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
Project pond under way
- CrustyCrab (Peter Biddulph)
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PM sent on liners and liner repair
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- paulv (paul vickers)
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Just one thing for Paulv.As far as i know any concrete/cement product needs to be treated/painted before it is suitable for fish.
Stuart.
good man stuart i never thought of that but my x boss was building a duck pond so concrete is ok.
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- irish-zx10r (James feenan)
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can someone tell me if thyis is good value
www.amazon.co.uk/Pond-Liner-4x4m-guarant...COC1C/ref=pd_cp_kh_0
i know someone sent me a link before for good cheap liner but i cant seem to find the message or link.
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- CrustyCrab (Peter Biddulph)
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- CrustyCrab (Peter Biddulph)
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Have seen the Water Garden Direct liner and its good.
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- irish-zx10r (James feenan)
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Not sure what the delivery from the UK is for the liner,
Have seen the Water Garden Direct liner and its good.
for €40 inc p&p i can get 4x4 meter + underlay
how important is the underlay do i need it by the looks of the photo?
i was going to make all the pond 4ft deep would 4x4 be ok pond size is 4x3 but thats measure from around the cerb. Can anyone tell me if i should have a step or would it be ok to have it 4ft deep all fround the edge of the pond ?
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- CrustyCrab (Peter Biddulph)
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A layer if sand helps
Check this calculator on pond liner.
www.watergardeningdirect.ie/calculators/view/pondliner
Yes it is ok to have it all 4' deep, the ledge is mostly for marginal plants that don't like it too deep.
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- irish-zx10r (James feenan)
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- CrustyCrab (Peter Biddulph)
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Depth of pond x 2 + Width of pond + 2' (60cm) Total Width
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- irish-zx10r (James feenan)
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- irish-zx10r (James feenan)
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i could keep everything above ground and tidy it up with some diy.
this is what i am thinking maybe a little bigger
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- CrustyCrab (Peter Biddulph)
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Keep an eve on the for sale sites, you can pick up
all sorts of vats suitable for raised or semi-raised ponds.
Or Instead of liner, you could use heavy builders plastic, won't last forever, but you should get 15 years from it. The exposed bits are the areas that will suffer from sunlight.
A 7m x 6m liner will cost you about €62. That's the option I would go for. Could be the cheapest option too, when all is taken into account.
And you get the pond you were thinking about in the first place.
As with aquarium size, there is always the voice in the back of your head saying " you could have gone bigger"
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- wylam (Stuart Sexton)
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Stuart.
Multi tasking: Screwing up more than one thing at a time.
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- irish-zx10r (James feenan)
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- CrustyCrab (Peter Biddulph)
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- irish-zx10r (James feenan)
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Yep that's working well. Is the water flowing up from the bottom of the barrel?
Yes it's filtering very well look back on the photos page 1 just some tidying and the skipper will be ok
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- CrustyCrab (Peter Biddulph)
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- irish-zx10r (James feenan)
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On top of the skipper filter then down to the bottom of the barrel after that I have bio balls scrubbers and floor cleaning pads
I am getting proper filter pads and floss
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- dannyb (Daniel Byrne)
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- irish-zx10r (James feenan)
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I am not great at DIY but I have fixed the pump which was not working and all the other parts were heading for a skip here in work
I
Hopefully I will have another good update for tonight I see some more scrap bits that will help with the pipe work
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- wylam (Stuart Sexton)
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Stuart.
Multi tasking: Screwing up more than one thing at a time.
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- irish-zx10r (James feenan)
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Hey would it be worth putting a second outlet on the top of your filter to act as an overflow(which will return to the pond). If the single outlet you have now gets blocked, the whole pump could overflow and empty the pond. Just a suggestion.
Stuart.
That's a good idea and will be put into place if anyone else has any taught's please tell me
I am only new to ponds and don't know much. I think when I have a better setup with the pond full of water and the skipper filter up higher
I will be running a longer pipe from the pump to the filter and this might reduce the pressure I can also take the sponge filter out at the outlet pipe and maybe this will also help
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- irish-zx10r (James feenan)
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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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- irish-zx10r (James feenan)
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i really like the recycling element of this project. so much stuff can be accomplished if you're enterprising
Nothing goes to waist around the house I even get my girlfriend to hang out the tea bags for a second use

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- irish-zx10r (James feenan)
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- CrustyCrab (Peter Biddulph)
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- irish-zx10r (James feenan)
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Ahhhh Digging, I can sit and watch it all day .....
you can make the tea and coffee anyone else like to help lol
didn't dig much after the dog took my shovel and wouldn't give it back
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- irish-zx10r (James feenan)
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