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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

Ordered a new tank!

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07 Aug 2017 18:11 #1 by Peasepudding (Graeme Fryer)
Ordered a new tank today :

30L Nano Tank


Planning a Betta Tank for my son. Any suggestions for set up - mistakes to avoid etc. Was thinking for example i could use filter material from existing cycled tank to speed up cycling process etc (give old tank filter sponges squeeze in the new tank and so on)

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09 Aug 2017 15:37 #2 by gunnered72 (Eddy Gunnered)
Dont just squeeze it....Actually put it in the new filter...Also dose the tank with Tetra Safe Start good bacteria in a bottle for back up....

Instant cycle!!!!

Just dont add too many fish at once....

Test your water daily for Ammonia and Nitr I tes.......Do this for about a week....You should see no Ammonia and no NitrItes at all......That will tell you the tank is cycled definitely....

Feed sparingly initiially while all this is going on....

DONT confuse SafeStart with Aquasafe (They are 2 totally different things) Safe Start is good bacteria in a bottle....Aquasafe is tap water conditioner.....

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09 Aug 2017 18:55 #3 by Peasepudding (Graeme Fryer)
Thanks for this! I ordered something called fluval cycle to help set up the tank. Is this the same thing as tetra safe start?

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10 Aug 2017 08:10 #4 by paulv (paul vickers)
I've used organic aqua for first 2 months in new tanks until bio filtration gets established, then either do weekly water changes or stay with the OA. Once you use OA you can add fish immediately.

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10 Aug 2017 09:15 #5 by gunnered72 (Eddy Gunnered)
Fluval Cycle is basically the same...

While Organic Aqua works well....You have to be very careful weaning tanks off it...

If you want to continue with Organic Aqua its basically an ongoing expense....

Not very good for planted tanks either if you are going down that route....

Personally I believe that fresh water fish love fresh water (decent 50% weekly water change amounts) But thats just my 10 cents worth...

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10 Aug 2017 10:35 #6 by paulv (paul vickers)
The idea of using the oa at the start of to add the fish immediately, then over 2 months the bio will be established. I totally agree weekly water changes are better but in my case I had 1300l total volume so it meant changing about 400l a week, so for me the oa was easier. I ran the tank for over 4 years on it with no real issues. Bacteria in a bottle is really only an aid to setting up a filter and after you give your filter a good cleaning. I tried it few years ago in a 200l tank, can't remember the brand, I found after a few weeks the ammonia spiked, ideally using the bacteria in a bottle should be used weekly until the filter kicks in. Maybe the newer stuff works better.

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10 Aug 2017 10:49 #7 by Peasepudding (Graeme Fryer)
Thanks everyone. Much appreciated. Was thinking might use some ammonia to start the tank cycling process (Dr. Tims) then add some of the liquid bacteria (Fluval Cycle) and filter material from existing tank. Repeat a few times till all balanced. Does this sound practical?

Have test kit so won't be getting betta till ready - not rushing into this! Thanks again

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10 Aug 2017 13:32 #8 by robert (robert carter)
Started my 470 litre coldwater on AQ good stuff but weened it off after about 9 months

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10 Aug 2017 16:25 #9 by paulv (paul vickers)
Your plan seems perfectly good to me. Once you do regular tests and as you're keeping betas you're limited to only a few per tank. Best of luck with it.

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11 Aug 2017 06:43 #10 by Peasepudding (Graeme Fryer)
going to set up the tank (no fish) this weekend and will post before and after (with fish) pictures!

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12 Aug 2017 20:04 #11 by Peasepudding (Graeme Fryer)
so new tank arrived; built the cabinet to stand it on and ventured up bray head to source a few rocks. Ammonia and bacteria start up arriving next week so can begin the cycling in earnest then.

Also ordered some Lilaeopsis brasiliensis - Brazilian Micro Sword for the substrate. Might get a one or two more small plants to lash on to the rocks and that will prob do it.
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17 Aug 2017 19:04 #12 by Peasepudding (Graeme Fryer)
So finished with the plants and cycling on the go. What do folks think of the design? Hoping it's Betta friendly.

Was toying with some shrimp as well - presume I should establish these in tank first before adding the Betta?
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18 Aug 2017 09:33 #13 by paulv (paul vickers)
I'm far from a Betta expert, hopefully the real Betta guys will reply, but with the floating plants any Betta should be happy there. Easy shrimp like the cherry shrimp will be good as clean up crew.

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18 Aug 2017 12:34 #14 by Dihanio (Paulie Hanlon)
Be careful with shrimp in the tank. I tried them before with a betta, and the betta had the meal of his life!!

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19 Aug 2017 10:36 #15 by Bill (Bill Hunter)
I think the Bettas would most likely have a field day with the shrimps, even if they did happen to leave the adults alone you would be unlikely to keep youngsters as the shrimp breed which means you would need to either keep a breeding colony of shrimps in a separate tank so you always have a supply of clean-up crew or buy new shrimp as the older ones die. Don't forget, we do encourage - particularly when breeding - our Bettas to eat shrimp.
Bill

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19 Aug 2017 10:54 #16 by Peasepudding (Graeme Fryer)
hear what you are saying. Maybe some adult special shrimp that are unlikely to breed and some nerite snails would be good tank mates for the betta.

