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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

any one know where to get dead leaves

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17 Jun 2010 22:44 #1 by fishmad1234 (Craig Coyle)
hi lads any one know where to get dead brown leaves for the bottom of a amazon bio type set up

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17 Jun 2010 22:48 #2 by Acara (Dave Walters)
Oak are commonly used,maybe the wrong time of year though.(I know they're not strictly biotope correct).
Indian almond leaves are commonly available in the trade,again,not biotope correct as they're Asian,but I saw a lot in the Carribean,slightly closer to Sth America:laugh:

always on the lookout for interesting corys.pm me if you know off any!

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17 Jun 2010 22:52 #3 by fishmad1234 (Craig Coyle)
so ya reckon just in any lfs i could get some thanks for the info

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17 Jun 2010 22:53 #4 by cardinal (Lar Savage)
Hi
you are probably looking for Catappa leaves,you can find them on E bay or you could try contacting Ian on the forum here...He used to have some for sale.

Lar
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminalia_catappa

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17 Jun 2010 22:53 #5 by Damian_Ireland (Damian_Ireland)
Someone may correct me but I thought any oak(y) was a no no

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17 Jun 2010 22:54 #6 by CJackson (Frank Farrell)
I've bought catappa leaves from this ebay seller before myworld.ebay.com/amy-lim

She's reliable and even with shipping they're good value.

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17 Jun 2010 22:59 #7 by fishmad1234 (Craig Coyle)
ill try get in contact with ian have to set up a e bay account so ill just see if ian has some still thanks guys thought these would be real hard to come buy and if all else fails ill get them off e bay

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17 Jun 2010 23:01 #8 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re:any one know where to get dead leaves
Beech leaves and oak are very useful.



Kev

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17 Jun 2010 23:10 #9 by fishmad1234 (Craig Coyle)
any suggestions for stocking my amazon bio type was thinking discus few tetra s maybe a tea cup sting ray but not sure about the ray have a fluval roma 200 coming next week some time

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17 Jun 2010 23:11 #10 by wolfsburg (wolfsburg)
Replied by wolfsburg (wolfsburg) on topic Re:any one know where to get dead leaves
Acara wrote:

Oak are commonly used,maybe the wrong time of year though.


I wonder would picking the leaves off the trees at this time of year and sticking them in the hot press for a week or two have the same effect as Autumn leaves? :huh:

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17 Jun 2010 23:14 #11 by fishmad1234 (Craig Coyle)
god i never thought of that wolfsberg thats a smashing idea

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17 Jun 2010 23:15 #12 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re:any one know where to get dead leaves
I know where there are some that you can have. Oak, beech etc.


Kev.

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17 Jun 2010 23:18 #13 by wolfsburg (wolfsburg)
Replied by wolfsburg (wolfsburg) on topic Re:any one know where to get dead leaves
No bother,
I was only thinking out loud! It could go either way... Limp and yellow or brown and crispy. I'm assuming you are aiming for the latter. No harm in experimenting though.

Was thinking of kiln seasoning of timber from my days in the tech!

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17 Jun 2010 23:24 #14 by Damian_Ireland (Damian_Ireland)
i have spent a fair bit of time looking into stingrays and would suggest you refrain in a tank that size. I believe that my 6x2x2 is borderline

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17 Jun 2010 23:27 #15 by fishmad1234 (Craig Coyle)
would it not be a tad risky tho any pesky harm full insect could be in or on the leaf tho

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17 Jun 2010 23:33 #16 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re:any one know where to get dead leaves
The only worry you can have is if the Insect was treated with Pesticides other than that they'll love the added protein. Beech Leaves are shed twice a Year, once in Autumn and the remainder in May, this usually occurs if a hedge of Beech is pruned or trimmed, it makes the leaves hang for longer.

