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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

oh dear what have i done????

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08 Sep 2013 22:16 #1 by carlowchris (chris)
maidenhead aquatics in carlow is closing down,so i decided to down.all live stock half price so thought i might pick myself up a bargin but lets just say a few people may of got there before i did.

so all dry goods a third off ....well i got a few peices of live rock and kind of ended up buying a new 500 liter tank...

at the mo own 2 redsea max 130s so this is going to be a bit of jump but i like a bit of hard work,so over the next bit and its going to be slow im going to upload a load of pics and if anyone has any suggestions it would be very much appreciated

going to start breaking down and moving and rebuilding two fowlr tanks tomorrow...

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08 Sep 2013 22:20 #2 by ck1 (chris)
is there good value there on tanks.setting up marine soon myself

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08 Sep 2013 23:32 #3 by carlowchris (chris)
yeah they've a few tanks there and a third off is always good value

my history is ive a 5 year old daughter who wanted fish so we bought a fluval chi about 25 liters and a few gold fish but she always wanted nemo and dorry so that got me interested and now im probly more into it than she is but shes probably the only five year old in her class that can test water quality and she knows all the different fish

anyway bought i redsea 130 for not alot less than this new tank has cost me but with the new tank ive still to drill it and light it and the rest.the other was plug it in and cycle

the other tank i bought was off donedeal exacly the same full of sand and rock and ready to go but ended stripping he tank and sand had to go and have never been happy with rock,still look in donedeal from time to time and there's always lads down your way with a bargin going

now i haven't gone full reef but just the fish alone id recommend anyone marine

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09 Sep 2013 08:39 #4 by hammie (Neil Hammerton)
Fair play Chris, I was only down there looking at tanks on Saturday......
What 1 you buy?
Looking forward to seeing the new tank take shape!
Plenty of pics needed

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10 Sep 2013 21:33 #5 by carlowchris (chris)
i think i got the seashell phoenix,its piano black and it looks deadly it was by the till almost.

just had two really long days at work so hoping to get started moving tanks tomorrow and then ill pick the new tank at the weekend

has anybody ever drilled a tank???? is it as easy as they make out on youtube?????


i was hoping seahorse might drill it for me but they wont cause its not there tank and i was thinking of asking rainbow to do it but every time i go there he seems to be shut

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27 Sep 2013 23:34 #6 by carlowchris (chris)
ok just done the last water change before i'll pick the new tank on sunday

rainbow will be drilling it for me and making the weir

i originally thought this was going to upgrade but its turning out to be quite a project

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28 Sep 2013 08:51 #7 by hammie (Neil Hammerton)
Your mad for the marines chris
Beautiful tank btw.... was only talking to chris about it in the shop and he told me it was sold.... was gutted, but knowing you got it makes it all the better

What you going to put into this one?

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29 Sep 2013 21:23 #8 by carlowchris (chris)
Not really sure yet what will be going in but staing with the peacefull tank...its just heart breaking to find one member of your tank eating all his friends..

So the cromis,royal gramma,clowns,regal tang and cardinals are about to move to more plush surroundings.

Picked up the tank today.and will be delivering it to rainbow tommorrow to get i drilled

Went down maidenhead at the last moments and managed to get a fantastic deal on a return pump and and a skimmer.missed out on lighting.someone had already beat me to those

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29 Sep 2013 22:38 #9 by carlowchris (chris)
Sorry theres one last thing to say tonight and thats i have the tank now so there really is no going back
Ive had sone success with the tanks ive had up till now purely due to advise from other members from here and to one guy from madienhead that is now at seahorse.

Madienhead will be sadly missed cause it was so local to me and having advise,when its only ten mins from your front door,is unbeatable..

The new tank is spending the night in the van,so ill upload a couple of pics in the morning

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30 Sep 2013 19:51 #10 by carlowchris (chris)
Ok i may of just bought the weirdest tank ever...turns out the bottom sheet of glass on the tank is actually 2 sheets of glass stuck together...rainbow doesnt know if it can be drilled..but we'll find out tommorrow...
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30 Sep 2013 19:58 #11 by carlowchris (chris)
Just thinking
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30 Sep 2013 21:54 #12 by davey_c (dave clarke)
Would you not use an overflow box instead?

Below tank is for sale

my plywood tank build.

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

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30 Sep 2013 22:33 #13 by carlowchris (chris)
Serriously considering it...ive left the tank at rainbows over night..and have a few things to do up in dublin tommorrow so by the end of tommorrow ill either get it drilled or ill have to rethink things..

No great rush though probly still another week or two from getting the lighting sorted

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01 Oct 2013 21:37 #14 by carlowchris (chris)
Ok thinking of an overflow box but the only question is the biggestest overflow box that seahorse do is 3000 lph and the the return pump i bought is 4000 lph..so could i use 2 overflows??? If i do splitt it and wach overlow is then only handling 2000 instead of the 3000 there rated for could it cause them to loose siphon????could this become messy???

