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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

tank construction Material

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24 Jun 2007 09:04 #1 by mickeywallace (Michael Wallace Cath Woods)
I am planning to build two possibly more tanks. any where i have read says that its nearly cheaper to buy because of the cost of the glass required.

bear with me as i am still only in the theory part :?: :idea: :?: A tank is made of basically 5 sheets of glass and two or more rips. both my tanks and a majority of tanks i have seen are against walls or in corners thus one or more sides can not be seen through plus the base the *#*# always getting chipped and i have the scares to prove.

so the question is could i use fiber glass to build four of the five sides what are the drawbacks what are the pluses

Mickey Wallace & Cath Woods

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24 Jun 2007 09:39 #2 by paulm (paulm)
Replied by paulm (paulm) on topic Re: tank construction Material
Would Fiberglass be hard to clean :?:

What about the effect the epoxy resin will have when its exposed to the water will it affect the livestock :?:

Also fiberglass tends to splinter could this do the fish harm :?:

And what method could be used to seal all joints :?:

mwdragondk these are some questions that would spring to mind. Iv never seen a tank made of anything other than glass all round. However thats not to say that they dont exsist Iv not come across them. Lets know how you get on. :wink:

Regards Paul

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24 Jun 2007 10:48 #3 by mickeywallace (Michael Wallace Cath Woods)
will do i will tell you were i got the idea it was stuck in my mind for months now it was the PFK November issue " this is the tank that jack built" glass is 25 mm fiberglass while i am not thinking of any thing on that scale. (yet) :evil: :evil: :evil:

i am considering a metal frame ribbed or using plaster eml, the front glass would be in a sealed frame bolted to metal frame with a rubber or silicone sealant maybe both. as for the cleaning no different than any tank except less glass to shine. as for splintering considering fiberglass is used to make cars, boats and crash helmets not a real problem and once you allow it to cure should be fine plus there is always the option of sealing it with another product.

i would consider this a break with the norm yes but when one considers that before glass fish were kept in earthenware and porcelain bowls is that not why the the goldfish i know as celestial face up wards :?: :oops: :?:
Paulm but you have made some very interesting points i am going to have to think it out more and would love any input you have as first and foremost is the health and safety of the fish. :!: :!: :!:

Mickey Wallace & Cath Woods

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24 Jun 2007 11:43 #4 by JohnH (John)
Before the current trend of moulded plastic ponds became the vogue most pre-formed ones were made from fibreglass and these did no harm to the fish therein.

Many years ago (and I do mean many years) I worked in a glass laminating factory and had the same idea to make tanks from fibreglass but that was before the days of Dow Corning...well, it was just becoming available but no-one was certain of the claims being made for it...("what, build an all-glass tank with only that stuff to join the glass sheets together - it'll never hold!") and so the stumbling block as far as I was concerned was being able to seal the glass front in place, the resin would never have held it, I decided.
Around that time I left and the idea became shelved (like most of my brilliant ideas)...

I personally think it would work but you might be advised to have a look in Google - I'll bet someone somewhere has done it and written it up.

John

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N. Tipp

We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.


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It's a long way to Tipperary.

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25 Jun 2007 06:40 #5 by apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
Replied by apistodiscus (apistodiscus) on topic Re: tank construction Material
Nope, not a snowball's hope in hell. fibreglas and glas can't be bonded by silicon.

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25 Jun 2007 07:33 #6 by JohnH (John)
I also remember building a smallish tank from Marine Plywood with a sort of frame screwed to the front and the glass sealed with exterior grade putty.

That held water OK in the short term but would have needed to have been better 'waterproofed' than with the varnish we used...this was just a prototype for a much larger one which, once again, never saw the light of day. I often though of re-vamping that idea but nowadays I don't think there would be much in the difference in prices between Marine Ply of a suitable thickness and glass, although I could be wrong...

John

Location:
N. Tipp

We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.


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25 Jun 2007 08:01 #7 by apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
Replied by apistodiscus (apistodiscus) on topic Re: tank construction Material
There are various DIY pages on the net that use plywood as construction material. personally not a fan of any of them.
What you could do however, is use ordinary glas for the bottom, back and sides and aquarium grade glas for the front. That should bring down the price.

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25 Jun 2007 09:32 #8 by mickeywallace (Michael Wallace Cath Woods)
sorry for delay in replying folks could not get the link for a few hours. you all some very valid points i have read some articles where marine ply is used and wbp ply i have also considered ply with a suitable waterproofing agent. as for bolting glass to fiberglass i was considering a rubber seal. :?: :?:

with regards using standard glass would it have the strength to hold the pressure of water. :?: :?: sorry have to cut short visitors

Mickey Wallace & Cath Woods

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25 Jun 2007 09:41 #9 by JohnH (John)

sorry have to cut short visitors


Any visitors I get are normal height... :D

John

Location:
N. Tipp

We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.


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25 Jun 2007 09:48 #10 by apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
Replied by apistodiscus (apistodiscus) on topic Re: tank construction Material
what size of tank are you looking at?

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25 Jun 2007 16:29 #11 by paulm (paulm)
Replied by paulm (paulm) on topic Re: tank construction Material
Hi mwdragondk

From what your thinking re sealing glass to fibreglass with rubber and bolts my thinking is Maintinance :!: Bolts and water
Rubber between both surfaces
Expansion and contraction
These are just things that need to be looked into before you go ahead because lets face it the less work and more looking into the tank the better :wink:

These are my thoughts , what ever you decide Ill be here to help where I can GOOD LUCK :D

Paul

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25 Jun 2007 20:16 #12 by mickeywallace (Michael Wallace Cath Woods)
apistodiscus i am planning well a head all going well we hope to start building in the next few months, the main tanks(2) are the ones i am considering now min of 5.5 x2x2 ft one i hope to base on the sudd in Sudan the white Nile so i will be having plants on the surface and a few bits of floating bog wood and bog wood within the variety of fish i am not decided yet the other we are considering is a dutch tank which will act as a divide we are trying to plan it that the view from either side is different. that one is probably impossible but by planning ahead i hope to element the impossible and what is left we will enjoy and hopefully will be enjoyed by others

mickey

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26 Jun 2007 01:17 #13 by apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
Replied by apistodiscus (apistodiscus) on topic Re: tank construction Material
It doesn't really matter what you put into it, even though bogwood doesn't float and I personally wouldn't put any wood that floats into a tank. Firstly it will not float forever and secondly it will start rotting in the tank.
A five foot long tank is a rather big tank for a beginner project. I am assuming this will be the first DIY tank for you. Correct me if I am wrong.

Normal glas should be fine. The real difference between glas and float glas is that ordinary glas will make everything inside the tank look green and slightly warped

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26 Jun 2007 06:00 #14 by mickeywallace (Michael Wallace Cath Woods)
I have doe the usual repairs and strengthen tanks. and i am also planning to a few breeding tanks to fill a limited space i have at moment. i am going to experiment to see what will give me the most while reducing cost. a big cheers for the information on normal glass i always believed it was a strength problem it would be perfect for "the sudd" tank i was trying to figure out a way to have the water look slightly cloudy with having to add anything that might effect my water quality :!: any video or photos I've seen the water was cloudy so it would be an excellent choice.

Mickey Wallace & Cath Woods

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