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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

without a filter for 3-5 days

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21 Apr 2016 10:08 #1 by faolteam (keith mac)
hi my ex 1200 tetratec water valve came off last night and i had a mess but caught it in time this seems to be an area they are vunerable in anyway i cant get one for 3-5 working days

should i be doing anything with tank in mean time as i have no other filtration except my large air stone in tank any advice appreciated please


faolteam

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21 Apr 2016 10:16 - 21 Apr 2016 10:18 #2 by JohnH (John)
My personal approach would be to not feed the fish until the filter is running again.
Unfortunately - after 4-5 days most, if not all, of the beneficial bacteria will have died, so it will be a case of 'starting over' with the nitrogen cycle, even though it shouldn't be such a long-winded affair.

You might want to do a small water change daily while the filtration isn't running too.

Perhaps others would like to comment further.

John

Edit,
It might be possible to get the loan of a working filter from someone close to you to tide you over this trying time, any offers?

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.
Last edit: 21 Apr 2016 10:18 by JohnH (John). Reason: Edit

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21 Apr 2016 10:24 #3 by nomad (pat murphy)
Where are you based?

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21 Apr 2016 10:30 #4 by nomad (pat murphy)
Forgot to turn on my external filter after doing a part change and it was 5 days before I realised.Lost no fish because bacterea is on everthing in the tank and luckily I had a pretty strong airstone running which helped the bacteria.Also my tank has some rapid growing plants that help keeping nitrates down and also they absorb some of the ammonia too.Didnt have any ammonia spike too so was blessed.

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21 Apr 2016 10:33 #5 by faolteam (keith mac)
thanks john lets see what happens

ireland doesnt seem to carry parts

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21 Apr 2016 10:33 #6 by faolteam (keith mac)
ireland seems to be really bad with parts

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21 Apr 2016 10:34 #7 by nomad (pat murphy)
where are you based

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21 Apr 2016 10:55 #8 by faolteam (keith mac)
rathfarnham

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21 Apr 2016 10:58 #9 by nomad (pat murphy)

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21 Apr 2016 11:27 - 21 Apr 2016 11:28 #10 by robert (robert carter)
would it be possible to take the filter media out of the filter and put it into the tank ,airate the tank well and you should at least keep some of the bacteria alive. just the perfect reason for using two filters in a tank
Last edit: 21 Apr 2016 11:28 by robert (robert carter). Reason: extra sentance added

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21 Apr 2016 12:47 #11 by Jonlate (Jon Late)
When you say water valve what bit do you mean? Can you post a link to a picture of the broken bit.

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21 Apr 2016 13:45 #12 by gunnered72 (Eddy Gunnered)
If there is no filtration running, stop feeding and carry out 50% (at least) daily water changes...Ammonia will build up rapidly if you dont...

Your bacteria colony will NOT survive unless there is water and oxygen constantly flowing through it....

Sitting it in the bottom of the tank without any water or oxygen flowing through it wont do anything...The good bacteria will just die...

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21 Apr 2016 13:56 #13 by robert (robert carter)
ideedly a flow needs to be going through the media ,but it might help a if the media was in the tank with say a powerhead with venture pointing at it just might help the bacteria last a bit longer

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21 Apr 2016 14:33 #14 by nomad (pat murphy)
[From my recent experience posted earlier that saved my fish was
A STRONG AIRSTONE POSITIONED NEAR THE BOTTOM OF MY TANK SO CARBON DIOXIDE BEING RELEASED AND RAISING THE OXYGEN LEVELS,BACTERIA COATS EVERYTHING IN THE TANK SO THE AIRSTONE A MAJOR HELP TO KEEP THEM GOING.,
LOADS OF RAPID GROWING PLANTS FEEDING OFF AMMONIA AND NITRATE ANOTHER BIG HELP.
As I have said my external was out for 5 days and fish were fed as normal because of not realising my mistake,agree though if you get a filter packing in then definatly no feeding ...

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21 Apr 2016 14:34 #15 by Q_Comets (Declan Chambers)
Getting the media into the tank is a good idea and an airstone under/near it to create some flow. You want to keep the bacteria alive if at all possible. Maybe you could do some kind of DIY air driven filter.

If the bacteria in your filter die off it can cause problems when you start the filter back up, it can introduce toxins into the tank.

