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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

Aquarium Plants in Pots

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17 Jan 2012 20:02 #1 by ghart (Greg Hart)
Has anyone on the forum experimented with potting aquarium plants?
See the following URl ..www.ehow.com/how_5192206_plant-aquarium-plants-pots.html

I am planning a new 5' Aquarium setup for my Discus fish.
I will use 3-4mm gravel in the tank to say a dept of 4 inches and avoid all of the confusing substrate options available.
Discus are messy feeders and I want to be able to do regular gravel cleaning and detris removal.
The tank would contain mainly plants that get their nutrients from the water and grow on bog wood , Java Fern, Anubis , etc. So liquid nutrients added to the tank should do for them.
For other plants I want such as the giant valis and Onion plant I will look to plant these in pots made from small yogurt tubs. I can then have a layer of quality aquarium substrate in each pot with gravel on top. I will make larger pots for the bigger central show plants in the aquarium.
The pots will be hidden in the 4" of gravel.
I am then free to move the plants around as I see fit without disturbing the plant growth cycle.

Any comments lads on this method.


Greg

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17 Jan 2012 20:38 #2 by wylam (Stuart Sexton)
Its sounds like alot less hastle than planting them in substrate, but would the plants not out grow the pots? Will the pots have holes in them to lets the roots grow free ?and would these type of plants survive with their roots outside the pots?

Stuart.

Multi tasking: Screwing up more than one thing at a time.

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17 Jan 2012 21:23 #3 by ghart (Greg Hart)
Stuart,

I would look to move any plant that became pot bound to a larger pot just like any garden potted plant.
I can easily take the potted plant out to examine it's roots and return it to the tank gravel bed.
I will probably give it a go and see how the plants do. It will avoid putting substrate across the full base of the tank and allow for deep gravel siphoning when needed.
This method should be ok as I'm not looking to do a heavy planted setup.

Greg

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17 Jan 2012 21:52 #4 by davey_c (dave clarke)
last time i was down with bart i seen he has it done to great success... he doesn't seem to have any problems looking at the growth of the plants.

could you not just trim back the roots if they do become rootbound?? i'd doubt it would suffer from it but it wouldn't need a massive amount of roots to sustain a plant... what size pots are ye thinking of??

Below tank is for sale

my plywood tank build.

www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php/forum...k-build-diary#137768

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17 Jan 2012 21:58 #5 by ghart (Greg Hart)
Davey_c,

Still in the planning stage on this but they would not have to be any bigger that the pots the Tropica plants come in. Come to thing of it I have some empty Tropica pots.

I'd be interested in what bart has to say about his experiences with plants in pots.

Thanks,
Greg

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17 Jan 2012 22:15 #6 by davey_c (dave clarke)

Davey_c,

Still in the planning stage on this but they would not have to be any bigger that the pots the Tropica plants come in. Come to thing of it I have some empty Tropica pots.


they totaly sound like the best choice... i'd go with the cage 1's for eas of trimming roots and maintanance ;)
not sure if any lfs sell them but you can buy them on ebay... aparently alot of sand sifting keepers pot their plants so they wont get disturbed B)

Below tank is for sale

my plywood tank build.

www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php/forum...k-build-diary#137768

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17 Jan 2012 22:49 #7 by wylam (Stuart Sexton)
Cool keep a post on your sucess, maybe with a few pic's. I'm looking to start a bigger set up and this sounds like a lots less hastle than having a layer of substrate.

Stuart.

Multi tasking: Screwing up more than one thing at a time.

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17 Jan 2012 23:11 #8 by BlueRam (Sean Crowe)
yeah davey is right bart does it well he does it so u can muve the plants from tank to tank send him a pm and have a chat with him i myself would like to plant them to let the breath as much as the can root wise

but it is up to yourself mate best off luck with it mate keep us posted

sean

Sean Crowe

ITFS Member

Location: Navan

Always Remember Surviving Is Not Thriving

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18 Jan 2012 12:56 #9 by PompeyBill (Killian Walshe)
Let us know how you get on Greg. I looked into doing this myself a while ago, was PM'ing bart and he really helped, but never got around to it and looks like I deleted the PM's. Would still like to give it a go.

