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
Fish (but no chips)
- katopp (Karsten Topp)
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New fishkeeper in Dublin 12....
Had a fishtank when I was young and now it seems, that the best way to get rid of the dreadful TV is to replace it with something more lively.
So I bought myself a 96 litre (80x30x40) set and will start to set it up this weekend. I will do a fishless cycle the natural way, just because I don't know how it should look like in the end and that gives me time to experiment with plant layouts etc.
BTW, if somebody has plants to give away ... I think I could need some

Greetz,
Karsten
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- Valerie (Valerie)
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Welcome to the forum and welcome back to the hobby !
I have to agree with you re. the TV ... nothing much interesting there indeed! I wonder why we are paying the tv licence ... the tele is never on !!
Best of luck with your new tank. Keep us updated on the progress!
Have you any idea of what kind of fish you are going to put in the tank ?
Again, welcome

Valerie
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- katopp (Karsten Topp)
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My plans so far include lotsa plants (once again, I will happily take your "gardening" excess), one L-Type bottom feeder that outgrew the tiny tank of a friend of mine's (still not too big, ca. 10 cm), a cohort of Neocaridina to control algae and just a few Guppys for starters. Nothing too exceptional first.
Maybe some Tetras later. KISS (Keep it simple, stupid) first.
Karsten
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- karlo (karlo kennedy)
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and welcome
if there is any thing you need to know just ask no mather what it is even if you want to know why the sky is blue or if this fish will go with this fish lol, there is alot of people that knows loads
all the best with the mad world of fish keeping
regards
karlo
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- katopp (Karsten Topp)
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First one: Plants.
I don't want to shell out €200 for plants that might as well die during startup anyway.
Anyone here, who wants to get rid of his surplus?
Nothing special needed, just sturdy quick growing stuff to run in/cycle a tank...?
Second one: Testkit.
Where to buy? What to buy? How much to shell out for?
More questions will deffo come, but not now...
Karsten
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- nonie (leonie troy)
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Api test kits are great and you can get one for around €50. My advice is to stay away from the strips they are not ver reliable imo!
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- LimerickBandit (Donal Doran)
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make sure to get a good substrate for your plants, work from the roots up

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- Orca (Eoin Walsh)
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I am down in D12 myself and on the forum now for a few months.The help and advise on the forum will get you off to a great start.
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welcome to the forum!!
test kits i would suggest you get the best you can afford API being one of the best.
As for plants i would hold of and consider plants and fish together some fish will eat every plant in sight others will dig them up.
this way you won't waste money and hopefully come to a happy compromise
plants can work well put some will need extra lighting and co2 so consider your options first.
this way you will have a perfect tank for you take this time while the tank is cycling to get your ideas together so that you will benefit most from the experence
you will get plenty of good advice here we are all here for one another!!!!!!!!!!!
mickey
Mickey Wallace & Cath Woods
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- katopp (Karsten Topp)
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Think that I need it at least during cycling.
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- Andrew (Andrew Taaffe)
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Andrew
ITFS Club Secretary
email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
see the ITFS tab above for more information www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php/itfs
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- Daragh_Owens (Daragh Owens)
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I can't help you with any, the plants I keep are purely functional and just exist.
Regarding your fish choice, I would skip the guppies, guppies are not the hardy "beginners" fish they once were, they are so inbred they have become quite fussy and much less tolerant of flucuating water conditions than they once were. They will also breed like, well like guppies and you will be looking for somewhere to offload them and not many people interested in taking them. There are plenty of other small colourful fish that would suit that sized tank and not harm your shrimp.
Do you know what L number you have or can you post a photo?
Daragh
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- katopp (Karsten Topp)
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BTSW... will try to attend the Dublin meeting tonight. Well, indeed I'm already there, having a pint. Thanks to wireless 3G internet

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