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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

substrate

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27 Feb 2013 15:23 #1 by Paul Healy (paul healy)
Hi i am addind substrate to an existing aqaurium to make it a planted one you can see the tank as i bought it,i really want to have a more overgrown natural looking enviroment for my fish.I have 3 angel fish 4 dwarf german blue rams and 10 guppies or so and 4 blue neons,any ideas on what substrate and plants to get all the plants in the pic are real but they dont do well in gravel.also how will i get the subdtrate into the tank with the fish already in there ,you help and ideas will be much appreciated.

thanks paul. :blink: :silly:

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27 Feb 2013 17:10 #2 by katie (Kathrin Guenther)
Replied by katie (Kathrin Guenther) on topic substrate
You could get yourself an empty bucket, fill with tank water, catch your fish and pop them into the bucket. Get as many (clean !) buckets as you can get your hands on and save as much water from the tank as you can into those. Put your plants or any deco into that as well.
Clean out the rest of the water and the old gravel, refill with your substrate of choice (have it washed and ready as not to be wasting time), refill with the saved water, replant, top up with fresh water, restock with your fish and your all done :)
Oh and don't forget to keep your filter going in one of the buckets too.

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27 Feb 2013 17:13 #3 by ceech (Desmond Gaynor)
Replied by ceech (Desmond Gaynor) on topic substrate
Adding the substrate is easy.You have 2 options .
1 you can remove all decor and clean what you are putting in and add to the tank.
2 you can remove everything and put fish in a tub with the pump you have and keep all running.Take out substrate ya dont want , put a plant substrate ina and gravel on the top.The plants will depend on what lighting you have in the tank and how much you leave them on.Easy plants are java moss and such, amazon swords and things will need a good food substrate to do well.ELODEA DENSA ,Sagittaria subulata Dwarf Grass,Vallisneria tortifolia,Ceratopteris thalictroides and CABOMBA are all nice options to have.Its really down to your personal likes.You can also get Root Tabs Plant Fertiliser Tablets for helping to give the plants an extra boost or even use a simple co2 tablets system.Its just depends on how much you are willing to invest.

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27 Feb 2013 19:12 #4 by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
in another variation on what's been said already, you could take out your current substrate as you are doing the next few water changes (ie suck it up with a hose), so that when it comes to actually doing what ceech and katie have suggested, you're not doing EVERYthing in one go

"The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won't let go of your life; your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they're not punishing you.They're freeing your soul."

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27 Feb 2013 20:50 #5 by Gonefishy (Brian oneill)
Replied by Gonefishy (Brian oneill) on topic substrate

Adding the substrate is easy.You have 2 options .
1 you can remove all decor and clean what you are putting in and add to the tank.
2 you can remove everything and put fish in a tub with the pump you have and keep all running.Take out substrate ya dont want , put a plant substrate ina and gravel on the top.The plants will depend on what lighting you have in the tank and how much you leave them on.Easy plants are java moss and such, amazon swords and things will need a good food substrate to do well.ELODEA DENSA ,Sagittaria subulata Dwarf Grass,Vallisneria tortifolia,Ceratopteris thalictroides and CABOMBA are all nice options to have.Its really down to your personal likes.You can also get Root Tabs Plant Fertiliser Tablets for helping to give the plants an extra boost or even use a simple co2 tablets system.Its just depends on how much you are willing to invest.


Will the new water parameters not be very different or change? So I understand correctly...you're saying that all existing gravel can be removed, new pre-washed substrate added, plants planted and water and fish then re-added? How many hours would it take to add the new say manado and plant it?

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02 Mar 2013 08:32 #6 by Paul Healy (paul healy)
Replied by Paul Healy (paul healy) on topic substrate
Thanks for all the help everyone

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03 Mar 2013 09:46 #7 by Paul Healy (paul healy)
Replied by Paul Healy (paul healy) on topic substrate
This is the almost finished tank now looks much better thanks again to everyone and the quick responce
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