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Tropical Aquariums
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Beginners Haven
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Where to start?!
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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
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03 Mar 2009 21:36 #1
by Bobbles (Breege Kearney)
Hey, Breege here - new to this forum! I'm hoping to get an aquarium (tropical freshwater) in the next few weeks. I've been thinking about it for a while and having been looking at aquariums, types of fish, etc. on the net. I hoping to go for a tank 100-120l. I was thinking of going for a cichlid setup - I saw a photo of a cichlid setup on this website and I loved it. Would cichlids be too difficult for a beginner though? Also would anyone be able to give me a rough idea how much it would cost to set up a tank of the size? Any help greatly appreciated!!
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03 Mar 2009 22:17 #3
by pointer28 (Noel Lambert)
I'm no expert but what I can say is that you should make the effort to travel to a proper aquatic store rather than a pet shop that just sells fish. There is a difference.
Contact any of the sponsors on here, I can personally recommend both Aquatic Village and Pet Stop in Blanchardstown. Pet Stop had a superb cichlid display the last time I was there, which anyone would love to have in their home. Aqua Paws in Galway also has a good reputation for cichlids but I haven't seen it personally.
Whatever you do, don't rush into buying the fish until you have asked lots of questions on here or discussed it with knowledgeable staff. A good shop will be able to advise you with regards to your local water etc. before you even set up the tank.
I didn't do all of the tips above and it cost me twice as much in the long run, and my tank looked like crap. It's only now it looks half decent, after lots of unnecessary spending and plenty of dead fish to my shame.
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2poc (2poc)
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04 Mar 2009 08:57 #4
by 2poc (2poc)
Hi Breege,
Welcome along.
100 - 120 litres is really too small for a cichlid tank setup unless you were going to keep dwarf cichlids like apistogramma.
There are lots of other options for a tank that size.
Its good to start with hardy community fish initially as these are more forgiving to beginners mistakes than some of the more delicate species.
A nice tank in that range is the Juwel Lido 120, I have a few of these myself.
They are 2 foot long & very tall.
I think they cost in the region of 300 - 400 Euro with a stand.
You might want to add an additional internal filter - about 50 - 80 Euro for a good one.
Community fish are not really expensive - expect to pay between 2 and 5 euro per fish.
Cheers,
Patrick
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scubadim (scubadim)
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04 Mar 2009 11:45 #5
by scubadim (scubadim)
Welcome:)
Pointer28 says:
I'm no expert but what I can say is that you should make the effort to travel to a proper aquatic store rather than a pet shop that just sells fish. There is a difference.
Whatever you do, don't rush into buying the fish until you have asked lots of questions on here or discussed it with knowledgeable
staff. A good shop will be able to advise you with regards to your local water etc. before you even set up the tank.
and that's the best thing to do,go to the right place(s) and don't rush.
100-120litre tank is a good size to start with but probably on the small size for cichlids(african lakes) unless you plan to upgrade as your fish are growing:)
African cichlids are not more difficult than other fish,they have their own requirements but definitely the larger the tank the better.
You can still try community fish,lots of choices for 100-120 L.
asian,south american,african river tank or a mix of community.
hope this helps...
also check www.fintasticaquatics.ie
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08 Mar 2009 19:09 #6
by Bobbles (Breege Kearney)
Hi guys, I think I'm going to go with a community tank setup for a start. I have been looking at some fish on the net and I really like mollies. I was wondering if anyone could advise me of how many of these fish I could hope to keep in a 100l tank and also if anyone could recommend other community fish which would do well with mollies. I know it takes time when you are adding fish adn that you can't add too many at one time but eventually I'd like to have a colourful tank so if anyone has any advice I'd be glad to hear it!
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08 Mar 2009 19:41 #7
by alkiely (alan kiely)
Hey and weclome to the forum,
Im nearly finished cyclin my new community tank 180 litres and i can say everyone here has been a great help i would be lost. I have got tips on cycling my tank, feeding, types of fish, what equipment is best the list goes on and like the others i would stay away from pet stores and go to aquatic shops just because i have been given loads of wrong info from them which has killed some fish, the lads here have put me right on alot of things.
Also i came across a thread on here of some1 selling a juwel lido 120 litre tank think it was new should have alook could save urself some money.
Best of luck
Alan
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