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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

beach sand

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16 Nov 2011 13:37 #1 by jeff (Jeff Scully)
a mate of mine owns a caravan park and has a private beach beside it he said i take some sand for my tank no probs

but would it be ok as long as i wash it loads and boil it a few times

or would it play havoc with my water in time

any thoughts please

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16 Nov 2011 14:02 #2 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re: beach sand
Really not worth the hassle, honestly, you'd save yourself big time just buying play sand.

Kev.

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17 Nov 2011 11:53 #3 by jeff (Jeff Scully)
Replied by jeff (Jeff Scully) on topic Re: beach sand

Really not worth the hassle, honestly, you'd save yourself big time just buying play sand.

Kev.




hassle is my middle name dont mind at all kev, i think the play sand is boring
this sand of the beach is a beautiful gold colour so would realy like it

but would it be ok apart of the hassle

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17 Nov 2011 14:22 #4 by pkearney (Phil Kearney)
A long time ago (30 odd) years i set up my first tank with undergravel filtration. I got the gravel from the beach at Donabate just beside the Dunes Hotel. I took about 2 CWT. from above the water line. This included some shells etc. I rinsed out the lot in cold water as i remember and it worked for me.I don't know if the beaches now are as clean but i would be wary.
Phil

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17 Nov 2011 14:42 #5 by christyg (Chris Geraghty)
I use sand from the beach. It's a mix of rough sand and fine gravel with some small pebbles and bits of shell. I think it's more interesting than plain sand or gravel. I would collect from below water line, the tide would help clean (dogs p etc), and rinse thoroughly. I've had no problems

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17 Nov 2011 15:13 #6 by Gavin (Gavin)
Replied by Gavin (Gavin) on topic Re: beach sand
I'd be with kev on this.Numerous customer fail stories over the years using beach sand.A good play/river sand costs buttons and has no nasties/or salt content in it.

dont make me come over there.

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22 Nov 2011 22:17 #7 by jeff (Jeff Scully)
Replied by jeff (Jeff Scully) on topic Re: beach sand
what a reply 2 against 2 but i think il go with kev and gavin on this one, id rather be 100% sure and safe before id chance losing anything. thanks lads

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22 Nov 2011 23:46 - 22 Nov 2011 23:47 #8 by ceech (Desmond Gaynor)
I would not chance beach sand to be honest if ya do make sure you clean it very well!!
There are lots of differnt sands to choose from out there in shops that would be much safer.
Last edit: 22 Nov 2011 23:47 by ceech (Desmond Gaynor).

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24 Dec 2011 09:22 - 24 Dec 2011 09:24 #9 by omen (Conor)
Replied by omen (Conor) on topic Re: beach sand
I had a lot of hassle finding a nice coloured sand, and found most play sands to be a mud colour. However, I eventually stumbled on Argos play sand, its a nice golden yellow colour, and is dirt cheap! I think a 10kg bag was £1.49 at the time!

And I agree with the other comments, never use any rock or substrate that may dissolve in your tank and mess with water parameters.
Last edit: 24 Dec 2011 09:24 by omen (Conor).

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10 Jan 2012 18:24 #10 by jeff (Jeff Scully)
Replied by jeff (Jeff Scully) on topic Re: beach sand
changed over to sand last week and just went for play sand got it woodies 15kg for under €4 very happy with it thanks for the info lads

Where the tongue slips, it speaks the truth.

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10 Jan 2012 18:28 #11 by jeff (Jeff Scully)
Replied by jeff (Jeff Scully) on topic Re: beach sand
before

after

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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10 Jan 2012 18:36 #12 by dave k (david)
Replied by dave k (david) on topic Re: beach sand
a way better job :cheer: nice colour to the sand blends in well with the brown in the tank...

.·´¯`·.. >`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸>
>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·...¸>

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10 Jan 2012 18:54 #13 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re: beach sand
Lovely job !! 10/10 on the change, it can be insulting to People who like Coloured Substrate, huge bubbling bars, Divers bubbling under water, Ships, Airplanes etc etc etc by criticising them but you really do see the difference when these things are replaced with more "suitable" decor
I guess one man's/Woman's Meat is another ones Poison.

In case there is any reading into what I have typed above this IS NOT directed at anyone in a negative way.

Kev.

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10 Jan 2012 19:23 #14 by jeff (Jeff Scully)
Replied by jeff (Jeff Scully) on topic Re: beach sand
nice 1 kev, and well said
thanks bibsun yeah i think is go's very well with the brown
and chris what can i say you disappoint me (haha) the ship will blend in in time when i can get me hands on more granite to build on top of it and it belongs to a 4" talking head pleco if i take it out he go's mad.. wont even talk to me

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11 Jan 2012 09:56 #15 by wastegate (Joseph Farrell)
Looks much nicer! Amazing the difference it makes, did add the sand with the fish in the tank?