Maybe someone near you can help out

Hope it goes ok for you

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21 Apr 2016 20:38 #16 by faolteam (keith mac)
Many thanks to Nomad Today you were a great help, unfortunately one problem solved opens another one my external filter is now dripping on the sides i guess there is only so much time you get with these filters :hammer:

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21 Apr 2016 20:46 #17 by nomad (pat murphy)
Hi Faolteam did you try the new o ring seal to see does that help,some rub Vaseline I think around the seal too to make water tight...

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21 Apr 2016 20:54 #18 by robert (robert carter)
This hassle with external filters was one of the things that made me go for a sump on the cold water tank Bart is building for me , and I will of course purchase a spare return pump. Having said that I find the jbl crystal range good , 4 year warranty and seahorse have a full range of spares

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21 Apr 2016 20:57 #19 by faolteam (keith mac)
no i didnt but i have noticed that over the years the tetrtatec water valve adapter when you put it in top of filter its not catching when you put handle down and it seems to come out very easy even with handle down ?

is the o ring seal a big job

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21 Apr 2016 21:09 #20 by faolteam (keith mac)

This hassle with external filters was one of the things that made me go for a sump on the cold water tank Bart is building for me , and I will of course purchase a spare return pump. Having said that I find the jbl crystal range good , 4 year warranty and seahorse have a full range of spares


i rang them today im still waiting for them to come back

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21 Apr 2016 21:22 #21 by robert (robert carter)
I am a mercanic ,you can buy an o ring kit from a decent motor factors that consist of various size o rings and a length of o ring rubber that you cut to the required size and glue with the glue that comes with the kit to make the o ring the required size. , it should do the job for you . I suppose the moral of the story is that any of us that have externals should get a o ring kit to fit our filters to have as a spare , can't be very costly and certainly cheaper than lost fish or a replacement carpet . Am going to get one next weekend when in seahorse

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21 Apr 2016 21:39 #22 by faolteam (keith mac)

I am a mercanic ,you can buy an o ring kit from a decent motor factors that consist of various size o rings and a length of o ring rubber that you cut to the required size and glue with the glue that comes with the kit to make the o ring the required size. , it should do the job for you . I suppose the moral of the story is that any of us that have externals should get a o ring kit to fit our filters to have as a spare , can't be very costly and certainly cheaper than lost fish or a replacement carpet . Am going to get one next weekend when in seahorse


i have the o ring but for the life of me were do i put the ring ????

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21 Apr 2016 21:58 #23 by nomad (pat murphy)
I was referring to the rubber seal that you have with the pieces I gave you, as far as I remember when you take the whole motor head unit off you will see the rubber seal that is inset going right around the underside of the motor head to make the seal when it sits around and down the top edge of the filter unit below..
Think they call it an o ring but more like a long piece of quarter inch spaghetti that is joined end to end.

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21 Apr 2016 22:15 #24 by nomad (pat murphy)
google ....tetratec ex1200 external filter manual .....and download the pdf file for the tetratec 1200 and it will show you exactly,they recommend to soak the new one in warm water first though before fitting,good luck.

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21 Apr 2016 22:49 #25 by robert (robert carter)
I don't know the filter but I would think the o ring goes around the pump head so a seal is formed when assembled against the main body of the unit

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21 Apr 2016 22:57 #26 by faolteam (keith mac)

I was referring to the rubber seal that you have with the pieces I gave you, as far as I remember when you take the whole motor head unit off you will see the rubber seal that is inset going right around the underside of the motor head to make the seal when it sits around and down the top edge of the filter unit below..
Think they call it an o ring but more like a long piece of quarter inch spaghetti that is joined end to end.


yea tried it but no differnence :hammer:

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21 Apr 2016 22:58 #27 by nomad (pat murphy)
That's it Robert in short form LOL

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21 Apr 2016 23:06 #28 by nomad (pat murphy)
Break out your vasaline and put a smear on the o ring.......

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21 Apr 2016 23:11 #29 by robert (robert carter)
Is the o ring a genuine replacement part ? .if not the problem could be the diameter of the o ring , certainly try the vase line suggestion

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21 Apr 2016 23:12 #30 by robert (robert carter)
If this doesn't work you could always get a dog :cool: :cool:

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