
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No mouth bigger than the smallest fish in tank.
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- joey (joe watson)
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great starter tank you got yourself, and a nice ambitious goal you have set yourself
i agree with A1 above, you need to do your groundwork on planted tanks. i took a few months researching and gathering bits and bobs before starting work on it - and i'm running low maintainance with no co2 and medium lighting
as for the wood - get yourself a tube of TEC 7 adhesive and stick the wood to the slate - screws will rust and pollute the water harming fish and possibly plants too. put the wood& slate down first then cover the slat with the substrate so no-one can see your trickery
Location: Portlaoise, Midlands
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- pjd30 (pjd30)
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just my opinion but i would never put anything into a fish tank that i was unsure of......screws rust so i would br very wary of using them to hold down bogwood..........fill the bath and soak it in there for a while....
A stainless steel screw is stainless and doesnt rust,Im also going recess the screw into the rock,an then cover the screw head in with clear aquariam sealent and also seal the join between the wood and slate with a layer/bead of sealent too.

Then place a layer of soil and substrate back over the slate,so nobody will know theres a piece of slate there.

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- pjd30 (pjd30)
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My girlfriend is going to pick out the plants that she wants or would like to grow in the tank.Im just very happy to have a nice tank and am looking forward to sitting back and enjoying it and the plants and fish in it.
We have been to a few of the pet shops and aquariam shops and Im picking up bits of usefull information along the way,and also learning alot from this forum too.
So its all good,so far.
Thanks.
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- stretnik (stretnik)
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Kev.
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- pjd30 (pjd30)
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Nice thank want to set up another tank how much was that thank mate ?
The complete kit (Clearseal tank and cabinet,Eheim 2217 external filter kit,T5 lighting system,2 heaters,5 bags of soil and sand,5 large rocks,1 large piece of bog oak,4 large pieces of deadwood,various water treatments and plant and fish food) was 800 euro.
Petstop had just opened up in Swords before Christmass,so we went out for a look on the opening day.
Everything in store was with 20% off as an opening day special deal.
But I chatted to the staff and the manager aswell and we got an even better deal on the entire kit,as I had said that I wanted the lot,so I got a very good all in deal.
Petstop had it delievered out to the house very fast too.


We had it in 1 corner of the living room,but we then decided to move it to the other side of the room,as it looked better that way.
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- Torres9 (David)
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- Acara (Dave Walters)
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I don't find it necessary to boil rocks and wood,but that's up to you.I certainly would not soak anything in the bath,thinking I was doing good,the bath has who knows what amount of residue of all sorts of soaps,detergents,cleaners,etc.More than likely do much more harm than good.
If you find the outlet from the filter spraybar is too strong,you could drill out the holes making them bigger,and/or extend the spraybar,giving it more holes over a longer length.Also,a 500ltr tank would be near the top end of what the Eheim 2217 could handle,I know it says up to 600ltr,but I would always stick to nearer the lower end of a rating.Once the filter gets working,it's rate of flow will slow down somewhat.just keep an eye on the water paramateres as you stock the tank.If you're going to stock it with not too many fish,and you have good and regular water changing regime,it should be ok.It's always safer to over filter a tank,than under filter it.
Enjoying the thread,and remember,take your time,patience is very important in establishing a healthy tank.
always on the lookout for interesting corys.pm me if you know off any!
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