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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

re 3d backgrounds

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30 Dec 2007 10:41 #1 by suckers (matt lait)
hi all (again)
my last 3d background floated then when i took it outta the tank managed to break it so it make another one now. the question is ....... i want to make it stronger(and heaver) but will a structure made from polystyrene then covered in gavlanized wire then concrete then either just epoxy or fibreglass be ok for the background. i know id need to leave it in water for w week or 3 to leach out the lime. but apart from that.....(ps i googled \"gavlanized\" and \" fish\" but couldnt find anything)
plus how do i get it stay down this time?

looking forward to your views
ps it might be easy to make a saleable mold this way!!!!
matt

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30 Dec 2007 12:30 #2 by JohnH (John)
Replied by JohnH (John) on topic Re:re 3d backgrounds
Hello Matt,
Something sticks in my mind about Galvanised metal leaching toxins into the water, but I have no concrete (ouch, sorry - a dreadful pun) proof of this.
But surely if you will be coating the whole assembly with a sealant - my suggestion would a epoxy resin-based varnish/paint - then this would be remote from the water containing the fish, and in theory safe.
I don't know is the best answer - when in doubt either try it out...but not with anything too vauable as the 'guinea pigs' or wait to see if further advice is forthcoming.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.
John

Location:
N. Tipp

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


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30 Dec 2007 12:42 #3 by JohnH (John)
Replied by JohnH (John) on topic Re:re 3d backgrounds
I just had another thought (not two in one day? - Careful...) if you would be prepared to use fibreglass (GRP) then you might well be able to carefully remove the polystyrene from the structure when the GRP had 'cured'. You would then be able to silicone the fibreglass structure to the back of the tank with no fear of it floating and/or breaking up as you found with the polystyrene original you made, this one being a mere shell.
If the polystyrene doesn't come out of it cleanly perhaps a coating of something like Vaseline, or even good old grease on it before applying the fibreglass - presumably you'd be using the glass matting? Failing this you could evaporate the foam with something like cellulose thinners - I think even petrol would do the trick, but this would ruin your 'original' meaning a new 'mould' for each structure.
John

Location:
N. Tipp

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


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30 Dec 2007 14:35 #4 by Tom (Tom Brecknell)
Hi Matt,

I am also a member of malawikeepers.com and one of the members has made up his own background including pictures in a step by step method used.

www.malawikeepers.com/index.php?pid=12

This is the link above, but you will have to join their site to see the link.
If you do log in go to ‘Knowledge base’ then ‘How To Make Your Own DIY Background, by Jules’

Hope this helps,

Tom.B)

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30 Dec 2007 16:23 #5 by suckers (matt lait)
i was thinking of removing the polystyrene by burning it out after i had coated the concrete in epoxy/fibreglass matting then coating the inside again just incase. will try the thinners seems a better choice tho. any idea on the silicone as the last lot(from akva-stabil(sold in pet shop)) didnt seem to stick to the polystyrene at all.

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30 Dec 2007 16:24 #6 by suckers (matt lait)
will become a member tom to see what i did wrong(first attempt) thanks for the info
matt

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30 Dec 2007 17:46 #7 by JohnH (John)
Replied by JohnH (John) on topic Re:re 3d backgrounds
suckers wrote:

i was thinking of removing the polystyrene by burning it out after i had coated the concrete in epoxy/fibreglass matting then coating the inside again just incase. will try the thinners seems a better choice tho. any idea on the silicone as the last lot(from akva-stabil(sold in pet shop)) didnt seem to stick to the polystyrene at all.

Matt,
I don't know this silicone by that name but should think if it's designated for aquarium use it will be fine.
I think it would be hard to get any silicone sealant to adhere particularly well to polystyrene anyway...but whai I was trying to suggest was that once you had 'evaporated' the styrofoam the bouyancy would be gone, therefore you'd be able to easily stick your creation to your tank glass...perhaps I misunderstood you.
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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30 Dec 2007 19:39 #8 by suckers (matt lait)
i see what you mean john. will try that. gonna do my small 2 ft x1ftx1ft tank first to see how things turn out. the background is quite weighty at the mo ( thicker concrete ) so maybe this time things will be different

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31 Dec 2007 13:55 #9 by Deeco (Deeco)
Replied by Deeco (Deeco) on topic Re:re 3d backgrounds
matt

you can purchase sealant that will work under the water within a couple of hours there is no budging i hung two fluval 4's thsi wat cause i hadn't the suction cups

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31 Dec 2007 14:48 #10 by suckers (matt lait)
thanks deeco any idea of the name???

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01 Jan 2008 23:26 #11 by Deeco (Deeco)
Replied by Deeco (Deeco) on topic Re:re 3d backgrounds
can't remember got it from aquaticsonline.co.uk i think it was

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