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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

cultivating live rock

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21 Feb 2009 20:05 #1 by peter (peter campbell)
Just wondering how long it takes for LR (or the algae on live rock) to develop.
I dont have a marine aquarium now but i will be setting one up in a while and was wondering could i mix LR with normal rock so the algae could grow on the LR.

Could i set up a basic aquarium with no skimmer,normal filter and normal lighting and keep LR and normal rock in to cultivate my own LR in order to keep costs down.

Any help or guidence appreciated

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22 Feb 2009 01:18 #2 by paulbohs (Paul Doyle)
It takes about 4 months for the coraline algae to really take hold. You can use normal T5 or T8 bulbs with a high kelvin rating 14k or 20k to help the coraline algae spread. You can add other rocks and they will get covered in coraline algae but they will never contain the beneficial organisms within them that live rock does. You will also need to add calcium and magnesium as coraline algae needs these to spread.

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22 Feb 2009 02:13 #3 by reefpaddy (paddy kelly)
what exactly are you looking to keep in the tank. its possible to keep some hardy fish, but some serious tweaking will have to be done to your exsisting tank to swith to a succesful marine set up.
there is no way out of the live rock, but if you keep your tank simple with just a few fish you dont need that much an externel filter is always best, remove all sponge bioballs ect and replace with crushed live rock then add some lrg pieces in the tank in front on tank flow.make sure you keep the water circulating rapidly.you will get away with damsels and other hardy fish. you will still need to know about keeping marines and if your not experienced and cant see if its not working your heading for disaster .

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22 Feb 2009 13:21 #4 by peter (peter campbell)
im hopeing to buy a big enough tank.about 200l
not going for a reef but want LR and LS.
Want a few clowns and gobbies with loads of small hardy fish instead of a few big fish.
will hope to get a few inverts and maybe some undemanding corals.Going out to Aquatic Vilage 2day so il talk to the lads out there and have a look at the equipment and fish

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22 Feb 2009 20:01 #5 by reefpaddy (paddy kelly)
your better off bitting the bullet and getting yourself a tank made for a marine set up, as i converted my 400l to marine and i now am running 8 plugs off this tankand it was hard work. if i had to do it again i probably wouldnt. there is one thing 4 sure your going to fall in love with marines and you will never be happy untill your tank is fullof amazing corals and fish.serious lighting is expencive but not a nesesity for fish mushrooms most polops and im sure there is a gd few more.
and when you have a few quid to spend on lighting you can get some serious bad ass corals.

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22 Feb 2009 20:48 #6 by peter (peter campbell)
What do you mean made for a marine set up?
I was going to buy a brand new tank anyway
wats the difference/

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22 Feb 2009 21:34 #7 by reefpaddy (paddy kelly)
have a look at seahorse aquariums web site. basically in an ideal world a marine tank should have a sump, most smaller tanks have a compartment built into the tank, that is kind of like a smaller internel sump also room for skimmers ect. i know your starting small mate but its only a matter of time before this hobby grabs you by the balls, first its skimmers then its uvs,wave makers ect slow process. it will all be worth it trust me.

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22 Feb 2009 21:39 #8 by peter (peter campbell)
could i not just run a tetratec external filter and run a skimmer on the back.
I wont be getting a bigger tank cause my parents wont let me and i dont have enough money

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22 Feb 2009 21:59 #9 by reefpaddy (paddy kelly)
get a tetratec 1200 if you can afford it, remove the bio balls and any ceramics replace with crushed live rock and dont forget to change your carbon every 4-5 weeks. you will prob need another powerhead also.you need to get lots of info on marines before you set the tank up. i was extremly nieve when i started and paid for it. the best tank for you starting off is probably a nano. have a look at my gallery pics. its only 80l but its a good starter tank. you can buy one of these with clown ,gobby,shrimp and lr,ls cleaner shrimp and snails for 330. you can then add cool corals week by week they start at 20euros. before you know it you will have a full blown mini reef tank. im still not even nearly finished with mine.

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23 Feb 2009 18:09 #10 by peter (peter campbell)
il definatly get a tetratec 1200.
www.zooplus.ie sell them really cheap.
i got a tetratec600 for around €60
whats the best value for money make of marine equipment in regard to skimers,powerheads, and then in supplements.
and where would be the best place to get a tank?
www.petbliss.ie do 300l tanks with the stands and curved corners for around €300

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23 Feb 2009 20:07 #11 by reefpaddy (paddy kelly)
seahorse aquariums in ballymount(RED COW) have the best range of marinetanks i have ever scene in a shop. they have this tank reduced to €330, thats complete with EVERYTHING you need including fish,shrimp,lr,ls. i would seriously recommend a tank like this for begginers you can fit a small skimmer in the back compartment, which also is sold in SHA. to be honest ive been to all the marine fish outlets and none of them compare to this place regsrding set up, tanks,fish and coral.phone no.4595650 ask for keelan,dan or kit. these guys will look after you. this tank will house all sorts of corals as you can see, but as mentioned before they get expensive buying treatmens, carbon,rhophos ect.but for the flat €330 you can have a lovly tank.

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23 Feb 2009 20:31 #12 by reefpaddy (paddy kelly)
hopefully pics will upload know
Attachments:

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23 Feb 2009 21:51 #13 by peter (peter campbell)
what sort of size is the tank for 330?
and i know im been ckeecky but should you not have sand in that tank instead of gravel!
nice coral too

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23 Feb 2009 22:06 #14 by reefpaddy (paddy kelly)
that is live blacksand, i fancied something different. €40 a bag.colours seem to stand out more only my oppinion.that is the 80l tank you would be getting for €330. i think its a bargain and well suited for a begginer.go have a look for yourself. it would normally cost about 600

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23 Feb 2009 23:18 #15 by peter (peter campbell)
that sand is cool:cheer: !didnt know you could get that

Im looking for a bigger tank cause im only allowe 1 more so may aswell go big:cheer:

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23 Feb 2009 23:56 #16 by reefpaddy (paddy kelly)
good man, your a man after my own heart. i wish you all the sucsess in the world mate. thing about marines its a trial and error most of the time. i learned the hardway unfortunetly, buy yourself a good book and study it and hopefully any errors that may accour, you will be able to identify the prob bfore it escalates.

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