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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Many thanks to Darren and Daniel in seahorse

Really excited now

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- Darkslice (Stephen Walsh)
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Some issues with the carpenter

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- Darkslice (Stephen Walsh)
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- Gonefishy (Brian oneill)
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Got the final price and it will be here in about 3 weeks
Really looking forward to see how the tank works out....you've put so much planning into this I'm sure it's going to be the business.....
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- Bohrio (Alex Rodriguez)
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- Darkslice (Stephen Walsh)
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all very exciting - looking at close to 3k for everything... but it was spread over a year.
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- Darkslice (Stephen Walsh)
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Running Total
Lights (Rapid LED Lighting System) | €340.00 |
BulkHeads (Imperial Measurement) | €46.87 |
Pumping (Imperial Measurement) | €120.00 |
Sump Pump (Ehime Compact 3000+) | €115.00 |
Daily Auto Feeder (Ehime) | €40.00 |
Heater (Ehime 300w) | €30.00 |
UV-C (TMC Vecton V2 600) | €61.27 |
Sump Shell (4ft clear seal tank | €50.00 |
2nd Heater (Ehime 300w) | €15.00 |
Staurogyne repens | €50.00 |
6 bags ADA Amazon soil | €270.00 |
filter Media | €38.00 |
filter socks | €15.00 |
R/O Unit | €84.00 |
2 x non-return values + connectors | €75.00 |
Running Total : €1350.14
Tank Cost : €2110 (including delivery and setup)
Total Spend : €3460.14
+ approx (200 for plumbing work)
(nothing spared on this build)
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- Gonefishy (Brian oneill)
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well Sea horse are running a bit behind on the build, but ill update the exp list
Running Total
Lights (Rapid LED Lighting System) €340.00 BulkHeads (Imperial Measurement) €46.87 Pumping (Imperial Measurement) €120.00 Sump Pump (Ehime Compact 3000+) €115.00 Daily Auto Feeder (Ehime) €40.00 Heater (Ehime 300w) €30.00 UV-C (TMC Vecton V2 600) €61.27 Sump Shell (4ft clear seal tank €50.00 2nd Heater (Ehime 300w) €15.00 Staurogyne repens €50.00 6 bags ADA Amazon soil €270.00 filter Media €38.00 filter socks €15.00 R/O Unit €84.00 2 x non-return values + connectors €75.00
Running Total : €1350.14
Tank Cost : €2110 (including delivery and setup)
Total Spend : €3460.14
+ approx (200 for plumbing work)
(nothing spared on this build)
I cannot wait to see this tank!! You have some patience and the step by step build is just the business......
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- Darkslice (Stephen Walsh)
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- Darkslice (Stephen Walsh)
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www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php/forum...nd-auto-water-change
If anyone has any input , its always welcome.
I'm still of the mind the do putting 100% water in the tank via the R/O unit and add water elements / minerals once a week in the sump (before the filter)
Any input guys?
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- Darkslice (Stephen Walsh)
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Was hoping to sign off on it this weekend only to find that it's not even on the bench yet.
Come on guy's, you're good at what you do, but don't tell me 3 weeks when it's going to take 9...
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- alan 64 (alan)
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- Darkslice (Stephen Walsh)
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Want to give it the Ok before they make the trip down to galway. (don't want a "you missed something" moment)
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- Joekinsella (joe Kinsella)
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Location: Clogherboy Navan.
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- Darkslice (Stephen Walsh)
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all looking well

Tank is done, and the stand will be there tomorrow.
I'm popping down to them on sat morning. should be there for 10am if anyone wants to catch up with me.
Need to talk about some sump work - but I'm 100% behind what ever seahorse recommend - they know best..
I'll take some photo's for everyone.


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- Darkslice (Stephen Walsh)
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I'll upload photos when I'm home.
Very happy with the tank everything looks amazing!
With any luck it will be installed before next weekend.
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- Darkslice (Stephen Walsh)
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- CrustyCrab (Peter Biddulph)
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- Darkslice (Stephen Walsh)
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- gunnered72 (Eddy Gunnered)
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Fair play to ya..keep posting pics of the progress..
Watching new builds is terrific..lookin forward to seeing your ideas put into action
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- Darkslice (Stephen Walsh)
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The more I share the more chance someone will point out a flaw

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- swai (Simon)
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We should be building around the same time so let's hope we both do a good job!
Marino, Dublin 9
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- Darkslice (Stephen Walsh)
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But trust me, there are no better guys for the job! Daniel and Darren will make sure the work is prefect and will tell you exactly what to do to get set up

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- Darkslice (Stephen Walsh)
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- Darkslice (Stephen Walsh)
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One or two bits left to go on

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- Darkslice (Stephen Walsh)
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I've corrected my hight in the drawing and posed with the model

[img]http://www.stephen-walsh.com/misc_hosting_files/fish/3d to reality.jpg[/img]
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- Darkslice (Stephen Walsh)
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ok, so the some of the fun stuff now

the over flow
and the returns - all nicely tucked away and out of sight
side access panel
and sump with VUC filter to the side
I'll keep updating this thread on the progress,
One or 2 things more to get down from seahorse before i can laying things out. so another week or so should get me going on that.
Also buying a powerfull air pump from "Zoom" on here and placing airline hose's on the bottom of the tank.
This is to help clean the gravel (if i ever need to - rather do it now then after its filled)
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- swai (Simon)
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I've always wondered about a sump set up and now it looks very clear.
looking forward to seeing the progress!
Marino, Dublin 9
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- Darkslice (Stephen Walsh)
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it turns out, that the water pressure coming into the house is an amazing 75psi!
Anyway I've got the over line from the sump plumbed into the drain.
[img]http://stephen-walsh.com/misc_hosting_files/fish/new waste pipe.jpg[/img]
[img]http://stephen-walsh.com/misc_hosting_files/fish/new pipe.jpg[/img]
New Ro unit connected to the mains (on the other side of the wall to the tank)
[img]http://stephen-walsh.com/misc_hosting_files/fish/new plumbing from water mains.jpg[/img]
[img]http://stephen-walsh.com/misc_hosting_files/fish/new Ro unit.jpg[/img]
and linked the output of the RO to the sump
[img]http://stephen-walsh.com/misc_hosting_files/fish/new Ro Feed.jpg[/img]
with the "on" value turned on my 3,5mm I get about 20 milli-litres per minute into the tank (so about 200 liters per week - which is about ~23.57% water change per week.
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- Darkslice (Stephen Walsh)
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Also picked up some dragon stones for the aquascaping.
Also collected my new air pump, and co2 reactor from a member here,
Big day tomorrow to start putting stuff into the tank

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