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20 Oct 2013 12:09 #15 by carlowchris (chris)
Ok got the tank back from rainbow on fri and tanks not drilled have decided to go with an overflow box..rainbow did paint the back of the tank for me though..

Just on the look out now for some led lights...but with the prices of those think a lottery win is well needed.

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20 Oct 2013 18:10 #16 by hammie (Neil Hammerton)
This one is going to be a slow process then is it?
You know the saying Chris........
This thread is useless without pics :whistle:

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22 Oct 2013 21:14 - 22 Oct 2013 21:17 #17 by carlowchris (chris)
I know I need more pics up but the tanks been in the back of the van and only got someone to help yesterday to bring it in...

the tank is itself sitting on top of the coffee table..the sumps on the armchair and the cabnets in front of the sofa.....ummmmm I wont get away with this for very long.

been looking at lights and there are not any good deals anywhere,even second hand theres lads on adverts who just wont deal at all.....I cant understand people who if they were selling a car they'd be wiling to negotiate but when dealing with aquarium stuff they wont budge.....

so im going to order the leds from America and ive got to pay the car tax this week..so taking a bit longer than I've ever wanted......

but hopefully i'll have the tank into place at least weekend and I can start to make a bit of progress and start getting some pictures up.
Last edit: 22 Oct 2013 21:17 by carlowchris (chris).

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22 Oct 2013 22:41 #18 by hammie (Neil Hammerton)
If ever you need help

Just shout.... I'm only down the road B)

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22 Oct 2013 23:07 #19 by carlowchris (chris)
thanks.....

a little help goes a long way :cheer:

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22 Oct 2013 23:40 #20 by andrewo (andrew)
Congrats on the new acquisition! :)

Have you got over the overflow predicament? Add a valve or two and you should be sorted. Good luck!

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07 Mar 2014 20:34 #21 by carlowchris (chris)
Ok with one thing an another..the tank had to selved but ive a few days off and although i orinally said it was going to a long process this is probly a bit too long..

so i have the leds.over flows and a shit load of flexable tubing..


ITS TIME TO START GET THE TOOL BOX OUT

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07 Mar 2014 21:20 #22 by hammie (Neil Hammerton)
Bloody hell dude......
Bout time!!!!
On another note..... hows the red sea 130s both going

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08 Mar 2014 01:28 #23 by carlowchris (chris)
Oh both are doing well but havent really done much with them all effort will be going into the new tank now..

ok cant hang the lights...beams or rafters are not in the right place but ill stop at b and q and get some plaster bpard anchors tommorrow and after all this time ive mislaid the gaskets from the overflow but ill them from b and q awell

but apart from that had a productive night.i altered the canopy so i can hang the leds from the ceiling.canopy just wasnt big enough to mount inside.ive plumbed the skimer and overflows and return and mounted the electicalso hopefully tank may start to filled tomorrow...
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08 Mar 2014 01:31 #24 by carlowchris (chris)
Ok cant seem to up load all the pics but i ll keep trying
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08 Mar 2014 01:33 #25 by carlowchris (chris)
How you getting on ?? You planning a little upgrade too???
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08 Mar 2014 01:36 #26 by carlowchris (chris)
If only i got to hang them but these are the leds i got
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08 Mar 2014 08:09 #27 by hammie (Neil Hammerton)
Ill be setting up a little coral tank soon, was supposed to be doing it today but something has come up and just not going to happen for a week or 3 now!
Ill probably put a few inverts into it, but not planning on keeping any fish at this stage in this.one!!!
Never know tho, plans do change haha

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08 Mar 2014 22:37 #28 by carlowchris (chris)
Oh well lights are up but lights you hang from the ceiling are not the easiest thing to get level and straight and looking at them i may end up still having to move them.

still not sure about my returns but off to seahorse tommorrow and i ll get the tank filled and see then.

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13 Mar 2014 16:17 #29 by carlowchris (chris)
tank filled and some live rock and live sand in and as I suspected the return just isn't cutting it and it sprung a leek so have to rethink that but I have a big cloudy tank and the skimmer is going mental so ive still plenty of time...

off to the pet shop to get another heater and the diy shop to see if I get some inspiration..

Anybody know how much live rock id be able to remove from the other tanks without the fish suddenly thinking they were back at the petshop????

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13 Mar 2014 16:42 #30 by Bohrio (Alex Rodriguez)
I dont know how much LR you can remove but whatever you do I would do it slowly as sudden changes can alter the tank cycle.

What are you exactly planning to do?

You could try moving the whole tank in one go but it does require a bit of planning.

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