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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

Cleaning a QT tank

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24 May 2011 11:12 #1 by Fishowner (Gavin fishowner)
Ok, looking for a few opinions on what people find best in terms of cleaning out a quarantine tank after fish have been removed etc. (ive my own idea but wanna see what people do to get a better informed decision).

The tank is dirty at this stage now with a slight film all along the inside etc. Its a perspex tank so hoping to avoid too vigourous a scrubbing due to scrathing etc.
Im going to discard the gravel at this stage anyhow (the corys which were infected were in the QT for a long time (over 2 years!) with a skin condition.(it didnt kill them,they were fine in their,however the condition never cleared either and eventually they died due to my negilience of not maintaining the water changes on it.(to be honest it was no harm they passed away,but I'll hold the hand up on this one this time.)

So Ive the tank available now again, but I want to clean it right down,including filters,heaters,airstone etc..
So what does everyone use in terms of cleaning a QT to make it useable again? (Bleach at 20:1 concentration perhaps ?).

Also do people recommend binning the sponges from the filter or can they also be fully cleaned.(small internal filter).

Thanks
Gavin

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24 May 2011 11:30 #2 by DJK (David Kinsella)
Personally I use the API product 'Safe & Easy' which works very well and can be used for both the inside and outside of the tank safely. I think some people use vinegar though without any problems.

As regards the filter media, I'd change them completely to be on the safe side for what its going to cost,
but that's just me.

Dave

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24 May 2011 11:49 #3 by JohnH (John)
Replied by JohnH (John) on topic Re: Cleaning a QT tank
Gavin,
I use bleach, but at a somewhat higher strength...bearing in mind there are different strengths of dilution in the first place.
Being a bit on the 'tight' side (Jewish antecedents) I also disinfect the filter media with the same stuff (at the same time), but never actually have the filter itself in the bleach - just the media.
The answer here is to not leave the bleach in the tank for too long, overnight is what I do, especially with a plastic tank bleach at any strength seems to leave deposits after time which can be cleaned off glass OK, but with plastic the same treatment would mean scouring and therefore you end up scratching the plastic.
THEN...you really need a lot of water flushing into and over both the tank, media and anything else you have treated.
I put the smaller tanks into the sink (although the bath would be better for larger tanks) and leave the tap running into it for a good couple of hours.
I don't know the API stuff mentioned - being 'of an age' that has no experience of all the new innovations (at least if you believe what certain people are saying) but it's probably an excellent remedy - bleach is cheaper though.
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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24 May 2011 12:39 #4 by christyg (Chris Geraghty)
'Milton' is a gentle bleach (babies bottles etc) Be sure whatever bleach you use to rinse thoroughly and when you've finished rinsing, rinse again to be sure to be sure. For a small internal filter you'd probably be safer to bin the sponges.

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24 May 2011 13:27 #5 by Katherine (Katarzyna Glebocka)
I don't know if my way will be good for a plastic tank but it works for glass ones:
1. Wash the tank with salt mush/pulp
2. Rins very well
3. Fill with water and add solution of potassium permanganate (1.25 gram per every 25 liters of water)
4. Leave it for 24 hours with working filters (without media) and all other stuff you would like to disinfect.
5. If water changes colour from purple to brown/brownish - repeat it.

If you put bogwood into the solution then it would become black but citron acid will bring its colour back :)

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