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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

new design layout build.opinions wanted

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10 May 2014 23:30 #1 by taitt (evan)
starting to plan building plywood tank.for under my 160l 4ft

opinions,advice,thoughts wanted




evan
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11 May 2014 00:01 #2 by joemc (joe mc)
How do you intent accessing the new tank

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11 May 2014 00:15 #3 by taitt (evan)

How do you intent accessing the new tank


ther is a 6" space in front of the top tank to get into tbe lower one

evan

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11 May 2014 00:23 #4 by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)

How do you intent accessing the new tank


ther is a 6" space in front of the top tank to get into tbe lower one

evan


that's going to seem like an even smaller space when you're trying to aquascape the tank, or even when just trying to snag a fish in a net at some point.

"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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11 May 2014 00:39 - 11 May 2014 00:39 #5 by taitt (evan)
I keep bare bottom tanks so aquascaping wont be a problem but the netting fish may be an issue,
thanks for reply

evan
Last edit: 11 May 2014 00:39 by taitt (evan).

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11 May 2014 00:46 #6 by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
That said, I've had problems netting fish in small bare tanks... sometimes the little feckers just don't want to be caught :laugh:

"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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11 May 2014 07:47 #7 by Miamiheat (Stephane Lemaire)
Perhaps you should find a way to raise the upper tank by 10-12 inches by making a taller hood. them make a cutout of the top front end of the hood and put hinges on it. when you open that it should give you a nice gap.
also the extra aeration inside may be beneficial: not sure i can explain why by it's a feeling i have.

starting to plan building plywood tank.for under my 160l 4ft

opinions,advice,thoughts wanted




evan

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11 May 2014 08:02 #8 by Darkslice (Stephen Walsh)
Where will the lighting go for the bottom tank?
Might be tricky to clean the inside of the bottom tank

Any thoughts on plumping?

Just a few off the top of my head :)

I went through the same process, have a read of my build it may be helpful.

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11 May 2014 09:29 #9 by JohnH (John)
Just a thought, it mightn't be a good idea to not have the weight of the 4ft tank sitting on the plywood structure of the tank below - my fear would that this would cause unnecessary stress and possibly cause it to fail.
I could be wrong, but it's a consideration which should be considered.
John

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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11 May 2014 09:55 #10 by paulv (paul vickers)

starting to plan building plywood tank.for under my 160l 4ft

opinions,advice,thoughts wanted




evan

your 4ft tank is 160l, it must be very narrow, so at a guess weighs 200 to 220 kilos full. If I was planning this I would build a 3x2 frame and fit a second hand 400l tank into it then skirt it in 6mil ply as a finish. Use a big external filter piped in the back hidden from view. The lower frame would be 4ft6 long so will need center upright support, this will spoil the tank view, maybe making the top lid from 3by2 clad in inch marine ply will support the top tank. A few ideas to confuse you even more. Start with a big drawing pad a pencil and rubber. Keep us posted here its a very interesting idea. Lots of good second hand stuff on offer here, keeping the cost down.

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11 May 2014 11:32 #11 by taitt (evan)
yea paulv my tank is only 300 wide

in took most of the advice every one shared with me and done a redesign now i have space for filter below and opened the opening slightly also added support for top tank aswell get pic soon

thanks for opinions

Evan

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11 May 2014 11:34 #12 by taitt (evan)
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11 May 2014 11:50 - 11 May 2014 11:52 #13 by paulv (paul vickers)
Plan B looking realy good. Top tank will be standing up eye level while lower tank is sitting down eye level. Take your time and keep the progress posted here.
you're good at design drawing :cool:
Last edit: 11 May 2014 11:52 by paulv (paul vickers).

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11 May 2014 11:54 #14 by joemc (joe mc)
if one tank directly on top of another is the look you are going with have a look at other options for access, look at how the tanks in most fish shops work using a front access flap to allow them get their hands, nets etc into the tank and service lighting, maybe look at a hole in the back corners to let you insert cabling, airline, filter pipework etc too
any early stages of a design are going to go through lots of changes, it is always good to think them out first before you dive in, so I think you are going about it the right way and long term you will save money along with getting the tank you want.

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12 May 2014 01:28 #15 by taitt (evan)
Yea there will be a few holes at both top sides of the tank for cables,pipes

the lights in think is led strip light(very reliable) set between the top braces,as for more access its still in the works,

im restricted to height and width 1550 high and 1380 wide,

im trying to see about a filter as if i can find or build a shallow filter i can lower the stand and raise the top tank for access

any thoughts on shallow filter to build or buy,

Evan

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20 May 2014 00:34 #16 by taitt (evan)
total change of plans because i could not get the litres i wanted with the first design

thoughts on this design?







Evan
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20 May 2014 08:56 #17 by Darkslice (Stephen Walsh)
for that height the glass will be very thick and VERY expensive, maybe 16mm or 20mm.
That's about 2 or 3 times normal price.

then you'll need to think, how will I reach the bottom of the tank to clean it :)

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