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
syphoning technique
Sand is easier to look after than gravel, as it compacts on the bottom. Therefore not allowing particles of food and waste to get below the surface of the substrate and turning foul. So a light hovering over with a siphon is all that is needed to keep your water conditions in good nick. but beware your partners wrath of finding old siphoned sand everywhere
Gravel on the other hand leaves spaces in between that lets particles get down into the gravel which can turn very nasty without proper maintenance. When siphoning gravel you need to push the siphon head right into the gravel, aggitating and releasing all the nasty stuff that has become lodged inside. If you are using gravel, a thin layer is recommended for ease of use otherwise you will need a lot of time and patience to keep your tank tip-top.
Another note on siphoning.. when you plan the siphon, a good routine to follow is to wipe down the side of your tank first (bit of filter floss). This puts any of the nasties that are growing on your tanks walls into the water column so either the filter or your siphon can pick them up.. if you keep this up as part of your routine, it will solve most of any aquarists problems..
there are a number of bottom feeders that will help you clean substrates, but dont rely on them as they are no Aggie MacKenzie & Kim Woodburn:laugh:
Please Log in to join the conversation.