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
New planted tank
- NosIreland (Andrius Kozeniauskas)
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Just checking, but anyone ever use cat litter? seems to be getting very popular indeed! I am seriously contemplating it for price and if it doesnt work then it wont cost an arm and a leg to try, but from topics in UKaps it seems to be the business, tescos lightweight dust free is basically clay, same principles and properties as akadema basically, but a fraction of the price
I used it in this tank:
www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php/fforu...-discus-planted-tank
It's good and cheap for growing plants but I would not use it again for the following reasons:
- it's very light so cannot be used with bigger fish or bottom fish and don't hold plants well
- I think it's too small for bigger tanks
- the color is too light for me
- need to wash filter often as it gets clogged fast
- once disturbed you'll get a cloud of dust
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- grgeorge (George Rahmani)
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Sorry for all the questions, but its a really nice tank

George
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- NosIreland (Andrius Kozeniauskas)
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Hi George,Nosireland, did you use cat litter in that winning photo with the lovely carpet? Did you cap it with some gravel? And what kind of lighting, CO2, ferts were you using??
Sorry for all the questions, but its a really nice tank
George
I've used Akadama and the rest you'll find here:
www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php/fforu...-planted-tank#111851
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- Christor (Chris Morrow)
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roughly how deep did you use? as I see you use ferts etc
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- NosIreland (Andrius Kozeniauskas)
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Cheers for that Nos, I dont mind the colour and to be honest it wont be moved that much, however the dust and bottom dwellers could be an issue, however kuhli loaches will be my only bottom dweller so hoping the little guys wont cause too much trouble
roughly how deep did you use? as I see you use ferts etc
Just noticed that the link with cat litter was missing.
The depth of it is 7-12cm.
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- Christor (Chris Morrow)
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- NosIreland (Andrius Kozeniauskas)
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Wow thats pretty deep! though are you using just it as a substrate? also what brand did you use? it seems the one to use is the featherlight no dust from tescos, its the pink bag, sorry should have made that clearer, anyone Ive talked to say it doesnt cloud up for them, though it is non clumping and like little bits of gravel really though obviously just pure baked clay. Im trying it anyway so can give my opinion of it
Yes it is deep, I have JBL aquabasis plus under it.
I've used Tesco pink bags, it is scented so I've soaked it for couple weeks. It is tough but it clouds up when disturbed.
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- Christor (Chris Morrow)
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It might be me but mine had zero scent, is it meant to be flowery or something?
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- NosIreland (Andrius Kozeniauskas)
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Did you find any anaerobic patches in your subvstrate from it or did it regulate the water pretty well? Ahh thats the one im using, well its 10litres and pink and cream, I suppose the clouding can be expected, either way worth a go for its price, akadama was just going to be awkward to obtain and an awful lot more expensive, no bonsai retailers here in the north heh
It might be me but mine had zero scent, is it meant to be flowery or something?
Have not seen any anaerobic patches with cat litter so far.
Maybe Tesco stopped putting scent into it, 2 years have passed since I bought mine. Don't remember the scent but you can smell it straight away even without opening the bag.
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- Christor (Chris Morrow)
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Nos you seem to be into the aquascaping scene, hav you any more setups? or have you tried any "low tech" setups?
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- NosIreland (Andrius Kozeniauskas)
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Here are all the setups that I have/had:
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- Christor (Chris Morrow)
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- Christor (Chris Morrow)
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http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/20/dscf2288i.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/502/dscf2286q.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/577/dscf2287u.jpg/
Wanting these 2 pieces to act like tree roots coming into the water then build up some swords, java ferns, anubias, Sagittaria dwarf and other grasses into the design
p.s sorry dont know whats with the pictures but if your on chrome just right click and go to link

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- BillG (Bill Gray)
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hardscaping looks good

What substrate did you go with in the end?
Cheers,
Bill.
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- Christor (Chris Morrow)
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as for substrate still going john innes no3 and cat litter, really like its look and texture, whether it works for me is the next question, any progress with your own tank?
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- Christor (Chris Morrow)
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the piece on the right side looks great set down, looks like a proper root, however it looks a bit daft as its randomly cut short and sits too far out from the tank, shame the tanks not very deep
other piece looks better laid flat, but takes up too much floor space so had to compromise while still keeping the look of roots
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- Christor (Chris Morrow)
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Eleocharis Parvula
Echindorus Bleheri
Anubias barteri car nana
hygrophilia polysperma "Rosanervig"
Hygrophilia corymbosa "augustifolia"
Alternathera reineckii "pink" roseafolia

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- BlueRam (Sean Crowe)
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wat u stockin
sean
Sean Crowe
ITFS Member
Location: Navan
Always Remember Surviving Is Not Thriving
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- Christor (Chris Morrow)
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as for stocking, there are maybe 20 cherry shrimp+, 5 khulis loaches, 4 mosquito rasbora, 2 pairs of golden australe and 1 scarlet badis all living happily

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- meleftone (Kevin Usher)
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