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
Hi All!
- FR85 (Gavin O'Sullivan)
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- FR85 (Gavin O'Sullivan)
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I have a JBL 900 and an Eheim Ecco 2236 on the 240l. I never looked into sumps due to plumbing and noise. I don't overly know how they work, always felt safest with canisters!
In the tank I have two dojo loaches, two shubunkins and a plec.
In the pond I've some shubunkins, yellow and common gold fish, one black goldfish the was born in there and a grey and yellow orfe. Can't keep koi as its a raised pond and I never looked at insulation on the walls. In there I have a Project Easy Pond filter and pump that was bought as a stop gap measure but I can't fault it along with an Oase Swim Skim 25 skimmer, I also have an Oase Filtral 5000 that I'll put in when the pond gets above 10 degrees!!!
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- ger310 (Ger .)
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Ger
What do you call a three legged Donkey?
A Wonkey....duh ha

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- robert (robert carter)
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- Jonlate (Jon Late)
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It seems that ponds are they way to go this year.
What would you suggest the smallest pond should be?
What about the smallest above ground one, made with sleepers for instance?
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- robert (robert carter)
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- LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
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"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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- JohnH (John)
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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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- FR85 (Gavin O'Sullivan)
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I think those storage units might get brittle over time or crack in the frost. Also, for a sleeper build I would try and use something pre-formed as I wouldn't have the patience to use a liner and do all the corner folds and the allowing for settlement and stretching ect......
Mark Fisher in Kilkenny sold me my pond liner and he can be found at Lawcus Farm Guesthouse if you have a google of it, very knowledgeable gent who was full of great advise when it came to my build. I believe he has a brother out in the west somewhere who does the same thing!
I've attached an image of mine when it was completed, quite a simple affair that works given it's surroundings, I have some reed plants in it and the skimmer has also gone in since. Hopefully it will give you some ideas of what you can do at a reasonable cost with minimal headache!!!
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- LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
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"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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- Jonlate (Jon Late)
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You don't apologise, to that's the way things work around here. All you did is told us what you have, we took it off in another direction.
The only way you find out stuff is by asking, so welcome along, and ask away. I do?!?!
Your pond is made of what then? The walls don't look that thick and it looks like a good size pond.
Also liked the very discreet return, matches in well with the wooden top bit.
Where is your filtration? What's it it?
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- FR85 (Gavin O'Sullivan)
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It's 2500l and it's made of heavy fibreglass, it was pre-molded and I built the frame around it.
The filter is a box type and its in behind the fence, it's not a super duper posh one but it keeps everything in check, water parameters are always optimal and at the minute I've blue course to fine pads along with bio balls. I have an Oase Filtral 5000 that will be going in also once the temp hits 10 and I'm feeding food again. The setup works for me although the main pump will need the ceramic shaft replaced soon and I'm buggered if I can find the impeller kit online! I see a lad on done deal selling the complete kits, I might see if he spares or just buy the same again for parts....
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- Q_Comets (Declan Chambers)
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