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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

3D Background

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30 Jan 2014 12:37 #1 by jonmac (Jon McNamee)
Looking for a 3D background for a reef tank.

Tried Seahorse Aquariums and Aquarium Solutions but they dont stock them.

Any pros or cons for 3D backgrounds?

'Its not the years honey, its the milage'
Dunshaughlin, Meath.

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30 Jan 2014 12:51 #2 by Reefaholic (adrian)
Replied by Reefaholic (adrian) on topic 3D Background
3D in a reef tank...dont think that will work !!!!

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30 Jan 2014 12:56 #3 by jonmac (Jon McNamee)
Replied by jonmac (Jon McNamee) on topic 3D Background
why wont it work?

'Its not the years honey, its the milage'
Dunshaughlin, Meath.

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30 Jan 2014 13:59 #4 by Reefaholic (adrian)
Replied by Reefaholic (adrian) on topic 3D Background
cause its salt water its going into and i no time it be covered of algae so dont see the point better making a nice structure out off liverock i never heard of a 3d background for a marine tank pointless if i must say !!!!

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08 Mar 2014 16:31 - 08 Mar 2014 16:33 #5 by Bohrio (Alex Rodriguez)
That depends of what the OP means by 3d background.

Customer backgrounds are quite common in reef aquariums. There are several pros and very few cons to using them.

Types go from using base rock such as ocean rock, create your own rock by mixing oyster shell etc, you can use ceramic reef backgrounds, you can use foam or a mixture of rock and foam, etc. There are endless possibilities you just need to make sure you use the right materials.

Some aquariums can look as good as this

Cement, quartz, foam


another foam background example



Have a look at this , website, might come handy if you are planning on building your own

My favorite type are reef ceramic, this means using pre made reef ceramic plates that you attach to the back of your aquarium to create a real reef look (you can also buy rocks, bridges, etc).

There are several brands out there, just need to make sure they are phosphate free

Some examples, different manufacturers:





http://www.marineaquariumsa.com/picture.php?albumid=236&pictureid=1830







How they look after the rock has cured





There are several pros when using reef ceramic. After it matures/cures, the rock can be as effective if not more than most live rock. Also, despite plates costing around 100 euro each it is still cheaper than live rock.

Another important advantage is that is critters/pest free! These are just some of the advantages.

the main disadvantage is that you will need to wait longer as they rock will need to cure and this takes time. On a 100% reef ceramic aquarium you are looking at, at least, 2 months before the rock cures.

My next aquarium will have a reef ceramic background, I am not sure if it will cover the whole back or just half of it, this means that I havent decided yet how is going to look like but I like the idea of not using live rock to prevent pests in my aquarium, in thsi way, i can control which critters go in my aquarium and which dont!
Last edit: 08 Mar 2014 16:33 by Bohrio (Alex Rodriguez).

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08 Mar 2014 18:07 #6 by jonmac (Jon McNamee)
Replied by jonmac (Jon McNamee) on topic 3D Background
Thanks for That Bohrio, very informative.

Are you planniing on not using live rock at all? And curing the reef ceramic background in the tank?

'Its not the years honey, its the milage'
Dunshaughlin, Meath.

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08 Mar 2014 18:16 #7 by Bohrio (Alex Rodriguez)
Hi Jonmac

I am indeed.

Unless I find some critters free live rock somewhere I will have no choice.

I might put some in my sump to help with the curing process but I am not 100% sure yet.

It is impossible to have a pest free tank as, at some point, you are likely to introduce some sort of unwanted guest, for example, it can come on a frag etc.

But my intentions is to use either base rock, ceramic or dead rock (last choice).

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08 Mar 2014 18:23 #8 by jonmac (Jon McNamee)
Replied by jonmac (Jon McNamee) on topic 3D Background
Is there much involved in curing your own rock? Have you done it before?

'Its not the years honey, its the milage'
Dunshaughlin, Meath.

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08 Mar 2014 18:24 #9 by alan 64 (alan)
Replied by alan 64 (alan) on topic 3D Background
those backgrounds look amazing they are so realistic

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08 Mar 2014 19:00 #10 by Bohrio (Alex Rodriguez)
There is no big mistery. Ideally you want to use some live rock to seed non live rock but that's not mandatory. Those who want to use live rock to speed up the process normally go for 20/80 (20 percent live rock).

I havent done it before at this scale. I have cured base rock but that's about it. So I am looking forward to this.

Curing non live rock from what I heard just requires a bit of patience. It could take a while for the rock to fully cure (2-3 months or more) but that doesnt mean you can't star adding fish as you can use other type of media to help with the cycle. You will need to add your own bacteria though.

As long as my tank is ready before summer I am happy. If everything goes well I will start it next month.

Another good thing about curing your own rock is that while it cures I can work on other things such as controllers, ATUs, lights, etc so by the time is ready I have most of the stuff in the tank!

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