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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

Noobie

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14 Mar 2014 02:41 - 14 Mar 2014 05:18 #1 by meleftone (Kevin Usher)
Hi

I started out about 2 years ago with goldfish for the kids in am 80 litre tank and then moved it to a 110 litre which now has only 4 zebra danios, java fern, Anubias nana and dwarf hairgrass. Kids have no real interest in them so this is my little hobby now. This is a temperate set up - water hovers around 20 to 22 degrees, would like to go tropical. I am finishing an extended business trip abroad at the end of the month and plan to tear down and completely redesign my set up and increase stock, hopefully upgrade the tank next year. I read up a lot on the hobby and find new syuff nearly every week. Hope to learn a lot here and maybe share whatever little knowledge I have. Will post pics when I am home.


Meleftone
Last edit: 14 Mar 2014 05:18 by meleftone (Kevin Usher).

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14 Mar 2014 09:14 #2 by gregor1983-83 (gregor1983-83)
hi!! welcome !! u gona find lots of help in this forum !! like all i gona ask u pics pics !!!

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14 Mar 2014 09:46 #3 by Aroshni (Lydia Olivera)
Replied by Aroshni (Lydia Olivera) on topic Noobie
Hi and welcome from another newbie!
What will you add when you change your setup?

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15 Mar 2014 01:54 #4 by meleftone (Kevin Usher)
Replied by meleftone (Kevin Usher) on topic Noobie
I plan on a planted community tank with maybe some Nannostomus beckfordi (Beckford Pencilfish), Trichogaster lalius (Dwarf Gourami), Fundulopanchax gardneri (Steel-blue Killifish) and Corydoras sterbai (Sterba's Cory) along with 2 or 3 more Danios. All this depends on stocking levels available.
Plants will be along the lines of Dwarf hygrophila,Corkscrew Val,Cryptocoryne parva,Glossostigma elatinoides,Hygrophila difformis,Java Moss,Japanese moss balls,Subulata,Crystalwort and Aponogeton boivinianus depending on space.
Substrate will be Glenview Horticultural Grit to build up base then JBL aqua basis plus covered with JBL manado. This is just in the idea phase so is subject to change.

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15 Mar 2014 07:17 #5 by hammie (Neil Hammerton)
Replied by hammie (Neil Hammerton) on topic Noobie
It certainly sounds like you have done your research!!!

I started out the same way
60litre gold fish tank for my lil fella
Now he has a 190 trigon and i have.the 350 trigon

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15 Mar 2014 10:15 #6 by meleftone (Kevin Usher)
Replied by meleftone (Kevin Usher) on topic Noobie
There was definitely a steep learning curve from the beginning. As i said before I read up on this a lot and am still learning new stuff, but I am enjoying it.

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15 Mar 2014 10:26 #7 by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
Replied by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley) on topic Noobie
Beckford's Pencilfish are a great fish. Far more active and interesting than most tetras, with the males constantly jousting with each other

"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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15 Mar 2014 10:42 #8 by meleftone (Kevin Usher)
Replied by meleftone (Kevin Usher) on topic Noobie
Yeah, I thought they would be a bit different than tetras as a schooling fish.

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15 Mar 2014 10:45 #9 by Stem12 (Stephen M)
Replied by Stem12 (Stephen M) on topic Noobie
Hello and welcome to the forum,
Great bunch of people here and always advice to be listened too, Enjoy,

S.

Juwel Vision 260-
20ltr-Fluval Spec-
19ltr-Fluval Chi-

Keep The Water Fresh-

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15 Mar 2014 12:51 #10 by Esoxluciouss (denis goulding)
Love harlequin s. And welcome

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15 Mar 2014 13:18 #11 by luas (Lewis Johnston)
Replied by luas (Lewis Johnston) on topic Noobie
Welcome along,I'm new to the forum myself but the people on here know their stuff so you're in good hands.
luas

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15 Mar 2014 13:38 #12 by ABdarudeone (Mick)
Replied by ABdarudeone (Mick) on topic Noobie
Hi and welcome from another accidental hobbyist , same story here i got my first tank less than 1 year ago .. asa trade in :laugh:
and now ive got 200l ,125l ,and another 4 foot tank that i bought recently .
Have been thinking about switching from gravel to sand or substrate but still cant decide what i really want .. or maybe i need a bigger tank ..
AB

**Neither a teacher nor a native speaker**

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15 Mar 2014 20:34 #13 by meleftone (Kevin Usher)
Replied by meleftone (Kevin Usher) on topic Noobie
Yeah! I'm hoping not to catch MTS or the missus would go spare, had a hard time to keep the one I have.