Kev

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17 Jun 2010 23:36 #17 by wolfsburg (wolfsburg)
Replied by wolfsburg (wolfsburg) on topic Re:any one know where to get dead leaves
fishmad1234 wrote:

would it not be a tad risky tho any pesky harm full insect could be in or on the leaf tho

Possible, but I doubt the same organisms that attack terrestrial leaves would harm fish. If you allow them to dry out for long enough any possible risks would be greatly lessened.
I've seen it done in PFK without any "health risk" warnings so I'd say it could be ok.

When you do finally have them dried out you could test one leaf to see if it disintegrates if dipped in boiling water. If not, you could employ this method to sterilise the leaves as a further precaution! B)

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17 Jun 2010 23:54 #18 by fishmad1234 (Craig Coyle)
thats great stuff thats what ill do grab a few tommorrow stick them in the hotpress leave them dry out then dip them in boiling water to be on the safe side going for some really nice discus so want to be extra care full






damian was there not a video of a sting ray put up on the forum in a 2oo ish litre tank

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18 Jun 2010 00:02 #19 by wolfsburg (wolfsburg)
Replied by wolfsburg (wolfsburg) on topic Re:any one know where to get dead leaves
Fair play! Just make sure you keep us posted on your little experiment! I'd be interested to know how it turns out.

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18 Jun 2010 00:12 #20 by fishmad1234 (Craig Coyle)
yeah will do thanks for the pointers

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18 Jun 2010 00:21 #21 by JohnH (John)
I'm not altogether certain that you ought to use live leaves and dry them out - something sticks in my mind about the sap in the leaves whilst they are still live is harmful and the reason to collect Autumn leaves is that they have died off and the sap has drained back from them.
I can't be sure about this but I think further experimentation will be called for, ie dry some leaves , put them into a tank then try some less-than-expensive fish for a fortnight, if they live then all will be well.

John

Location:
N. Tipp

We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.


ITFS member.



It's a long way to Tipperary.

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18 Jun 2010 09:46 #22 by arabu1973 (. .)
Only leaves to be used in the aquarium should be already brown/dead and collected from the ground not from the tree, they still contain harmfull substances if still in the tree. I use almond/oak leaves for my wild discus, if you want to buy some i could sale you few hundred. Regarding the stingray in a 200L tank thats a very cruel way to keep him/her, it needs at least a 6x2x2 for one ray

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18 Jun 2010 11:10 #23 by fishmad1234 (Craig Coyle)
just seen your picture of your discus tank very nice looking set up thats the type of set up im going for going to take my time tho wont put a fish in till im 100 per cent happy with the lay out what type of sand ya useing and how much for the leave s

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18 Jun 2010 14:37 - 18 Jun 2010 14:38 #24 by arabu1973 (. .)
The tank on the left 650L was rescaped and the domestics were replaced with wild discus, altums and more(have to update the photo) but the one on the right 375L is still the same. In all my tanks i have a big grain sand bought in Maidenhead Aquatics in Carlow. Regarding the almond leaves let me know what size tank you plan to setup, what discus domestics (the best option for you until you know how to look after them properly) or wilds (if you relly know what you are doing) and what you need them for, just to give the water a brown colour or to drop the PH down(the water will go a deep brown if the later)
Last edit: 18 Jun 2010 14:38 by arabu1973 (. .).

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18 Jun 2010 20:01 #25 by Acara (Dave Walters)
I would tend to agree with JohnH and Arabu with the leaves,to be on the safe side,wait until they have fallen naturally,as mentioned,chemical compounds are different.

always on the lookout for interesting corys.pm me if you know off any!

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18 Jun 2010 20:06 #26 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re:any one know where to get dead leaves
Beech can be taken from the tree or hedge before they fall but only when they have turned brown, the colours you see in Autumn Leaves are the by products of Photosynthesis, these colours are normally hidden by the green of Chlorophyll, they are stuff/chemicals that remain after the Plant has re absorbed the good stuff from the Leaf.

Kev.

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