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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

Alternatives to expensive aquarium lighting

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24 Nov 2012 23:50 #1 by lawrenceog (Lawrence O Gorman)
I am currently running 3 tanks,

A 70L which has a 1 X T8 hood, A 100L with a 2 X T8 bulb and a 260L with a 2 X T5 hood. Im happy enough with the larger set up but I would like to change the lighting units on the two smaller tanks. I have been looking online to get a price range for some new lighting units but have been very surprised at the cost of these.

I have been looking for cheaper alternatives and one idea I had was to use clip on desk lamps with CFL bulbs in with 6500K spectrum. 3 lamps shouls do the trick 1 for the 70L and 2 for the 100L plus the bulbs are so much cheaper.

I was wondering what thoughts folks had on this idea?

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25 Nov 2012 00:40 #2 by davey_c (dave clarke)
price daylight bulbs in electrical shops, i hear their a good replacement bulb but i have ye to use 1. otherwise i would go with suitable waterproof led strips that are cheap on ebay B)

Below tank is for sale

my plywood tank build.

www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php/forum...k-build-diary#137768

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25 Nov 2012 11:56 #3 by igmillichip (ian millichip)
is this for growing plants or just visualisation?

ian

Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.

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25 Nov 2012 12:10 #4 by Melander (Andreas Melander)
I'm using one of these with a led bulb both from Ikea and find them very good.I am using it to light a 160 litre, it's not super bright which suits me but you could always add more depending on what you are after.




Melander

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25 Nov 2012 12:15 #5 by sheag35 (Seamus Gillespie)

I'm using one of these with a led bulb both from Ikea and find them very good.I am using it to light a 160 litre, it's not super bright which suits me but you could always add more depending on what you are after.




Melander


ok i'm not a sparkie but would this light be kinda dangerous over a tank, or do you have glass or condensation trays between the tank and the light?

Fishkeeping the Only way to get wet and wild

currently 25 tanks, and breeding is the aim of everything i keep
location:Limerick

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25 Nov 2012 12:26 #6 by Melander (Andreas Melander)
Basically you can chose between two fittings that comes with the spotlight, I have unscrewed the spotlight from the one in the picture and screwed it on to a wooden fitting in the wall behind the tank and yes a use a cover glass in between.

I should have mentioned this in the first post, unfortunately don't have a camera here but can post a picture next weekend.

Melander

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25 Nov 2012 14:39 #7 by lawrenceog (Lawrence O Gorman)

I'm using one of these with a led bulb both from Ikea and find them very good.I am using it to light a 160 litre, it's not super bright which suits me but you could always add more depending on what you are after.

Melander


That was exactly the kind of thing I was thinking about, and if I use these kind of bulbs CFL 6500K lightbulbs I should be able to grow plants quiet successfully

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25 Nov 2012 19:37 #8 by lawrenceog (Lawrence O Gorman)

is this for growing plants or just visualisation?

ian


It would be for growing plants

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02 Dec 2012 14:05 #9 by Melander (Andreas Melander)
Here's how i mounted mine:





Don't mind the algae, it's supposed to be there B)

Melander

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02 Dec 2012 15:15 - 02 Dec 2012 15:17 #10 by jwm (sean sean)
Has anybody used t8 led tubes. I got my paws on 8 30" tubes im going to set some of them up over my corner unit the bulbs are on there way out. Got the light unit from an electrical shop, no ballast required. Perspex being cut this week. I am hoping for the algae bloom on the tank due to using household bulbs.



John

A person who surrenders when he is WRONG, is HONEST. A person who SURRENDERS when not SURE, is WISE. A person who surrenders even if he is RIGHT, is a HUSBAND.
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Last edit: 02 Dec 2012 15:17 by jwm (sean sean).

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