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
Filtration
- Debrick (Ciaran barrett)
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In the next 6 months I'm hoping to up grade from a 450 litre tank to a 800 litre tank so I'm just wondering what people think ,
Sump pump or 2 big external filters ,
I wud like to know what ye think , thanks
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- JohnH (John)
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This could well turn into a worthwhile debate - can anyone add pros and cons for Debrick?
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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- Debrick (Ciaran barrett)
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At the moment I have 1 big external 2000 litre p/h with uv light built in xtra filtration for African cichlids ,
When it cums to cleaning it , shut off taps take it outside very easy clean ,no mess in the hse ( keeps the wife happy) gud powerful water flow from it aswell
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- hammie (Neil Hammerton)
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Better all round system when you get to that size of tank really
Plus if you have fry or whatever, you can keep them in the sump temporarily
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- sheag35 (Seamus Gillespie)
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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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- paulv (paul vickers)
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I've a 1000l tank with a sump it adds another 300l of water to the system, I think its best to go sump as with your external doing 2000l per hour, you will need 2 of them. A sump gives you much better choice of material to use.Hi ,
At the moment I have 1 big external 2000 litre p/h with uv light built in xtra filtration for African cichlids ,
When it cums to cleaning it , shut off taps take it outside very easy clean ,no mess in the hse ( keeps the wife happy) gud powerful water flow from it aswell
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- theangryman (chris)
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"I try to incorporate melody. Even though I'm screaming, I still like to think I bring melody into screaming."
Tom Araya
If one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon would read "President Can't Swim........Lyndon B Johnson
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- Mr B (C B)
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- irish-zx10r (James feenan)
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@ €299 and your sorted, i will buy your external for €50 and that will help cut the caust of the two FX6

Something fishie going on here
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- Debrick (Ciaran barrett)
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I'm same as urself I've never used a sump , so I'm goin to use 2 big filters , I was thinking as shag said I wud clean filters week 1 and 3 seperatly ,I think ur rite with such a large body of water it wud take a long time for things to go pear shaped , tank is goin to be a freshwater , for Malawi cichlids , hopefully tank will arrive in the next 3 weeks
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- Mr B (C B)
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- Debrick (Ciaran barrett)
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- theangryman (chris)
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Chris
"I try to incorporate melody. Even though I'm screaming, I still like to think I bring melody into screaming."
Tom Araya
If one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon would read "President Can't Swim........Lyndon B Johnson
All my...
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- davey_c (dave clarke)
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A secondary overflow as said that is above the waterline is whats usually used to help against blockages. As for an overflowing sump, a sump is designed with enough room above its regular waterline to hold the max amount of water that will drain from the tank. No equipment is foolproof so always prepare for the worst and you'll be fine.
The extra volume is always beneficial for countless reasons regardless of tank volume so thats why I say sump

Below tank is for sale
my plywood tank build.
www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php/forum...k-build-diary#137768
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- Mr B (C B)
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- Mr B (C B)
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- irish-zx10r (James feenan)
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Hey Debrick, Just spotted this on amazon: 'Aquarium External Fish Tank Filter 1400L/H + 9W UV Light Free Filter Media All Pond Solutions 1400EF+' It certainly got my attention as it's a fraction of the price of other large canister filters. There's also a review on you tube worth checking out.
I think there is quite a few of us here with these filters
The next one up is even better the 2000 with uv light they can be sold under different
Names. Seen some new 1400 going for 75 euro
Something fishie going on here
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- Debrick (Ciaran barrett)
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