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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

setting up marines??

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20 Feb 2011 17:49 #1 by colly130 (Colin)
hi guys .. im an absolute amateur when it comes to marines fishkeeping ... currently have 2 tanks with african cichlids. me and my brother are gonna get a third one for marines :).... what is the basic stuff ill need to set up ? obviously the right sand for the ph... filter heater lighting....
any imput it appreciated lads and lassies !!

cheers colly

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20 Feb 2011 20:07 #2 by alan61979 (Alan)
Best advice I can give is buy yourself a book. Keeping Marines isn't as complicated as you might think. Read as much as you can on the subject and that'll start you off in the right direction.

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21 Feb 2011 18:27 #3 by harpurM (Harpur Morrison)
Read up as said the Berlin Method, Live Rock and a good skimmer are essential and most important PATIENCE. It really is not that complicated if you keep things simple and you get a reliable Local Fish Shop sells well cured LR.

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21 Feb 2011 20:11 #4 by alan61979 (Alan)
Apart from the obvious stuff like skimmers, extra circulation pumps etc, 2 pieces of equipment I'd strongly urge you to consider are,

1. A refractometer. Don't get the cheap option of a needle SG meter.

2. An automatic top up system for evaporated water.

Keeping things stable are crucial and both those devices will help you along.

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22 Feb 2011 01:36 #5 by colly130 (Colin)
cheers lads... so what im getting is the esentials for starting is ... the Tank (obviously) proper filteration (obviously).. proper substrate.. lighting...skimmers...live rock and the two things you just mentioned there alan? im gonna do more research anyways but im very excited about setting up a marine tank :)

colly

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22 Feb 2011 19:48 #6 by andrewo (andrew)
Do post some pics when rdy; congrats on taking the plunge; i did few months back and no regrest yet except for some holes in me pocket :laugh:

regards;
andrew

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23 Feb 2011 00:19 #7 by alan61979 (Alan)
Just make sure your tank is suitable for an auto top up system. To get the best out of one, you should place it in a sump, probably wouldn't work as well if the sensor was placed directly in the tank, or if you're using an external filter that changes the level of the water in the main aquarium.

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27 Feb 2011 02:40 #8 by harpurM (Harpur Morrison)
Well cured live rock is essential with a good skimmer to maintain good water parameters, sand is not that important but if you can get a sump, and the bigger the better even in a cupboard next door !!! Make sure the LR has good circulation, don't do what I did and keep all rock tight together, make sure it is stable but with many many holes/crevices and MOST IMPORTANT patience.

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