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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

Upgrading to Marine (FOWLR)

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26 May 2008 19:34 #1 by Sinbad311 (Simon Kennedy)
Hi,

I started keeping fish about 5 years ago, started with freshwater communal and then moved on to African Cichlids. I've learned alot over the years and I've Idecided to take the plunge into a saltwater setup!!

I've been doing alot of reading on what is involved and what equipment I will need to convert to saltwater. I have a 190 ltr tank. So here's a list of what I plan on getting:

1. Protein skimmer - havent decided which model so any
advice would be appreciated. I'd prefer a HOB model and as
quiet as possible.
2. Red sea max starter kit - which includes sand, salt,
hydrometer, test kit and various bottles of calcium, cycle
booster etc.
3. 2 powerheads

4. 20kg cured live rock + 10 kg dead rock (maybe too much,
please advise)

The one thing I'm having a problem with is lighting. I only have one bulb on my tank. Will this be enough for a FOWLR tank? Or will I need some kind of ballast? In the future I may add corals and so I will need metal halide lighting but is there any corals I could asdd that dont need metal halide lights?

So if anyone has any suggestions on anything else I need or what I dont need please let me know.

Thanks in advance

Simon

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26 May 2008 20:26 #2 by lampeye (lampeye)
howya simon.
1. protein skimmer. they are all a bit noisy but the deltec mc range are great. i saw some second hand ones for sale in fish antics. whatever u do dont get a red sea prizm skimmer.

2. i dont know if you need the starter kit. salt is cheaper when u buy a 25kg bucket. 90 euro but will last u 6 months. choose one of the well known brands like instant ocean. hydrometers are a pain, get a refractometer so you can test the water from a couple of drops. you wont need cycle booster or the bottles of additives. google their test kits to see if they are any use. the only test you really need are no1 no2 no3 kh and ph IMO.

3. get 2 tunze nanostreams 6025 or the equivalent korillas.

4. 20kg of live rock would be the minimum. depending on your aquascape you might not need the dead rock. better still spend whatever the dead rock costs on live rock! just be aware that you wont be able to stock it the same way u can a freshwater tank. much less fish.

what kind of tank is it? could you get a new lid with 2 tubes? i have a 2year old tank FOWLR and some inverts runnging with 2 t8 tubes. they say u really need a marine white and a marine blue tube so try and get a lid upgrade of some sort. the corals i have which are thriving with normal t8 tubes are a toadstool and some mushrooms.

get a quarintine tank

good luck
fran

lampeye

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26 May 2008 20:27 #3 by lampeye (lampeye)

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26 May 2008 22:16 #4 by Sinbad311 (Simon Kennedy)
Hi Lampeye,

Cheers for the info. Not sure of make of tank but I'd compare it to a Juwel Vision 180/190.

In regards to the second hand Deltec in fish antics, can you remember how much he was looking for them. Might just buzz him in the morning. Or would I be better off buying brand new?


Simon

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27 May 2008 07:47 #5 by lampeye (lampeye)
depends how much €€ u have spare!

lampeye

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27 May 2008 10:22 #6 by Sinbad311 (Simon Kennedy)
I am on a budget thats why I was thinking of 20kg live rock and the rest as dead rock, then with time the live rock would populate the dead rock. But I'll try and source as much as I can online and then buy rock and livestock form the LFS.
Could you recommend and good online shops?

Cheers

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27 May 2008 14:58 #7 by lampeye (lampeye)
depends what you want to buy. id say the 2nd hand skimmers would be perfect (if he still has them)....just give them a good clean. compile a list of what you want to buy and an lfs may give you a deal on everything. heres a link to the \"online shops\" thread: www.irishfishkeepers.com/cms/component/o...w/catid,26/id,30006/
you might take up all the swimming space with that extra \"dead\" rock....i got 30kgs LR for a 4FT tank and found it hard to fit it all in.... again it depends on your aquascape plans i.e. two islands or one \"reef\" like mound the length of the tank. as far as filtration goes though 20kg would be the minimum though.
fran

lampeye

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27 May 2008 15:48 #8 by Sinbad311 (Simon Kennedy)
Thanks Lampeye, ur a wealth of knowledge!!!

As for my aquascape plans, I'm hoping to have live rock along the back of the tank from the base to the top. Which would be 48\" x 18\" give or take an inch or two.

Thannks for the help

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27 May 2008 18:02 #9 by lampeye (lampeye)
ah jaysis i dont know about that. glad to be of any help though.
i know its easier to aquascape that way but IMO its much better if the rocks dont touch the glass at all. it gives much better flow around the tank with little or no \"dead spots\", u can also clean the glass at the back if you want (some people dont bother and let it get covered with purple algae). for me it just seems easier for maintenance aswell...and you dont have to worry about the weight leaning against the back. u can get aquarium epoxy in most lfs which will help when building. it comes in two colours...get the purple one!

lampeye

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27 May 2008 18:08 #10 by Sinbad311 (Simon Kennedy)
Yeah I was just thinking about the cleaning bit.. think I'll google fowlr tanks and look at some pics for some inspiration! I'll keep ya posted.

Cheers,

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