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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

Best way to clean sand in aquarium

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26 Sep 2013 11:28 #1 by Garreth_OR (Garreth O'Rowe)
Have a 250L tank and was wounder the best way to clean the debris left on top of the sand
i have a siphon but picks up the sand alot

Thanks,
G

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26 Sep 2013 11:33 #2 by christyg (Chris Geraghty)
Keep the siphon a couple of inches off the sand, it's trial and error and you'll always get some sand but when you get the height right, you'll pick up more debris than sand. Practice makes perfect. :)

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26 Sep 2013 11:36 #3 by JustinK (Justin Kelly)
+1
Perfect practice makes perfect
Bad practice makes bad habit permanent.

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26 Sep 2013 11:42 #4 by Garreth_OR (Garreth O'Rowe)
Thanks :) , thought there might of been a different way
will get practicing

G

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26 Sep 2013 12:00 #5 by wylam (Stuart Sexton)
My siphon has a large attachment on the end of it that has a serrated edge kinda like a castle wall. when i siphon i dig this into the sand and it will pull up the heavy debris but the sand will drop back out. Very very little sand is ever dragged out with it.

Another method i used before i got this was to wave your syphon just over the top of the sand, the water will drag the debris up out of the sand and then you chase it around and such it all up.

Stuart.

Multi tasking: Screwing up more than one thing at a time.

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26 Sep 2013 12:50 #6 by newbejkjimk (damien kelly)
I just use the hose part of the siphon and i find you can be more accurate and specific in what you are picking up and if you use different diameter hose you can be even more specific because of the different flow rates
jim

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26 Sep 2013 12:58 #7 by JohnH (John)
Not dissimilar to Stuart's method I personally have a good 'rummage' through the sand - this releases any gases which have built up therein - and also frees much of the debris. The 'free-swimming' debris is then quite easy to catch with your syphon tube and remove.


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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26 Sep 2013 13:10 #8 by Garreth_OR (Garreth O'Rowe)
Thanks for you help everyone :)

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26 Sep 2013 14:25 #9 by hammie (Neil Hammerton)
mixture of syphoning hand and small water pump is what i find works best

hand to disturb the sand / substrate and release anything caught up....
syphon to remove anything floating
small water pump to get into nooks and crannies and move any debris towards the filters outlet

must get at it tonight actually

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26 Sep 2013 22:48 - 26 Sep 2013 22:52 #10 by paulv (paul vickers)

Not dissimilar to Stuart's method I personally have a good 'rummage' through the sand - this releases any gases which have built up therein - and also frees much of the debris. The 'free-swimming' debris is then quite easy to catch with your syphon tube and remove.


John


+1. Thats the way I work too. I lose an egg cup of sand every time, not much. I also keep the filter on so any dirt floating the water body will be sucked into the filter.
Last edit: 26 Sep 2013 22:52 by paulv (paul vickers).

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26 Sep 2013 23:00 #11 by Gonefishy (Brian oneill)
Did you see the thread about turning off all elec appliances to the tank for safety before cleaning it Paul.....got me thinking and now going to start wearing gloves to clean it too given Ian's declaration...

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27 Sep 2013 07:30 #12 by paulv (paul vickers)

Did you see the thread about turning off all elec appliances to the tank for safety before cleaning it Paul.....got me thinking and now going to start wearing gloves to clean it too given Ian's declaration...


I did read that topic but how many of ye turn of the imersion before taking a shower

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27 Sep 2013 12:13 #13 by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)

Did you see the thread about turning off all elec appliances to the tank for safety before cleaning it Paul.....got me thinking and now going to start wearing gloves to clean it too given Ian's declaration...


I did read that topic but how many of ye turn of the imersion before taking a shower


Right, that's it! I'm not touching anything without my full body rubber suit on!

Wait, can someone hear my phone ringing?

NOOOO!!!

"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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27 Sep 2013 21:48 #14 by paulv (paul vickers)

Did you see the thread about turning off all elec appliances to the tank for safety before cleaning it Paul.....got me thinking and now going to start wearing gloves to clean it too given Ian's declaration...


I did read that topic but how many of ye turn of the imersion before taking a shower


Right, that's it! I'm not touching anything without my full body rubber suit on!

Wait, can someone hear my phone ringing?

NOOOO!!!


LOL::::

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30 Sep 2013 14:38 #15 by Gold pleco (Declan Balfe)
Hi Guys

How often should i be cleaning the sand currently doing it every two weeks with water change but have now added more fish so will i need to do it more often ??

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30 Sep 2013 15:51 - 30 Sep 2013 15:52 #16 by JohnH (John)
The answer to the previous question (in the Introductions section) could help to make a suggestion, but every two weeks isn't a bad regime to follow.
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.
Last edit: 30 Sep 2013 15:52 by JohnH (John). Reason: Addition

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