Will you be putting soil into the pots or some kind of aquarium soil/substrate (Tropica or the like) or what way are you thinking of doing it?

Bill

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18 Jan 2012 14:13 #10 by ghart (Greg Hart)
Bill,

I would look to use a good quality aquarium substrate topped off by the gravel from the tank in each pot.
My new tank is not due for a couple of weeks so I will be thinking over what to use for pots. It would be good if I can get very small clay pots or trays in a garden centre. I will be shopping around over this weekend.

Greg

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19 Jan 2012 06:37 #11 by omen (Conor)
For most plants a tropica sized pot will be too small, and it will inevitably try to escape it, however, try a plastic plant pot, free in most garden centres. You could fill it with some organic soil or other plant friendly substrate, and if you wish to keep the soil in the pot, block up any holes in the pot.

If you try and keep a plant in a tropica sized pot, and trim the roots as suggested here, you will likely get plant melt, and kill it.

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19 Jan 2012 10:21 #12 by ghart (Greg Hart)
Omen,

Thanks for the suggestions.
The pots will have to be no higher than 3 to 4 inches so I can hide them in the tank grave.
They can be wide and long but not very deep.
I am now thinking on cutting the bottom out of 2 ltr Coke plastic bottles up to a height of 4 inches. These should be wide enough to plant say 2 to 3 Giant Vallis plants for a period of time. I can then group the plants near each other for the desired affect in the tank.

Greg

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20 Jan 2012 08:58 #13 by omen (Conor)
Sounds like a plan!

I'd highly recommend using a fertile substrate for the plants in the pot. It will be well worth it in the long run.

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20 Jan 2012 10:39 #14 by ghart (Greg Hart)
Omen,
What fertile aquarium substrate would you recommend.
I would just have the one substrate in the pots and then covered by the aquarium gravel.
The variety of substrates available are quite comfusing eg. ADA , JBL etc
I will only need a small bag of the stuff.

Thanks again.

Greg

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20 Jan 2012 11:36 #15 by BillG (Bill Gray)
Hi Greg,

where are you based? I have a lot of plant substrate ready to go a new tank I am setting up at the moment and I am sure I could spare a Kg or 2. If you are not too far from me, I can arrange to meet you and sort you out with some.

Cheers,

Bill.

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20 Jan 2012 11:38 - 20 Jan 2012 11:38 #16 by BillG (Bill Gray)
Hi Greg,

I should wake up before posting comemnts :) just noticed you are in Celbridge, only in Leixlip myself :)
if you want to PM with your number, I could arrange to meet you over the weekend and give you some plant substrate.

Cheers,

Bill.
Last edit: 20 Jan 2012 11:38 by BillG (Bill Gray). Reason: fixing a typo

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20 Jan 2012 13:53 #17 by ghart (Greg Hart)
Cheers Bill,
PM sent.

Greg

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04 Feb 2012 18:48 #18 by ghart (Greg Hart)
Thanks Bill for the substrate and small pots today ;)
All I have to do now is wait for my new Clearseal tank to be delivered :)
I must drop over to see your shed with the numerous tanks.
Let me know when it is open to the public :laugh:

Thanks Again
Greg

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04 Feb 2012 18:53 #19 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re: Aquarium Plants in Pots
Now is the time to check the Garden Centres out, look for Pond planting Baskets like these...



Kev.

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04 Feb 2012 22:15 #20 by BillG (Bill Gray)
Hi Greg,

No problem, glad to help :) let me know if you need any more of the substrate.
I will let you know when I have the place tidied up and you can get into it without needing an extra insurance policy :) power tools and 4 terrariums under construction for friends so it’s almost impossible to get in to fee the fish.

Cheers,

Bill

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