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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

Low maintenance setup

  • Alex (Alex)
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03 Jan 2011 20:47 #1 by Alex (Alex)
Low maintenance setup was created by Alex (Alex)
Hey,

I'm moving out and iv decided to try and keep the tank running in the gaff so im seriously reducing the stock in my 800L to reduce maintenance. The plan is to clean it every few months (Initially ill be away for 6 months).


The planned stock is...
10 blackskirt tetras
1 Anostomus
3 hoplo catfish
10 bronze Cory's
4 Siemese algae eaters
1 Betta

The tank is heavily planted... I plan on covering the bogwood with anubias and adding more swords and crypts to the front..

Iv havent used ferts in 2 years in the tank and I don't plan on adding any with the new stock. I'm hoping the plants can live off fish waste...

Here is a current pic so you can get an idea of the amount of plants and future plants in the foreground.


Do you think the plants will be able to handle the nitrates...?

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03 Jan 2011 20:57 - 03 Jan 2011 20:58 #2 by Ma (mm mm)
Replied by Ma (mm mm) on topic Re:Low maintenance setup
Nitrates wont be a problem as long as the plants are alive

Will you have someone to do any maint at all while you are away 6 months? Say clean the filter and small water changes as the stock list is very small for a tank that size.



Mark

Location D.11
Last edit: 03 Jan 2011 20:58 by Ma (mm mm).

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03 Jan 2011 21:10 #3 by Alex (Alex)
Replied by Alex (Alex) on topic Re:Low maintenance setup
Im going to a major cleaning of my sump before i go so it wont need cleaning for the 6 months with that stock... (Its a massive sump)

Yeah sum1 is in charge of feeding and topping up the tank every week (lots of evaporation from the sump)... No proper water changes though.. they cant.. too scared it will overflow :laugh:.

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03 Jan 2011 21:15 - 03 Jan 2011 21:16 #4 by Ma (mm mm)
Replied by Ma (mm mm) on topic Re:Low maintenance setup
Thats an enormous tank for that stocklist and then the sump too. Lights on a timer ect, so just top up and feeding, tbh with a sump and a bit of luck you should be fine matey.

I guess you would want to ensure feeding it strictly controlled during this period and followed properly as you know yourself overfeeding could mess everything up seeing as you are away for 6 months, I would work it out and make sure it is stuck to.

N a backup heater too


Mark

Location D.11
Last edit: 03 Jan 2011 21:16 by Ma (mm mm).

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03 Jan 2011 21:36 #5 by Alex (Alex)
Replied by Alex (Alex) on topic Re:Low maintenance setup
Yeah im going to stick a note on the tank explaining exactly how much to feed. Iv made sure the majority of the fish are bottom feeders so every last bit is gobbled up.

I'll see if I can get a flight home to do a water change :laugh:.

Thanks!

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03 Jan 2011 21:56 - 03 Jan 2011 21:58 #6 by joey (joe watson)
will be a bit of a pain to rig and dunno how safe it'd be, but how about an "automatic" top up in the sump like alot of shops have, with a ballcock (no jokes please) to open and close a pipe ran off a water butt

just an idea, but if you have someone to feed then if you mark on the sump the min and max levels they surely could top up water for you to the max level. just would you trust them to treat the water?

dunno how you could leave em so long, i hate being away for more than 2 days, and struggle to trust the step daughters BF (fellow fish keeper) to feed correctly if i'm away for a week or more

be careful how much you clean the sump you dont wat to lose too much bacteria even with such a lightly stocked tank for its size

Location: Portlaoise, Midlands
Last edit: 03 Jan 2011 21:58 by joey (joe watson).

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03 Jan 2011 22:07 #7 by Alex (Alex)
Replied by Alex (Alex) on topic Re:Low maintenance setup
Yeah the sump is already marked.

Joey i have a similar method for water changes.. I just use the garden hose instead.... Ill try convince her to give it a go. Last time she flooded the room so thats put her off doing it:laugh:.

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03 Jan 2011 22:09 #8 by joey (joe watson)
aaahhhhh.... she....


explains everything ;)

how did she manage that then? unless she switched the return pump off, or left the hose running.... :laugh:

Location: Portlaoise, Midlands

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03 Jan 2011 22:23 #9 by Alex (Alex)
Replied by Alex (Alex) on topic Re:Low maintenance setup
:laugh: :laugh:
Sumhow the water overflowed out the top of the main tank.... Never happend b4 and iv no idea how it could happen:laugh:....