You know you're addicted to fishkeeping when...you spend €200 to accomodate a €5 fish.

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11 Jan 2012 10:47 #16 by smitas5 (Marius Smitas)
I was under impression beach sand would be ok with cicklids, but I see you have community tank and you did well here, by choosing woodies.

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11 Jan 2012 12:54 #17 by christyg (Chris Geraghty)
Have to agree with Kev on this re coloured substrate etc, 100% improvement

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11 Jan 2012 18:35 - 11 Jan 2012 18:37 #18 by jeff (Jeff Scully)
Replied by jeff (Jeff Scully) on topic Re: beach sand
thanks lads

@wastegate yeah i done it with all fish in tank

i took pics as i went sure il put them up

@smitas5 not really a community tank their is more american cichlids than anything else that are hiding in both pics and since the pic i got rid of the tiger barbs too and added more cichlids im heading for a full cichlid tank

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.
Last edit: 11 Jan 2012 18:37 by jeff (Jeff Scully).

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11 Jan 2012 19:24 - 11 Jan 2012 19:39 #19 by jeff (Jeff Scully)
Replied by jeff (Jeff Scully) on topic Re: beach sand
first i took the sponges from the filter out and put them in a bucket with tank water and then all the rock wood and ornaments into another bucket

then i did a good gravel clean tried to get all the dirt from the bottom every little spot
and that took 40ltrs. of water out

this is the water i took out im sure you can imagine what its like at the bottom

then i took the stones out with a large fish net and put a spare filter in to clean it up a bit
left it in for about 30mins pushing the dirt on the bottom up to the filter

the other half washed all the sand while i was doing this :woohoo: so i started to build my rock piece to hide filter (which is not finished) and then started to add sand very slowly hand full at a time thin layer by thin layer

got all the sand in left for about20mins and put a few bits in wood ect. and filled it back up

a couple of hours later about 2am
and 2 days later wwollaa

hope this helps somebody that might want to change over to sand but not sure how to go about it, it worked for me lost no fish and gained a nicer tank

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.
Last edit: 11 Jan 2012 19:39 by jeff (Jeff Scully).

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11 Jan 2012 22:08 #20 by m4r10 (m4r10)
Replied by m4r10 (m4r10) on topic Re: beach sand
Much much nicer, and that includes the boat!

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12 Jan 2012 10:05 #21 by wastegate (Joseph Farrell)
Well done mate, would love to do something similar but don't think Id get away with leaving fish in as I have aqua soil under my gravel. The rocks do hide the filter quite nicely too.

You know you're addicted to fishkeeping when...you spend €200 to accomodate a €5 fish.

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12 Jan 2012 12:48 #22 by jeff (Jeff Scully)
Replied by jeff (Jeff Scully) on topic Re: beach sand
thanks lads

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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06 Feb 2012 20:31 #23 by jeff (Jeff Scully)
Replied by jeff (Jeff Scully) on topic Re: beach sand
just an update here it is now some more fish moved out and some moved in

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A life making mistakes is not only more honourable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing at all.
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06 Feb 2012 20:54 #24 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re: beach sand
Lovely Set-up.

Kev.

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06 Feb 2012 21:11 #25 by paddyc1 (Paddy Corrigan)
Looks great Jeff. And spotlessly clean.
Great job

Paddy

Tallaght, Dublin 24

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06 Feb 2012 21:16 #26 by SpiderMonkey (Mark O'Neill)
Million times better Jeff I think those blue stones should only be used in gold fish bowls :blink:

Well done mate..


Mark

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06 Feb 2012 21:31 #27 by paddyc1 (Paddy Corrigan)

Million times better Jeff I think those blue stones should only be used in gold fish bowls :blink:

Well done mate..


Mark



Ahhhh Mark.......Goldfish bowl ???
Don't get that debate going again. ;)

Tallaght, Dublin 24

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06 Feb 2012 21:46 #28 by SpiderMonkey (Mark O'Neill)
Oops I forgot about that old chestnut Paddy :blink:



Mark :)

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06 Feb 2012 21:55 #29 by Fishowner (Gavin fishowner)
great difference...thumbs up.
Gavin

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06 Feb 2012 22:41 #30 by jeff (Jeff Scully)
Replied by jeff (Jeff Scully) on topic Re: beach sand

9/10 (-1 for ship) ;)

cheers

chris


11/10 (+1 for Your passion for what you do)
I am afraid, however, that severum eats with taste all of your plants (they are the perfect machine to eat weeds)




Thanks Chris

Not to bothered about the sevs eating the plants its only Elodea its dirt cheep and grows like the grass in my garden in summer and i started off with 2 bunches last month and now i have 5 and they all need a trim now, new trim more bunches its grand

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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