×
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

Rocks in aquarium

More
18 Apr 2011 14:29 #1 by lambo111 (kevin)
Can you use any rocks in an aquarium and if you do can plants grow on or around them I was thinking of having a rock formation in my tank with maybe a slate cap and some sort of plant growing on top.

Also I have been reading about bog wood will this actually lower the ph

where can you but bogwood/rocks

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
18 Apr 2011 15:40 - 18 Apr 2011 15:42 #2 by dar (darren curry)
not any oul rocks will do as some will cause mayhem with your water, i read but i have not tried to test it with vinegar if you notice any reaction don't put it in, if not boil the bejesus out of it scrub it and work away, some plants will grow on and around no problem. head to any of the sponsor shops they should have both bogwood and rocks and give you some good advice on plants. look into keeping plants. if you can get yourself to the tallaght area i can give you a small few cuttings to get you started, they are not the best looking as i couldn't keep a plant healthy if my life depended on it. wat plants are they? i have no notion but they are nice and i would imagine they would grow great for some one who can keep them

in saying that and on inspection, they are not that bad

Check out the angling section, it is fantastic
Last edit: 18 Apr 2011 15:42 by dar (darren curry).

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
18 Apr 2011 16:20 #3 by lambo111 (kevin)
I have been reading alot of forums and websites one suggested boiling the rock to kill bacteria then take a bucket of water and test the ph, add the rock and leave it for a day or two and then test the water if it changes then its not suitable.

Don't know how accurate this is though

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
18 Apr 2011 19:13 #4 by Katherine (Katarzyna Glebocka)
Vinegar test is OK. On my experience I can tell you not to put ocean rock and marble into your tank. I used recently marble as a balast for my bogwood and GH rised from 10 to 20 d within 3 weeks. I had not any idea marble would give me this effect.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

  • stretnik (stretnik)
  • stretnik (stretnik)'s Avatar
  • Visitor
  • Visitor
18 Apr 2011 19:23 - 18 Apr 2011 19:24 #5 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re: Rocks in aquarium
Any Stone or Rock that has Calcium as a main ingredient will alter the the hardness and Ph of Water.

Kev.
Last edit: 18 Apr 2011 19:24 by stretnik (stretnik).

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
18 Apr 2011 19:32 #6 by christyg (Chris Geraghty)
For my mbuna setup, I collect limestone from a nearby beach, give it stick with the power washer, and have had no problems. Lake Malawi is a limestone lake so its recreating as natural as possible. One thing to watch for is, if there is any trace of metallic specks/veins in the rock; AVOID!! I also use coarse sand from the beach (very well washed of course) as substrate.

For lower ph setups it would be safer to get inert rocks from LFS.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
18 Apr 2011 19:42 #7 by Pat (Pat Coogan)
I have always used Howth rock in my tanks with no ill effects.
i steep it in safestart and water for a couple of days.
It doesnt alter the PHor anything and is a nice reddish brown colour.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
18 Apr 2011 21:25 #8 by lambo111 (kevin)
The main reason I was asking is because I wanted to make a rock formation/cave that i could have plants/moss grow on just really thinking of ideas while my tank is cycling.

Where do people buy rocks from lfs/builder providers or do you pick up your own rocks.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

  • stretnik (stretnik)
  • stretnik (stretnik)'s Avatar
  • Visitor
  • Visitor
18 Apr 2011 21:41 #9 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re: Rocks in aquarium
Try not to take stuff from the great outdoors, people keep saying, "I only took a couple but if everyone did this there'd be 9 million rocks taken , the number of Limestone Rocks that were taken from the Burren has to be seen to be believed and the sad thing is the beautiful stone ends up being dumped in bags or made into fugly Rockeries, around naff Ponds or just chucked.

Garden centres stock lots of different types of rock for various projects, either loose or in Bags, pay them a visit to see the range. A company called Glenview sell many types of rocks and substrates you could contact them if you can't find what you want in your LFS.

Kev.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
18 Apr 2011 21:52 #10 by lambo111 (kevin)
I have sand as my substrate I am looking for large rocks to create a focal point and a hiding place for some of my fish(that i will have) :)

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
26 Apr 2011 19:29 #11 by christyg (Chris Geraghty)

Try not to take stuff from the great outdoors, people keep saying, "I only took a couple but if everyone did this there'd be 9 million rocks taken , the number of Limestone Rocks that were taken from the Burren has to be seen to be believed and the sad thing is the beautiful stone ends up being dumped in bags or made into fugly Rockeries, around naff Ponds or just chucked.

Garden centres stock lots of different types of rock for various projects, either loose or in Bags, pay them a visit to see the range. A company called Glenview sell many types of rocks and substrates you could contact them if you can't find what you want in your LFS.

Kev.


Wonder where the garden centres get their rocks from.

BTW an area like the Burren is different, taking ANYTHING from there is a complete NO NO!!

Please Log in to join the conversation.

Time to create page: 0.057 seconds
Powered by Kunena Forum