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
Build Plans - Advice will be needed -NOW INSTALLED
- Darkslice (Stephen Walsh)
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11 months on.
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- Darkslice (Stephen Walsh)
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And no more damp in the house. (I was collected 3 liters a day in the humidifier.
I've also treated myself to this
aquarium-led-controller.com/product/bluefish-led-controller/
Its a BlueFish Light Controller.
I'm using it with my 0-10V dimmable rapidled Drivers.
It's all wire up, but have a ton of issues and im in contact with the manufactors about it.
Hope to be resolved soon
bloody expensive piece of kit.
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- Darkslice (Stephen Walsh)
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A good few fish have come on gone and I've learnt so much from each one. The biggest mistake i made was lowering the lights before i went on holidays for 3 weeks, ended up killing 90% of the plants - including all the xmas moss

So the day / night light controller is now working as expected

I bought the 5l of tropica fertilizer - its amazing stuff.
Since the tank has matured i was surprised at how often the filter socks would fill up. So I ended up making my own at a cost of about E1.33 per large sock.
Co2 Canister, then fertilizer in the middle and EasyCarbo on the right.
new home made filter socks (will see how long they last)
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- Darkslice (Stephen Walsh)
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- Darkslice (Stephen Walsh)
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For a few reasons
My plant range is very limited at the high temp
The ESB cost of the high temp
The cost of there food
The cost of there medication
The constant monitoring / worrying
The drepression that sets in when one dies for no reason...
So im going to rearrage the tank a bit.
On that topic i have a question in the plant fourm.
DS
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- Darkslice (Stephen Walsh)
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so, the tank has under gone some work.
I've done some wood work and created a new light shelf
We turned he room a bit "beach house" theme
I've found a great biological filter using the Ceratophillum demersum + frogbit
and ive invested in some new plants (more coming)
1 : Vallisneria spiralis
2 : Ammannia Gracilis
3 : Hygrophlila
4 : Hygrophlila Siamensis
5 : Nymphaea lotus
6 : Ludwigia aff. glandulosa
7 : Anubias
8 : Cryptocoryne x willisii
9 : Lobelia cardinalis
10: Rotala rotundifolia
11: Hydrocotyle leucocephala
12: Myriophyllum aquaticum
13: Bacopa caroliniana
14: Limnophila aquatica
I'm aware of the impart the Nymphaea lotus will have so i've planted it in a plastic container under the gravel.
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- Darkslice (Stephen Walsh)
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Ceratophillum demersum releases an algaecide
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceratophyllum_demersum
C. demersum has allelopathic qualities as it excretes substances that inhibit the growth of phytoplankton and cyanobacteria (blue-green algae).[2][13] Its dense growth can outcompete native underwater vegetation, leading to loss of biodiversity. In New Zealand, it has caused problems with hydroelectric power plants.[2]
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