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
Small native marine
- LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
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How difficult would it be to keep a very small (70L) native marine tank? I mean very lightly stocked, perhaps only 2-3 fish if that. What would I need? What problems would I face?
Let me know what you think...
"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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- JohnH (John)
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This, ultimately, was what was the deciding factor for me in my having to abandon the hopes of setting one up.
Of course things like chillers can be used, but the expense of these - plus running costs - were just beyond my finances.
Perhaps others can add to my (albeit limited) findings?.
John
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N. Tipp
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.
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It's a long way to Tipperary.
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- MarinusAddictus (Marius Schudel)
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In a nutshell...
Yes I think its possible, keep about 7cm of live sand from low beach as bottom as it will help massively in the detritus breakdown, keep a good cleanup crew (Hermits, prawns, Netted whelk, and loads of cushionstars)
Try to not overfeed and try to stay away from Scorpion fish and Blennies (high bioload, and they eat ANYTHING) unless you have a good supply of fresh seawater and periwinkles for food.
The temperature is a big factor depending on where the tank is but you would be surprised how many (in fact almost anything you find in mid to high pools) species are extremely hardy and can deal with temps up to 24degC, including Anemones. LED lights will drastically help keeping temps down. Checkout these two posts from AnBollenessor about species suitable for unchilled tanks.
anbollenessor.wordpress.com/2013/08/01/t...hilled-aquarium-5-1/
anbollenessor.wordpress.com/2013/07/23/t...illed-aquarium-10-6/
If your priority is not to grow Seaweeds, unchilled should be fine but its not easy not to be tempted to bring in loads of seaweed that then mostly will not make it and eventually raise your phosphates (learnt the hard way)
Friend of mine has a 25l tank since over a year and hardly ever does waterchanges and its doing fine, no fish though. He even has copepod blooms prawns breeding etc.
Hope this helps
Let us know how you get on
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- LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
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Do need a protein skimmer or are they only for bigger and/or tropical?
And that leads me to the warmer water types; could a clownfish, for example, be kept in such a small tank? How hard would it be to maintain? (I could see that being an issue for me)
"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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- LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
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"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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- MarinusAddictus (Marius Schudel)
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I think since you wont have tons of equipment (that adds heat) in a small tank and if you go with LED and be smart about where to place the tank you should be fine if you stick to hardy creatures.
Clown fish? I thought you want to go native? Dont know anything about them

Skimmer is more needed of you have a lot of biomass (feeding, fish) added to the water, if you keep it simple and do frequent waterchanges it should be grand. For a skimmer you really need a sump, otherwise you will always have waterlevel and microbubbles issues.
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- LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
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"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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- JohnH (John)
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John
Location:
N. Tipp
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.
ITFS member.
It's a long way to Tipperary.
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- LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
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"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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- MarinusAddictus (Marius Schudel)
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reefbuilders.com/2016/05/04/nisso-aqua-c...ang-on-nano-chiller/
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- LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
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"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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