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19 Aug 2017 11:37 #17 by JohnH (John)
Replied by JohnH (John) on topic Ordered a new tank!
A very valid (here) fact is that Shrimps are invertebrates and as such have their 'skeletons' on the outside.
Great for protection - yes, but all shrimps have to replenish these exoskeletons periodically. A new one grows underneath the existing one and the old one then is discarded (hence why some newcomers think their shrimps have died, when in fact what they're seeing is the complete discarded old shell). It is when they have these new shells that all are most vulnerable. It takes a little while for the new shell to harden and makes them prey to just about any predator during this period. It matters not that they may be too large to be eaten whole, they just get broken into smaller bite-sized pieces.

However, there is hope here, I have five Amano Shrimps in a tank of breeding Bettas and they've been there - unassailed - for well over two years.
The female is often seen carrying eggs, but Amanos have a breeding process which makes it almost impossible for them to be successfully bred in our tanks.
When the young are released in the wild they immediately migrate to the sea, where they spend their early life - until maturity, at which point they return to fresh water to live and reproduce.
They are appreciably larger than many of our regular freshwater shrimps and - coincidentally - pretty good at eating unwanted thread algae. They seem to be very good at keeping away from my Bettas while in the 'soft-shell' state too. The only downside to them is they aren't the cheapest of shrimps, but, if my experience is anything to go by, are pretty long-lived. And, can periodically provide the fish with a gift of newly-hatched shrimplets.

So, for what it's worth, these would be my recommended shrimps.

John

Location:
N. Tipp

We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.


ITFS member.



It's a long way to Tipperary.

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19 Aug 2017 13:02 #18 by Bill (Bill Hunter)
Some interesting points there, John. I don't know much about these ornamental shrimps, in fact I should say I know nothing about them. I'm always tempted to get myself a few, just to experience keeping and breeding them. I had thought about Amano, but I didn't realise that the youngsters needed to go back to sea, just like our Salmon and Sea Trout :)
Is there a way to sort out the sea water requirement? Can they be raised any way at all in the home environment?
Bill

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19 Aug 2017 14:06 #19 by JohnH (John)
Replied by JohnH (John) on topic Ordered a new tank!
When speaking to Darren on the subject he explained that it's a very 'hit-or-miss' affair.

Seemingly the trick is to have a salt water tank set up and move the embryos into it but...
too soon - they all die
too late - they all die

It really appears to be a critical timing issue.

I decided it wasn't worth the effort myself.

There are reports of people being successful if you check on goggle, but even then I don't think they have a 100% result.

Thinking about it, our native shrimps and prawns (and crabs) follow a similar pattern.

Location:
N. Tipp

We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.


ITFS member.



It's a long way to Tipperary.

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19 Aug 2017 21:47 #20 by Peasepudding (Graeme Fryer)
Some great advice here - many thanks!

Can I ask if folks like the tank setup i have come up with?!;) Its not too minimal for a betta fish? Tried to give space for swimming and some cover. Think i might order some java sword plants for the back wall too.

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20 Aug 2017 08:18 #21 by Bill (Bill Hunter)
Sounds like a lot of effort right enough. I'll leave it for the experts :)
Bill

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20 Aug 2017 14:15 #22 by Peasepudding (Graeme Fryer)
This is the tank now - added ammonia this morning to raise to 2ppm and already dropped (6Hours Later) to 1ppm so think cycling is going ok.

Really oddly I found 3 Fish fry swimming around in the new tank! Really tiny (approx 3 - 5mm). Must have arrived as eggs on the plants I think though they must be hardy to survive in a tank cycling?? I've removed and put in a temp glass bowl with some java moss else I imagine they would end in the filter.
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21 Aug 2017 19:27 #23 by robert (robert carter)
Looks good and free fish thats a bonus

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26 Aug 2017 18:19 #24 by Peasepudding (Graeme Fryer)
well happy to say tank seems cycled. have some snails in there atm to act as canaries just in case water tests are inaccurate but so far so good. have ordered a betta for collection sept. 9th so another two weeks for the tank plants and filter to mature bit more.

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05 Nov 2017 10:18 #25 by Peasepudding (Graeme Fryer)
Had a bit of trouble posting recently so fingers x'd!

Anyhoo, this is Frank "The Tank" in his home. Seems happy enough. Making bubble nests and interacting with our 5 year old son who is delighted!
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05 Nov 2017 13:32 #26 by robert (robert carter)
Looks great , well done

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05 Nov 2017 18:21 #27 by alan 64 (alan)
Replied by alan 64 (alan) on topic Ordered a new tank!
Nice job love the plants in there and the fighter looks nice and happy

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