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 tank
- KDAK (Andy)
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- stretnik (stretnik)
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Kev.
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- andrewo (andrew)
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Well done there!
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- Luap (Paul O'Connell)
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Paul
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- KDAK (Andy)
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There is a place just off the naas road is where I get it, I can't remember the name, I'll check later and for all the glass it was €120Well done! Where did you source the glass? Is there such a thing as "aquarium" glass? Also, how do you guage the thickness of glass needed considering the pressure and weight of water involved? What did it work out at cost wise? Please excuse all the questions, I'm just very interested!
Paul
Sillicon is very pricey for aquatic safe stuff and tec7 won't hold a tank together,
It cmes in around €18-21 a tub of silicon. I ordered it in bulk so was a bit cheaper.
My glass is 8mm thick and for the width of my tank it's over kill, the
Tank is 15" wide by just over 3' heigh and long so my rating is around 3.8-4.2
Here is a calculator for how
Thick your glass should be, and note the thickness there is more than enough to withstand knocks
I just went for thicker stuff to be 100% sure of it safeness
saltaquarium.about.com/od/planasystem/ig...kness-Calculator.htm
After filling the tank to check for leaks which there's bone I noticed the seal of where the 2 panes meet the silicon was starting to turn white indicating to much strain on it so tomorrow I'll pick up some 90degress daydo rails for more support and to hold all the panes together!
Will post up picks tomorrow
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- KDAK (Andy)
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Some of the wood and my little helper
Sticking it all together
Waters in
Now it's been in an hour and I'm seeing no leaks
Unsure of cracking as I heard 2 earlier but could be the floor settling as it is around 300 kg full
I'm so nervous about it but will just hope!!!
Will be leaving the water in it until tomorrow as said on the silicon, it can create the ph level to spike in the water for the first 12 hours so will drain it tomorrow and start to cycle it,
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- platty252 (Darren Dalton)
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THIS TANK IS NOT SAFE.
For the glass thickness it is way to high. The seals (depending on sealant used) may hold but the glass wont take the pressure.
I would empty it straight away... and with kids in the house.
I will try get back on later to explain why it wont work.
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- platty252 (Darren Dalton)
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For this size tank the glass should be 15mm. and that is at a min. safty factor of 2.5
If this tank was to be built for you you would be looking at 22mm glass and a safty factor of 3.8
I wouldent trust it with kids in the house.
Darren.
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- JohnH (John)
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I once had a tank burst through insufficient glass thickness and it must have been like a cannon going off (luckily I wasn't in the fish house at the time).
I also talked to a man who suffered the same misfortune and a piece of the broken glass was propelled with such force that it was driven into a wooden barrel he had near the tank! - Imagine the barrel being yourself or your child?
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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- christyg (Chris Geraghty)
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- dar (darren curry)
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Check out the angling section, it is fantastic
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- KDAK (Andy)
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- JustinK (Justin Kelly)
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That was a close call KDAK.
Would it be possible to strip it down and get the glass recut to a suitable size ?
Or maybe some sort of bracing half way down, though may take away from the appearance?
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- KDAK (Andy)
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But I checked on a calculator and if I keep the water below 61cm ill be at a rating of 2.5
I checked the manufactured tanks in the house and all where a rating of 2.5 and lower

So this should be grand
To cope with the "dead space" at the top of the tank I stuck in some wood it also will act as bracing for more peace of mind.
Here is a pic of it unfinished
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- stretnik (stretnik)
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Some People would find it a difficult Pill to swallow, fair play to you.
I think you could have an absolutely fabulous Paludarium there, the space above the Water would look great if plants were allowed to grow up out of the Water like Amazons etc.
Best of luck.
Kev.
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- JohnH (John)
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That's a relief, really was a bit worried there - hence the large and coloured type fonts.
I really meant it for you to notice Darren's warning - and now you have, I've 'toned' it down a bit.
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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- BlueRam (Sean Crowe)
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and fair play to u doing your own DIY dont think there is many ppl out there that would try it
fair play keep the pics coming
sean
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Always Remember Surviving Is Not Thriving
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- BlueRam (Sean Crowe)
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and fair play to u doing your own DIY dont think there is many ppl out there that would try it
fair play keep the pics coming
sean
Sean Crowe
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Always Remember Surviving Is Not Thriving
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- KDAK (Andy)
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So I've the tank filled up to 58cm just to be safe
The tank is 39cm x 79cm x 58cm now u can't get the calculator on my phone but if a dept of 61cm is a safety rating of 2.5 I guess less dept is better?!
Have the tank running here's a video
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- wylam (Stuart Sexton)
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Multi tasking: Screwing up more than one thing at a time.
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- KDAK (Andy)
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- stretnik (stretnik)
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I think I said it before but are there situations where the Woman is saying, I sneaked it past the other half etc?
Kev.
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- KDAK (Andy)
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- KDAK (Andy)
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- BlueRam (Sean Crowe)
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KDAK is your man
congrats mate
sean
Sean Crowe
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- dave k (david)
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