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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

Cycling a new tank

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16 Apr 2009 19:38 #1 by alkiely (alan kiely)
Hi all,

I'm cycling my new tank and i got some safe start, can i really add fish right away....? it just doesnt seem right. I've cycled tanks before the "old school way" but with this tank i thought id try new things like sand, external filter and different fish. So is this stuff ok if used correctly.

Alan

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17 Apr 2009 00:41 #2 by reefpaddy (paddy kelly)
i can only promise you, i did and out of 24 fish that i added that day not 1 has any sign of illness. i know,it felt so wrong but never the less it done the trick. have you decided which puffers your going to add

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17 Apr 2009 01:10 #3 by platty252 (Darren Dalton)
I have used it with no problems, but i know of other experienced fish keepers that got an Ammonia spike.
Just keep an eye on the water quality.
If you dont know what puffers you are adding to the tank you wont know what type of water to have in the tank.
Most puffers are brackish or marine. Just research them before going out and buying some. Also in limited experience with puffers they dont seem to like new tanks. I would leave it for at least 6 weeks before adding puffers.

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17 Apr 2009 01:13 #4 by alkiely (alan kiely)
Yeah all going well when i test the water in a few days gonna get dwarf puffers and some otto's. Hoping to get 10 puffers and 2 ottos, cant wait to get the puffers been waiting so long.

How are ur lot doin? any idea on what sex they all are?

Alan

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17 Apr 2009 01:15 #5 by reefpaddy (paddy kelly)
as far as i know he is putting in pygmys which are fresh and hardy, thats what swayed my decison when i was deciding, my tank is also 60l(same tank i think)

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17 Apr 2009 01:17 #6 by alkiely (alan kiely)
Just seen ur post platty, getting dwarf puffers and i am planning to put some mollies in the tank in a couple of days they have been with me for 2 cycles with no problems. The plan is have them in the the for a month testing the water every few days and all going well ill get the puffers and 2 otto's was reading that they are fine with the dwarf puffers.

Alan

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17 Apr 2009 01:17 #7 by reefpaddy (paddy kelly)
sorry al, didnt know you wer online, id say about 8males 12 females(roughly). doin very well thax

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17 Apr 2009 01:20 #8 by alkiely (alan kiely)
Yeah thats what has me wanting them to was gonna go with spotted puffers but they like b/w but saying that my friend has 2 in a fresh water tank and they are big fella's and are with a few other fish and a pleco with no problems at all.

Alan

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17 Apr 2009 01:23 #9 by alkiely (alan kiely)
Are the puffers big enough to start breeding? It would be near impossible to see fry but it would be great if they did.

Alan

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17 Apr 2009 01:28 #10 by reefpaddy (paddy kelly)
i kept a couple of lrg ones years ago 1spotted and 1dogface. they never looked really comfortable though i had them in with cichlids. apparantly when they are young they like fresh and in later stages of their life they require brackish, pain in the arse, for us as fishkeepers.

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17 Apr 2009 01:32 #11 by alkiely (alan kiely)
Thats what put me off them sadly..... My dad kept tropical fish for years a long time ago and he added table salt to his tanks and said he never had any major problems with illness anything he is on at about puttin salt in my tanks but im happy the way they are.

Alan

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17 Apr 2009 01:33 #12 by reefpaddy (paddy kelly)
ive seen them breeding on utube, but have seen no signs of anything in my own tank as yet. i dont spend much time at the tank at all. its in one of the kids rooms. i only go into feed them and may only spend 10mins observing them before i go to bed.i wish i had more time to study them

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17 Apr 2009 01:37 #13 by alkiely (alan kiely)
Mine is in the sitting room had too my move my 180 to under the stairs due to algea so my puffer tank will have pride of place in my sitting room.

Alan

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17 Apr 2009 01:38 #14 by reefpaddy (paddy kelly)
your da is bang on the mark. a couple of table spoon of salt is the answer, its not that big of a deal. i have plans to get some marine ones again at some stage. there the buisness, mad bs

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17 Apr 2009 01:40 #15 by reefpaddy (paddy kelly)
ye i read that earlier, no need for newspapers or reading poxie conditioner bottles any more:laugh:

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17 Apr 2009 01:41 #16 by reefpaddy (paddy kelly)
i think you have given me an idea, she will fkn kill me

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17 Apr 2009 01:42 #17 by alkiely (alan kiely)
I have my eye on a marine setup too this time next year hope to have one ready to go nothing mad around hope to base it around a rio 180 or maybe a bit smaller alot more time money and work.

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17 Apr 2009 01:46 #18 by reefpaddy (paddy kelly)
ill set you up with some coral frags, nice lemon cauliflower some gorgonians,fingers,mushrooms ect.a few small bits grow into a tank in no time well 6/12 months. but yes alot more time and money involved

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17 Apr 2009 01:52 #19 by alkiely (alan kiely)
Nice one;) i havnt said anything about a marine setup yet we were up not at the weekend and was looking at a nano reef lovely looking setup and was at a really cheap price she liked the idea of havin nemo as a pet women for ya i guess.

I dont even wanna think what would happen if i bought the setup at the weekend, hard work a marine setup but well worth it i do like ur ponies.

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17 Apr 2009 02:02 #20 by reefpaddy (paddy kelly)
tanx, she kind of pushed for them, she liked the idea of them breeding and haveing hundreds. she also made me get nemos well her and the kids[goto keep them happy]. what tank wer you looking at and how cheap. ive completly got strung out on corals i just find them facinating, yet at the start i found them boring, so remember if you go 4 shorses you cant really have many corals.only soft non stinging ones.

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17 Apr 2009 02:08 #21 by platty252 (Darren Dalton)
You guys are way to fast for me so i will bow out. Good night, or should i say good morning.

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17 Apr 2009 02:09 #22 by alkiely (alan kiely)
Was a 90l nano setup with stand and had the led night setup too, came with live rock some coral not 100% what else but the whole lot was for 250 sterling which is about 280 euro ish thats not bad at all and it came with salt water too if im not wrong

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17 Apr 2009 02:12 #23 by alkiely (alan kiely)
FAIR ENOUH platty its 3.15 am i guess ha ha

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17 Apr 2009 02:18 #24 by reefpaddy (paddy kelly)
seahorse aquariums and a few other places have an offer on at the moment, its an 80l aswell full set up lr,ls water cleaning crew starfish, nemos damsels and a few other bits and pieces not sure weather it was 299 or 399 i was hoping you could clarafy it but obviously there diff tanks, night platty, id love another tank to put the shorses in and free up the large tank its either that or fill it with pipe,trumpet fish,they work well with ponies, all money dough.

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17 Apr 2009 02:21 #25 by alkiely (alan kiely)
Seen that think it was a 60l with cleaner shrimp star fish nemo and a damsel for live rock 300 in fintastic aquatics not sure but goodprice send a pm should have a look

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17 Apr 2009 02:29 #26 by reefpaddy (paddy kelly)
yeah had a quick luck, some nice tanks ther . ill have a prop look 2morrow. its defo a 80l i was looking at, it was on a leaflet,i think fintastic wer involved as well.i dont think a 60l is really worth it after you put your rock in, there is no room 4 livestock left.

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17 Apr 2009 02:32 #27 by alkiely (alan kiely)
yeah was only a small bit of live rock. I planning a trip to seahorse aquariums soon and a few in the area at the weekend.

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