×
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

New Marine Set Up

More
19 Feb 2014 17:08 #1 by jonmac (Jon McNamee)
All I need now are some fish and corals, excuse the crappy iPhone photo.

One problem is gurgling overflow box, both in the box and in the sump sock. Lot of bubbling In sump sock, its very noisy, anyone any ideas?

Also not sure about heater position in sump, would it better in beside return pump?

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

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
20 Feb 2014 17:26 #2 by razorb (Ray Buckley)
hi is it a clearseal tank ie a seahorse aquariums tank,if so its similar to mine .on mine there's two pipes coming down from the weir box ,1 is the overflow pipe in case something gets caught in the main pipe it can overflow to the sump and the other is the return and it normally has a valve that you can adjust the amount of return flow .if that's closed to much you can get the weir box filling up and dumping via the overflow.take a look at the weir box and if its full of water and dumping via the overflow increase the opening on the return valve and the noise will subside

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
20 Feb 2014 18:11 #3 by jonmac (Jon McNamee)
Yes a seahorse aquarium tank but an AQUA One 240L.

Not drilled for overflow so used a BLAU 1500 overflow box with a H2Ocean 200 return pump.

Retrun pump is adjustable and I turned it down fully which did reduce the noise but would still like it a little quieter..

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

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
20 Feb 2014 19:18 #4 by igmillichip (ian millichip)
What fish are planning?

ian

Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
20 Feb 2014 21:02 #5 by jonmac (Jon McNamee)
That's the next question. When fish only I always kept Triggers and Puffers, huge fan but guess they are out of the question now.

Presume I will start with some clowns and tangs, any suggestions?

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

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
06 Mar 2014 12:18 - 06 Mar 2014 12:20 #6 by jeff (Jeff Scully)
Impressive rock work what did you use to stick it all together

Any ideas on what fish to keep yet

Doesn't matter where the heater is

Where the tongue slips, it speaks the truth.

A life making mistakes is not only more honourable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing at all.
Last edit: 06 Mar 2014 12:20 by jeff (Jeff Scully).

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
06 Mar 2014 15:27 #7 by jonmac (Jon McNamee)
Thanks, I used SpeedGlue which I got in seahorse aquariums. Very easy to use cement, easy to mix and cures quickly under water. Also dries colour of live rock, after a few weeks it is hard to see the joins.

It was still difficult to erect, actually 3 sections, assembled each section out of water and then joined all 3 under water. Once I kept the live rock wet all worked out ok.

I tried CG glue from Ecotech, looks/feels like superglue first, while it is very good for fixing corals and it is useless for large pieces of live rock.




I got 3 blue/green chromis to start and for coral got a zoanthids and green star polyps.

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

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
06 Mar 2014 15:41 #8 by jonmac (Jon McNamee)
Update on equipment. The gurgling from the overflow box died down after a week, was still bubbling at the sock though. I drilled a hole in the pipe just above where it enters the sump water to let the excess air out. Noise is acceptable now.

Another issue I had was with the brand new Deltec SC1455 Skimmer. Once I started it, I had excessive micro bubbles, so excessive it was filling and overflowing the cup within 30 seconds.
After returning to Seahorse Aquariums to confirm it was working correctly, they suggested running the skimmer without the cup.
I raised the skimmer in the pump to the absolute minimum 140mm and ran without the cup for at least 8 hours.
With the cup still off, I then focused on getting the bubbles as big as possible by adjusting the water level and air intake on the skimmer, this took at least 2 days of tweaking util the bubble were large enough. I was then able to add the cup.
While it was a nightmare to get started, the skimmer is working really well after 5 days,dark lumpy skimmate.
I would still recommend the Deltec SC1455, very quiet and efficient.

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

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
07 Mar 2014 23:56 #9 by jeff (Jeff Scully)
Sounds like good stuff do you know if it can be used in up and running tanks

I think nearly all the deltec skimmers give bubble probs at the start but once you find a way to help it at the start their bullet proof great skimmer very quiet do an amazing job

I got some chromis a few weeks ago too great fish for relaxing other fish (shy fish) they bring everything out to swim, hungry little feckers too
What else you thinking of getting?

Yellow tang
Bristle tooth tang
Coral beauty
Fire fish
Bangi cardinals x2
Blue cheek gobie

Their a few fish that would suit ur tank and of course a pair of clowns the black ones are deadly going mad I didn't get a pair of them

Where the tongue slips, it speaks the truth.

A life making mistakes is not only more honourable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing at all.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
08 Mar 2014 00:20 #10 by jonmac (Jon McNamee)
Not sure about using the speedglue in a running tank, would takes practice. If you mix exactly as per instructions, after 30 secs it is like putty, you have then 10 sec's to fix it. I did this 3 times to cement 3 sections I had built outside earlier.

Found it better to do it outside, keep rock wet, fix the rock, leave for an hour, it isnt set by then but you can carefully lift it back into position into tank. After 24 hours you wont break it.

Definately getting gobies and yellow tangs, clowns also. Not ruling out triggers or puffers, not yet, just love them.

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

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
08 Mar 2014 13:42 #11 by hammie (Neil Hammerton)
Im a serious fan of puffers of all descriptions tbh, also love skats (a very undervalued fish imo)

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
08 Mar 2014 14:15 #12 by jonmac (Jon McNamee)
Hammie, have you tried puffers in a reef environment?


Skats? you mean Skates?

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

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
08 Mar 2014 17:55 - 08 Mar 2014 17:58 #13 by hammie (Neil Hammerton)
Unfortunately Jon im only setting up my first marine tank at the moment, but i have.to say, ive never seen any kind of puffer in a reef environment that i can remember!!!

Sorry not Skats.... but scats (scatophagus argus)
can survive fresh water, brackish water and marine water.... scavanger that eats just about anything!!!! Not fussy which means they help clean your tank too!!!
Mono's are another undervalued fish imo
Last edit: 08 Mar 2014 17:58 by hammie (Neil Hammerton).

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
08 Mar 2014 18:14 - 08 Mar 2014 18:16 #14 by jonmac (Jon McNamee)
Do like the mono's, good selection of varieties.

Anyway, went mad again today. Got the following:
1. Clarkes clown (2" only €35 in Seahorrse)
2. Condy Anemone, white (€30 special offer again in Seahorse, all gone now)
3. Duncan Coral (Duncanopsammia axifuga)

Will post photos when everyone has settled.

(PS Hammie: Post some photos when you have them)

'Its not the years honey, its the milage'
Dunshaughlin, Meath.
Last edit: 08 Mar 2014 18:16 by jonmac (Jon McNamee).

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
10 Mar 2014 20:59 #15 by jeff (Jeff Scully)
Their is puffers that won't eat corals, think honeycomb is one and their is a few more but will eat inverts shrimps snails ect you could ad an urchin to control algae they can't eat them

Where the tongue slips, it speaks the truth.

A life making mistakes is not only more honourable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing at all.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
25 Mar 2014 14:14 #16 by txtmess (Ciaran)
Replied by txtmess (Ciaran) on topic New Marine Set Up
Have to say gobies are my favourites always entertaining in a tank and always busy being nosey at the other fish.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
25 Mar 2014 14:51 #17 by jonmac (Jon McNamee)
Must agree, had a brown barrel goby before and getting one again this weekend.

Also great for keeping the sand clean!

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

Please Log in to join the conversation.

Time to create page: 0.062 seconds
Powered by Kunena Forum