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
which air pump?
- smitas5 (Marius Smitas)
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I was recommended to try an air pump to improove water circulation (to lift the dirt up )..
Anyone can recommend any particular product?
Which is quiet?
Which is reliable?
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- dar (darren curry)
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Check out the angling section, it is fantastic
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- smitas5 (Marius Smitas)
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The 4 plecs are very dirty creatures, not doing any glass cleaning either.. the end of the aquarium where the outlet from fx5 is, is always dusty. I was recommended to get extra internal filter and that should solve things, but I'm afraid it will create too much current for some fish..
Are there any particular models from eheim that are better or is the only one?
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- dar (darren curry)
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Check out the angling section, it is fantastic
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- dyco619 (steve carmody)
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I have Rio400 and fx5, but monado still is dirty all the time..
The 4 plecs are very dirty creatures, not doing any glass cleaning either.. the end of the aquarium where the outlet from fx5 is, is always dusty. I was recommended to get extra internal filter and that should solve things, but I'm afraid it will create too much current for some fish..
Are there any particular models from eheim that are better or is the only one?
i have a rio 400 with an fx5 with sand, i keep mostly SA cichlids, i use a wave maker below the outlet to blow and dirt across to the intake works grand for me,
depends what sort of setup or fish your keeping,
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- smitas5 (Marius Smitas)
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- dyco619 (steve carmody)
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www.seahorseaquariums.com/store/product/...Koralia-1600-L-hour/
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- Melander (Andreas Melander)
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Melander
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- mickdeja (Mick Whelan)
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Follow me up to Carlow
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- donohoe (Andrew Donohoe)
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- igmillichip (ian millichip)
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Apart from that, the substrate is great.
As for air-pumps....I'm not sure what Rena do nowadays (that would have been my old stock of choice), Eheim are OK, but I've also got some hagen air-pumps that some shops sell at low price (eg Marina 200 = Elite 802 in a different case for 24 euro....twin outlet, quite powerful and quiet).
As a tip to help to getting Manado clean (but not guarantee 100% cleaning), you should pour boiling water on it (but not when it is the fish tank

ian
Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.
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- PompeyBill (Killian Walshe)
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Also having never had a wavemaker myself or seen one in action properly, do they just blow in one direction or do they move, side to side or anything? Just trying to figure out if it would cover the whole base of the tank in the stream or is it just one linear stream (don't really know if that makes sense, hope someone understands what I am trying to say!!)
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- smitas5 (Marius Smitas)
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@Ian - I wouldn't change Monado for any other than sand, but just can't imagine plants growing in sand. not for me

I will definetly try wavemaker after my holiday..
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- dar (darren curry)
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Check out the angling section, it is fantastic
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- smitas5 (Marius Smitas)
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- dyco619 (steve carmody)
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- dar (darren curry)
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3000lph plus the fx5s 2500ish. 5500lph sounds a lot of flow, would this tear the bejesus out of everything?
Check out the angling section, it is fantastic
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- smitas5 (Marius Smitas)
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That's my next question.. what rating wavemaker do you guys use, so discus is comfortable?ah ebay, the stealer of national jobs lol fairs fair though but i would even ask about here for a small internal, i gave one or two away not to long ago. maybe offer the 10er or swap it for dechlorinater or food (not a sandwich now, fish food) things people need, which would come too around about the same price.
3000lph plus the fx5s 2500ish. 5500lph sounds a lot of flow, would this tear the bejesus out of everything?
3000?
1500?
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