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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

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16 Feb 2015 13:13 #1 by Goldilocks (Noeleen E.)
I'm wondering can you exerienced people offer me any advice. I'm a newcomer & basically had my filter in a Juwel stop working. Finding it difficult to get parts. I replaced it with a EHEIM Pickup 160. Soon I had high Ammonia levels, lost fish & no matter what I did could not get levels down.

Petshop suggested Filter was the problem & I got a Fluval U3 & have run both filters together for 2 weeks now Today I tested the water & Ammonia is zero. I did a happy dance around the kitchen. I'm wondering is it too soon to take out the EHEIM? I would like to add more fish but don't want to rock the boat just when water has tested great. Tank is 120 litres. I have a pair of Powder Blue & 3 Platies.

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16 Feb 2015 13:23 - 16 Feb 2015 13:24 #2 by JohnH (John)
Replied by JohnH (John) on topic Filters
If you do remove the Eheim you should let the Fluval run for a few days to allow it to build up bacteria (at the moment it's only, metaphorically, doing half the work) and then test your water again.
Remember that as you add new fish this will also increase your bioload so only add a few at a time.
I'm confused that the Eheim was thought to be at fault, in my humble opinion it's a superior filter than the Fluval. Perhaps you had an undetected corpse left over? - That would cause the ammonia levels to go haywire.

Anyway, you seem to be on top of the situation now.

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: 16 Feb 2015 13:24 by JohnH (John). Reason: definitely need a new keyboard!

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16 Feb 2015 13:31 #3 by Goldilocks (Noeleen E.)
Replied by Goldilocks (Noeleen E.) on topic Filters
There was definitely a dead platy that just vanished. I searched everywhere but at that point the Ammonia was already high. Can a platy sized fish get eaten with mo trace in one night?

The guy in the petshop said the EHEIM just had a sponge but the Fluval has 3 types of filter media. That is what convinced me to get the Fluval.

I wonder should I leave the 2 running another week or so?

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16 Feb 2015 14:07 - 16 Feb 2015 15:45 #4 by JohnH (John)
Replied by JohnH (John) on topic Filters

There was definitely a dead platy that just vanished. I searched everywhere but at that point the Ammonia was already high. Can a platy sized fish get eaten with mo trace in one night?

The guy in the petshop said the EHEIM just had a sponge but the Fluval has 3 types of filter media. That is what convinced me to get the Fluval.

I wonder should I leave the 2 running another week or so?


It wouldn't hurt, but whenever you finally reduce to one it will still need a few more days to 'catch up', especially if you add new fish.
I think the platy-sized fish could only disappear completely overnight if you had something in the tank which could have eaten it whole. Anyhow, from your zero ammonia reading it is now no longer a problem.

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: 16 Feb 2015 15:45 by JohnH (John). Reason: Replaced missing word

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16 Feb 2015 19:16 #5 by JustinK (Justin Kelly)
Replied by JustinK (Justin Kelly) on topic Filters
Was your tank cycled ?
Have you tested for nitrates and nitrites ?
The dead body could be stuck somewhere in the tank.

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16 Feb 2015 19:45 #6 by Q_Comets (Declan Chambers)
Replied by Q_Comets (Declan Chambers) on topic Filters
I would recommend running both filters for another 2 to 4 weeks.

Put a bit over simplified your ammonia eating bacteria seem to be coming along nicely but nitrite eating bacteria take a bit longer to develop.

Make sure you are testing for nitrites now, nitrites will kill fish at lower ppm than ammonia.

Early stages can be a bit tricky but when things settle down it will be mostly enjoying your fish rather than worrying about them.

Rgds
Q

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16 Feb 2015 20:14 #7 by Goldilocks (Noeleen E.)
Replied by Goldilocks (Noeleen E.) on topic Filters
The tank was originally cycled & then I noticed the Filter was broke. As the tank has a 3D background & filter cover. The original filter box is still in the tank- Jewel. I could not get a filter motor so I brought the EHEIM. The Ammonia began to rise.

As soon as I found Ammonia was zero. I immediately tested the nitrites & they were zero.

The high Ammonia lasted ages & I tried everything. I even tested the tap water. I got some RO water for water changes as I thought there might be lots of Chloramine in the tap water. I used Easy Life to treat the tap water as the kids were very fond of the fish I had left. I even felt like giving up!

But I'm still here & thinking 120 litres is too small & I would like a bigger tank. I need to crawl before I can walk though.

Thank you all for your help.

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17 Feb 2015 07:48 #8 by JustinK (Justin Kelly)
Replied by JustinK (Justin Kelly) on topic Filters
You could always leave the two filters in the tank.
If they're taking up too much room then let the two run for about four weeks before taking one out.
Don't clean the filter in that time either so a good bacteria colony can try to establish on the media.
Have you taken the filter media out of the original Juwel ?
This will stink if just let sitting.

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