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16 Mar 2014 10:42 #14 by Redser (Richard)
Replied by Redser (Richard) on topic Noobie
Hi and welcome to the forum,
Its good to see that you have researched your plans and they sound very interesting. You will have to keep us updated as you go, and plenty of pictures gives the members lots of enjoyment.

I found this on another site regarding the pencil fish as you mentioned gourami.

Compatibility/Temperament: Generally peaceful, but males regularly chase other fish away from their area; while this is generally not physical, it can be depending upon the fish--surface fish like hatchetfish will often be harassed and nipped. Males frequently display/challenge each other, sometimes three in a line, but more often two together. Males drive females very hard, and there should be more females than males to ease stress. In a community aquarium, this pencilfish is better with more active fish than any of the other species, and should not be combined with sedate fish like angelfish, discus, gourami.

hope this helps

Richard

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16 Mar 2014 11:53 - 16 Mar 2014 12:01 #15 by meleftone (Kevin Usher)
Replied by meleftone (Kevin Usher) on topic Noobie
Thanks for that. I did read domething similiar but as I said this is just in the idea stage. Will probably have to get a different feature fish. Any ideas?
Upon further reading i found this forum.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/archive/index.php/t-35274.html
I guess the gourami is out for now.
Last edit: 16 Mar 2014 12:01 by meleftone (Kevin Usher).

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22 Mar 2014 20:43 #16 by Mr B (C B)
Replied by Mr B (C B) on topic Noobie
Welcome to the club.

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22 Mar 2014 21:12 #17 by jeff (Jeff Scully)
Replied by jeff (Jeff Scully) on topic Noobie
Hi welcome to the forum

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.

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22 Mar 2014 21:51 #18 by Miamiheat (Stephane Lemaire)
Replied by Miamiheat (Stephane Lemaire) on topic Noobie
welcome

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06 Jul 2014 02:00 - 06 Jul 2014 02:02 #19 by meleftone (Kevin Usher)
Replied by meleftone (Kevin Usher) on topic Noobie
Finally got round this week to redoing my tank. I also built a new stand which I'm proud of. I added 5 Zebra danios which brings the number to 9 now. I have added a few plants also. The substrate is JBL aquabasis plus and J Arthur Aquatic compost capped with JBL manado.

This is the old layout which is rather sad looking..
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This is the stand in progress
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New layout
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Last edit: 06 Jul 2014 02:02 by meleftone (Kevin Usher).

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06 Jul 2014 08:03 #20 by JohnH (John)
Replied by JohnH (John) on topic Noobie
That's a well made and nice looking stand - well done

John
(ps, the tank's taking shape nicely as well...).

Location:
N. Tipp

We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.


ITFS member.



It's a long way to Tipperary.

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06 Jul 2014 09:09 #21 by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
Replied by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley) on topic Noobie
Really great job. I wish I was that handy with a saw. And the tank looks less "sad" too ;)

"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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06 Jul 2014 10:19 #22 by paulv (paul vickers)
Replied by paulv (paul vickers) on topic Noobie
Nice looking tank and stand well done. Looks like you're using internal and external filter?. May I sugestyou add a small pleco to your tank to keep algae in control, there are lots available that stay about 3inchs as adults.

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06 Jul 2014 11:07 #23 by lir (cliff)
Replied by lir (cliff) on topic Noobie
welcome to a great forum.
you have made a great start
and have some good interesting and well thought out plans for the future
best of luck.

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06 Jul 2014 12:06 #24 by Q_Comets (Declan Chambers)
Replied by Q_Comets (Declan Chambers) on topic Noobie
Welcome, enjoy, share

Nice work so far, looking forward to watching progress

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06 Jul 2014 19:35 #25 by meleftone (Kevin Usher)
Replied by meleftone (Kevin Usher) on topic Noobie

Nice looking tank and stand well done. Looks like you're using internal and external filter?. May I sugestyou add a small pleco to your tank to keep algae in control, there are lots available that stay about 3inchs as adults.


Yes I'm using the two original internals and running them along with a jbl cristalprofi e900 that I just installed. What would you suggest for a pleco, it is only a 125 litre tank I originally thought it was 110 when I got it second hand.

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