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
Tank Rescue , Diy stand + Back to fishkeeping :)
The tank was in terrible condition when I got it , It was all gunked up with what can only be described as muck ! There was also a lot of limescale marks all over the tank and the outside was stained badly by cigarette smoke. After an hour or two cleaning with vinegar , water and a scrubbie I had it back to its former glory.
Now as you can imagine a mobile home is not the best place with space for a meter long tank , So after a lot of head scratching I decided one of the fitted in arm chairs and presses was going to have to go.Ten mins with a hammer and crowbar took care of that
.Now I had to build a stand for it , more head scratching ensued. I had some old plywood in the shed and some left over 9"x3" timbers that were used for screeds when pouring the base for the mobile. I dug these out and started to work yesterday evening.Took me a few hours to knock the stand together and paint it.It looked very plain as a square box so I added some trim to the top , This was some old 10" facia and soffit that I ripped down to size with the handsaw 
Took 2 coats of paint to get it covered , hope you all like it 
Now I have to wait until the tank cycles 
, God be with the days I would have a spare filter maturing in one of my tanks
Please Log in to join the conversation.
.It was very bad , apparently it hadnt been used for quite a while and the gravel came out in one big slab haha. Pity i didnt take before and after pictures. Was in petmania in portlaoise today getting gravel and new filter, had to explain to the better half all about cycling a tank again.She wanted fish there and then lol Have to say im very impressed with the new store , fish look lovely and healthy.I asked about a pair or convicts for the tank and they said they will order them in for me when I want them.Yeah the stand is fairly over engineered alright.Might make a few more stands or rack for my other 4 tanks.Also could be getting another 60 liter tank for free
Please Log in to join the conversation.
Welcome back to the hobby and welcome to the forum!
The tank stand looks really well and sturdy! Good luck with your new projects (fish keeping and house building). Have you included a fish house in your building plans ?
Looking forward to seeing more pictures as the tank gets filled !
Valerie
Please Log in to join the conversation.
Im going to have a nice shed for the fishroom Please Log in to join the conversation.
Sorry I could not get any of the threads to come up on my computer yesterday, that’s the reason for my delay. Derek had contacted me Monday evening but I was very tired after a 12 hour shift,. I will PM you my details……………….Tom.
Please Log in to join the conversation.