I'll just laminate a step by step water change guide....

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03 Jan 2011 22:27 #10 by joey (joe watson)
must have blocked the wier overflows then, possibly turned the tap on one of the downpipes. big whoopsy there but i guess its easily done if they dont understand (in my case she wont want to understand)

just ring every week (day) to make sure its all going ok, and you can always put her in contact with a few people on here (especially if someone lives near you) just in case she's stuck or its a big emergency

Location: Portlaoise, Midlands

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04 Jan 2011 00:56 #11 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re:Low maintenance setup
Take my advice , no matter what you do , you are doomed to losses at some stage, no one, and I mean NO ONE can take care of business like the owner.

I've left handwritten specific instructions, left individual measures in small plastic pill containers with strict instructions not to over feed, Left lights etc on Timers, done filter maintenance including placing bloody expensive polymer nitrate / ammonia stripping sheets and phosphate removing granules, thought of every possible scenario but always returned to fungused Fish, missing fish, Algae etc, the Fish just seem to need routine, maybe it's just me but I've been a long time keeping every type of fish and rarely do I return to a Tank as I left it & I'm only talking about 2-3 weeks. For 6 months I'd strip it and put into dry storage.

I know many here would say they have had no problem but not for 6 Months.

Kev.

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04 Jan 2011 08:44 - 04 Jan 2011 08:49 #12 by Alex (Alex)
Replied by Alex (Alex) on topic Re:Low maintenance setup
Ill see if i can get home some weekend.... If not ill teach her how to do proper water changes.... maybe 30% every 2 weeks.... I agree 6 months is too long without a water change... I'll teach sum1 how to do it, it is fairly easy... just a matter of turning the hose off at the right time.:laugh:

She has looked after the tank before... Just never so long, 1 month being the longest. no deaths so far!
Last edit: 04 Jan 2011 08:49 by Alex (Alex).

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04 Jan 2011 11:41 #13 by Ma (mm mm)
Replied by Ma (mm mm) on topic Re:Low maintenance setup
You may have to set up a fish cam:laugh: to keep an eye on it:) Anyone can use those testing kits so you'll always know where you are with that aspect.

800L 30% change is 240 litres, a large job for a non fish keeper if you aint got a butt and hosing\pumps, maybe more regular smaller changes. My 10L bucket has my back in bits.



MArk

Location D.11

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04 Jan 2011 13:56 #14 by joey (joe watson)
Mark. wrote:

My 10L bucket has my back in bits.


i've 20l cooking oil buckets i use to empty the water with, and mix & fill with 15l buckets. half crippled at this stage

what you could do is leave a mark on the main tank, she switches off pump, syphons off water from main tank (using hose maybe with powerhead??) down the bog/sink/garden until at that line (say, 20%) then just fills the tank with the hose until near the top, turns on pump and continues filling til your max on marker on sump


actually thats still a bit complicated for non fishy types...

Location: Portlaoise, Midlands

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04 Jan 2011 14:41 #15 by Ma (mm mm)
Replied by Ma (mm mm) on topic Re:Low maintenance setup
joey wrote:

Mark. wrote:

My 10L bucket has my back in bits.


i've 20l cooking oil buckets i use to empty the water with, and mix & fill with 15l buckets. half crippled at this stage

what you could do is leave a mark on the main tank, she switches off pump, syphons off water from main tank (using hose maybe with powerhead??) down the bog/sink/garden until at that line (say, 20%) then just fills the tank with the hose until near the top, turns on pump and continues filling til your max on marker on sump


actually thats still a bit complicated for non fishy types...



Water straight from hte tap into the tank? I wouldn't do that with Dublin tap mwater withoutntreating it first, that is why I would want a butt in the mix, so I can treat 180L at once and then pump from there.

Mark

Location D.11

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04 Jan 2011 15:19 #16 by joey (joe watson)
aye thats true, but it'll be complicating things even further for the person left in charge of it. like i said before, how much could you trust the person to treat the water correctly etc

Location: Portlaoise, Midlands

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