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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

Fish/shrimp in a bottle?

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05 Jun 2014 17:21 #1 by Melander (Andreas Melander)
Fish/shrimp in a bottle? was created by Melander (Andreas Melander)
I was contacted today by a friend of a friend who wants advice on turning the bottle below into a fish tank.

I think this is doable; the person in question has already successfully used these bottles for plants and seems keen on researching the project.

Maintenance will be tricky but maybe it is possible to create a low maintenance system in this bottle using a small air powered sponge filter, an abundance of plants and only fish/shrimp species with low oxygen/temperature requirements.

I would be very interested to hear views and ideas on how to go ahead, or not go ahead. I'm also thinking of a way to hide a sponge filter in there, my first thought was to create a tall but slim filter in black which stands in the middle of the bottle and could be hidden by plant growth.

The bottle is LARGE, I would guess that it holds around 50 litres.

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www.melandersaquarium.blogspot.com

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05 Jun 2014 17:58 - 05 Jun 2014 18:19 #2 by JohnH (John)
Replied by JohnH (John) on topic Fish/shrimp in a bottle?
Andreas,
Many many years ago - a lot more years ago than I really care to mention - these bottles were very easily obtainable. They originally were Carboys, in which acid was stored/transported.
We bought several and a nice self-sustaining mini-garden was built in one and one of the others I earmarked for fish use.
I remember there was absolutely nothing available commercially in the way of a filter which would go through the bottle-top opening so I just had an airline running into it with an airstone at the end.
Back then there weren't readily available the sorts of mini-fish we find now - I used Zebra Danios and Guppies, as I recall.
Access into it was - to all intents and purposes - nigh-on impossible, but I was still a schoolboy then, nothing was totally impossible (even if it was in reality). Even though the glass had a greenish tinge plants like Hygrophilia, Ludwigia and Bacopa all grew abundantly.
My "Fish House" at that time was half my Father's greenhouse so I suppose the natural light source was sufficient to overcome the light reduction through the green glass.
We had 'stands' built for them - a circular ring of metal (iron, I think) which the bottle was able to sit 'in' with three legs welded on.
Unfortunately my one couldn't have been welded very well as I went down to feed the fish one morning before going to school and one of the legs had become detatched and the whole thing had fallen from the staging onto the concrete floor - smashing the bottle to smithereens. That ended my 'bottle-tank'.
The garden one kept going for years after though (obviously that stand was better welded)..
Sorry, I was carried away on a wave of nostalgia there, seeing your picture brought it all back so vividly!

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.
Last edit: 05 Jun 2014 18:19 by JohnH (John). Reason: "undetached"??? - the mind boggles

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05 Jun 2014 18:10 #3 by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
Replied by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley) on topic Fish/shrimp in a bottle?
I think it's eminently doable. Water changes might be a little difficult but nothing that can't be gotten around with a little ingenuity. I think the central air driven sponge filter is a good idea, once there was some kind of handle to pull it out for cleaning. One worry might be if a fish or fishes die, how would you remove them... always the optimist me :whistle:
"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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05 Jun 2014 18:11 #4 by Melander (Andreas Melander)
Replied by Melander (Andreas Melander) on topic Fish/shrimp in a bottle?
Love it John, thank you for the story!

They do seem rather fragile and some sort of stand sounds like a good idea.

I'm looking at different nano sized sponge filters at the moment.

Andreas
www.melandersaquarium.blogspot.com

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05 Jun 2014 18:16 #5 by Melander (Andreas Melander)
Replied by Melander (Andreas Melander) on topic Fish/shrimp in a bottle?
Dead fish was my worry too Lemon. I mentioned this and was informed that this could be taken care of with angled twezers of some sort, I don't know.

The water changes should be doable imo, maybe not the easiest. The debri should end up in the middle so if a stiff pipe was attached to a hose it should be reached.

I think I might get one of the myself actually.
www.melandersaquarium.blogspot.com

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05 Jun 2014 19:43 #6 by anglecichlid (ciaran hogan)
Replied by anglecichlid (ciaran hogan) on topic Fish/shrimp in a bottle?
Is it the "ship in a bottle" idea your going for?
As in how did you get the fish in there?
Or just the look of the bottle?
Anyone with a aquarium can keep fish,
But it takes real skill to be a fish keeper,


And it's spongeBob,
SpongeBob lives in a pineapple under the sea
BLANCHARDSTOWN

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05 Jun 2014 20:19 #7 by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
Replied by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley) on topic Fish/shrimp in a bottle?
it sounds like an engineering nightmare! though an interesting project :crazy:
"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 Jun 2014 19:47 #8 by davey_c (dave clarke)
Replied by davey_c (dave clarke) on topic Fish/shrimp in a bottle?
Whats wrong with a square tank these days? :lol:
Below tank is for sale

my plywood tank build.

www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php/forum...k-build-diary#137768

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09 Jun 2014 14:00 #9 by Melander (Andreas Melander)
Replied by Melander (Andreas Melander) on topic Fish/shrimp in a bottle?
@anglecichlid haha yeah something like that, I'm mainly worried about how things can get out than in though. I know I can fit a filter in there but not sure how it will get out.

