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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

river substrates

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05 Mar 2014 20:25 #1 by Paul Healy (paul healy)
I am going to redo my 260 and plant it properly this time eg not just dump loads of sand and plant substrate in and I was wondering if I went up the mountains as I normally do and dig up some substrate from the lakes above the farmland could I use it for a tropical aquarium as it would already have all the nutrients in built ?

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05 Mar 2014 21:03 #2 by Aroshni (Lydia Olivera)
I don't know about that you ask but if you're looking for a cheap substrate use John Innes No 3 is 5 euro a 10l sack and does the job, at least for me.

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05 Mar 2014 21:48 - 05 Mar 2014 21:49 #3 by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
Are you talking about using gravel or muck from a lake? Either way, you'll have to boil whatever you use, to kill off any nasties. You could probably get away with using river/lake gravel, depending on the geological makeup and the requirements if your fish. If you're thinking of using the organic muck from a lake, I'd be inclined to think you're asking for trouble.

I think Lydia's suggestion is a wiser one

"The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won't let go of your life; your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they're not punishing you.They're freeing your soul."
Last edit: 05 Mar 2014 21:49 by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley).

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06 Mar 2014 00:02 #4 by Gonefishy (Brian oneill)

Are you talking about using gravel or muck from a lake? Either way, you'll have to boil whatever you use, to kill off any nasties. You could probably get away with using river/lake gravel, depending on the geological makeup and the requirements if your fish. If you're thinking of using the organic muck from a lake, I'd be inclined to think you're asking for trouble.

I think Lydia's suggestion is a wiser one


+1 for sure....

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06 Mar 2014 07:31 #5 by joemc (joe mc)
Replied by joemc (joe mc) on topic river substrates
agree with the two previous posters regarding the plant substrate, I think it would be more hassle that it would be worth and high risk of failure, collecting your own gravel and rocks is ok though as long as you can identify stone types that may cause you problems
(also make sure you are collecting from an area that is not protected or private property!)

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06 Mar 2014 10:09 #6 by Redser (Richard)
Replied by Redser (Richard) on topic river substrates
Hi Paul
In theory it sounds like a nice idea, but first, you say "if I went up the mountains as I normally do and dig up some substrate from the lakes above the farmland" do you mean there is no farming activity above this lake? Because if there is, there could be or have been fertilizer spread on the grounds that would have residues carried into the lakes, if this is the case your at risk of "high phosphates" being in this substrate and your LFS will not have a test kit for this. So the previous post regarding the shop bought substrate is good advice. As for the sand/gravel on top of this substrate I don't see much of a problem if you got (but hard to find) gravel from a fast flowing stream that was going to give you a specific effect that shop bought would not.

Hope this helps and good luck with your upgrade look forward to your posts and pictures as you go.

Richard

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06 Mar 2014 10:22 #7 by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
I used river gravel recently and found that even though it was mostly granite, there was enough limestone in it to raise the pH and hardness; pH held steady at 7.6 and it was medium hardness. I'd say most rivers in south Dublin are somewhat similar since granite predominates in the area (thank you Sugarloaf!). River gravel can look amazing though.

"The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won't let go of your life; your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they're not punishing you.They're freeing your soul."

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06 Mar 2014 10:33 #8 by Redser (Richard)
Replied by Redser (Richard) on topic river substrates
And JasonB has
- JBL Manado Substrate. Approx. 15L. €5 for sale in the Buy and sell section.
And by the way none of the members on this forum "dumps in substrate" they carefully, lovingly, place substrate into their tanks to artistically create an effect that will bring them long term pleasure and enjoyment. :lol:

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06 Mar 2014 11:29 #9 by ABdarudeone (Mick)
Replied by ABdarudeone (Mick) on topic river substrates
Hi ,
some time ago when i got my first tank, was thinking about a natural "Irish" type of tank setup (small pike and/or perch) , but ended up with tropical aquarium .
Just wondering if someone on this forum got something similar or
Does anybody know if it can be done ?
Cheers

**Neither a teacher nor a native speaker**

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06 Mar 2014 11:46 #10 by Paul Healy (paul healy)
I do a lot of bog lake fishing in the summer up in conamara way up above the farmland so I dont think there is any run off from the farms I did wory about the possible parasites and the higher temp in a tropical aquarium

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