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
plant substrate info NEED HELP LIKE ALWAYS :L
Setting up a 200L planted myself at present and have been doing a lot of research on the substrate side of things. I plan to use a mix of Oliver Knott, JBL ProFlora and Akadama Bonsai Soil
Based on extensive research, the Akadama will provide all the nutrients, will not alter water chemistry and is fish safe too 
It is a Japanese volcanic soil which is sintered to remove all organic material, so it is putely nutrients required by plants. It is packed in 14L bags and is primarily spherical about 3 to 4mm in diameter. ITs a dull brown in the bag but almost brick red when wet. I plan to top this mix with Manado along the 2 sides and back of the tank. THe Manado is not a plant substrate as such but it does act as a reservoir for nutrients, absorbing excess nutrients from fish waste etc and releasing them to the plants as required.
I plan to have black volcanic sand in the centre at the back 2/3 of the tank and the whole front will be white silica sand, main planting at back and sides with some foreground planting and lots of mosses on wood and rock in the centre.
The Akadama is anything up to €35 for a 14L bag but I know where you can get it for €14 at present.
PM me if you want the details.
Cheers,
BillG
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what dept are ye looking for?
Below tank is for sale
my plywood tank build.
www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php/forum...k-build-diary#137768
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how long were you using the oliver knott in the other tank? are you going to supliment the ferts back into it if your not planning any more? were you using any capsules or anything when you used it? all this should be considered to deciding if you'll need to get more... its not just a matter of reusing it because the goodness within it could be prity low by now and could need replenishing if you get me.
Below tank is for sale
my plywood tank build.
www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php/forum...k-build-diary#137768
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to determine the amount of Manado you need is quite easy
here are some handy formulas.If you plan to have the substrate layer the same depth over the whole tank base use this one.
Substrate volume = (S x W x L) / 1000
S - Substrate depth in cm
W - Tank width in cm
L - Tank Length in cm
If you plan to have the substrate slope front to back, then it’s the same but you need to calculate S
This time S = (F + B ) / 2
F - Substrate depth at the front of the tank in cm
B - Substrate depth at the back of the tank in cm
Once you calculate the total volume required, just deduct the volume of Oliver Knott you have.
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try not to mix if you can as with light substrate siphoning will do a lot of stirring up and it will be messy I think. Please Log in to join the conversation.
any idea on the substrate depth you want to go with? and if you want a slope on it?
no problem doing the calculations, but will help not having to do lots for all possible combinations
The 5 foot tank is 5 x 2 foot? So approx. 152cm x 61cm, so just need the substrate depth
Given that you have 40L of the OK substrate at present, this would give a 4cm level layer over the whole base of the tank, or any of the following combinations of slopes
Front Back
2cm 6cm
2.5cm 5.5cm
3cm 5cm
An extra 10L of the substrate will give you 5.4cm over the whole tank base, or the following with a slope.
Front Back
2cm 8.8cm
2.5cm 8.3cm
3cm 7.8cm
3.5cm 7.3cm
4cm 6.8cm
4.5cm 6.3cm
Cheers,
Bill.
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dont really need the slope ill see when i go to put it in wat way i want to do it
next thing is going to aquastape it that will be a mission and a half lol (not something i am really good at):L:L:L
at least i knoe i have enough
and be thinkin i was good at maths hahahaha
thanks again mate
sean
Sean Crowe
ITFS Member
Location: Navan
Always Remember Surviving Is Not Thriving
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think you will be ok with 4cm all over the base unless you plan to use any plants with huge root systems.
Best of luck with the aquascaping
based on the previous set-up you did, it should look amazing.Here is an aquascaping design aid I found last year and posted at the time, could be useful.
www.theaquatools.com/aquasketcher
Cheers,
Bill
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Hi Sean,
think you will be ok with 4cm all over the base unless you plan to use any plants with huge root systems.
Best of luck with the aquascaping
Here is an aquascaping design aid I found last year and posted at the time, could be useful.
www.theaquatools.com/aquasketcher
Cheers,
Bill
Jaysus thanks for that link Bill,its the business so it is
))Ger
What do you call a three legged Donkey?
A Wonkey....duh ha
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