@davey_c square tanks are soo ywsterday:)

I do think it could turn out quite well, with very low stock levels but like said getting things out is the biggest worry. I'm now thinking of having the filter attached to a rod that can be pulled out. Problem is it has to look the part.
www.melandersaquarium.blogspot.com

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09 Jun 2014 15:46 #10 by hammie (Neil Hammerton)
Replied by hammie (Neil Hammerton) on topic Fish/shrimp in a bottle?
Andreas

The filter would have to go into a removable insert, i.e. a cylindrical holder that while not restricting the filters operation will allow removal and insertion without issue.

removal of fish or debris from overfeeding would be most dificult part, water changes would be handy enough (aside from the vacuming issue)

trying to regulate temp would be more of an issue i think tho

Interesting idea and concept

Neil

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09 Jun 2014 16:13 #11 by Melander (Andreas Melander)
Replied by Melander (Andreas Melander) on topic Fish/shrimp in a bottle?
Thanks for the input Neil, I drew this up before I saw your reply:

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Green is airline, black is a solid pipe and the grey is a sponge, It could be a bit flimsy and i think your idea of the cylinder might be the way to go.



Andreas
www.melandersaquarium.blogspot.com

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09 Jun 2014 16:44 #12 by anglecichlid (ciaran hogan)
Replied by anglecichlid (ciaran hogan) on topic Fish/shrimp in a bottle?
I think if you could plug the top,
Turn it upside down and see if the was a safe way to remove the bottom part,
I use to remove the bottom of glass wine bottles with a candle,
It takes a while but it works,
If you could it would eliminate the trickyness of water changes and such.
Looking forward to seeing this work whatever way you do it.

P.S.
it didn't always work,
I could remove maybe 2 out of 3 glass bottoms
Anyone with a aquarium can keep fish,
But it takes real skill to be a fish keeper,


And it's spongeBob,
SpongeBob lives in a pineapple under the sea
BLANCHARDSTOWN

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09 Jun 2014 16:56 #13 by hammie (Neil Hammerton)
Replied by hammie (Neil Hammerton) on topic Fish/shrimp in a bottle?
Why not try to combine your idea with mine?
Run the airline down the pipe to the filter (kep it tidy, but the pipe doesn't have to connect to the filter directly but to a cylindrical filter holder that encases the essence of the filter

Ill try to draw something up if I get time tomorrow

What size is the opening of the bottle?

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09 Jun 2014 17:01 #14 by Melander (Andreas Melander)
Replied by Melander (Andreas Melander) on topic Fish/shrimp in a bottle?
That is a brilliant idea Ciaran!

I would not dare to do it myself as I'm sure I would break it. As I'm doing this for/together with the owner of the bottle I will give him the options.

@Neil: that could work quite well, it would certainly look tidier. The hole is 4.5cm which is quite narrow, I have found a sponge filter that fits in already though,.

Thanks again,

Andreas
www.melandersaquarium.blogspot.com

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09 Jun 2014 20:24 - 09 Jun 2014 20:25 #15 by Wackoo (Niall)
Replied by Wackoo (Niall) on topic Fish/shrimp in a bottle?
my two cents; plan very carefully what you put in the bottle, if it fits in the neck of the bottle now, will it fit out in a year? two years?
Last edit: 09 Jun 2014 20:25 by Wackoo (Niall).

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09 Jun 2014 20:42 #16 by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
Replied by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley) on topic Fish/shrimp in a bottle?

my two cents; plan very carefully what you put in the bottle, if it fits in the neck of the bottle now, will it fit out in a year? two years?


So does that mean a Jack Dempsey is out then? :whistle:
"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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09 Jun 2014 22:12 #17 by Esoxluciouss (denis goulding)
Replied by Esoxluciouss (denis goulding) on topic Fish/shrimp in a bottle?
Or an Oscar. Loons an interesting project

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10 Jun 2014 08:08 #18 by Melander (Andreas Melander)
Replied by Melander (Andreas Melander) on topic Fish/shrimp in a bottle?
I was thinking something like 5-6 guppies OR white clouds and maybe a few cherry shrimp. Either that or one betta.

Suggestions on stocking would be welcome.
www.melandersaquarium.blogspot.com

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12 Jun 2014 12:14 #19 by JustinK (Justin Kelly)
Replied by JustinK (Justin Kelly) on topic Fish/shrimp in a bottle?
Have you considered how much water to put in ?
You'd be best to only half fill it or fill up to the widest part for more surface area.

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17 Jun 2014 19:34 #20 by woodstock500 (Robert Glascott)
Replied by woodstock500 (Robert Glascott) on topic Fish/shrimp in a bottle?
Hi Melander. I have no idea how small external filters get but surely it would be easier to put the in/out flows in the top than an internal fier. My uncle had a carboy tank when I was a kid, with guppies, I only remember an air line and heater in it but no doubt its possible to sort some kind of a filter these days. Good luck!
Rob

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