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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

Should I remove Carbon Sponge ?

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19 Nov 2011 17:21 #1 by paulfluke (Paul)
Hi,

Ok I have a juwel Lido with a carbon sponge in the filter - I have plants in my tank - mainly anubias , java moss and 1 unknown (must find out) I also have some Hemianthus Callitrichoides (cuba) on the way.

I noticed no real growth i any of my plants, if anything there's deterioration - had them for about a month and two with the Anubias. Now, I have 3.5 watts per gallon so I'm assuming light is ok and since monday I've been adding easy life Profito... but no sign of any improvements ??

Is it due to the carbon filter ?? Should I remove it ?? and finally is it ok to remove the carbon sponge and not replace it with anything ? ..or should I pick up a corse sponge to replace with.

Few rubish pics .. :)








Cheers Folks ..

Paul.

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19 Nov 2011 17:54 - 19 Nov 2011 17:59 #2 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re: Should I remove Carbon Sponge ?
Yes... remove it, it only remains effective until it has removed Metals and Toxins from the Water, then these, according to some People, are released back into the Water, These Sponges are only to be used after you have treated the Tank with Medications for diseases etc.

Remove it and replace with a normal Sponge, this will increase the space for beneficial Bacteria.

Normal applications of Ferts and decent Water flow should improve the growth of the Plants. Ferts won't show immediate results and trying to grow "Cuba" with a Bristle nose, will not work it will dislodge it every time you replant it.

IMHO your filter should be enough to supply Oxygen to the Tank, your Air stone looks very strong and will be pushing any beneficial CO2 out of the Water.

Kev.
Last edit: 19 Nov 2011 17:59 by stretnik (stretnik).

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19 Nov 2011 18:06 #3 by paulfluke (Paul)

IMHO your filter should be enough to supply Oxygen to the Tank, your Air stone looks very strong and will be pushing any beneficial CO2 out of the Water.


Cheers Kev,

Out with the carbon then.

The "cuba" I'm going to give a go - I pan on securing it on some wire mesh with gravel over..we'll see sure, if it doesn't work no great loss..

On the Air Stone...I was under the impression that it would be helping not hindering !! It is strong and I would be only delighted to turn it way down or remove it completly ..thoughts ??

Paul.

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19 Nov 2011 18:17 #4 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re: Should I remove Carbon Sponge ?
No, the Air, to me looks excessive, turn the spout/return from the Filter upward and toward the front, this causes the surface to move helping to replace the Water with Oxygen, the bubbles from the Stone cause CO2 to leave the Water, and, by the Photos, your Tank doesn't look over stocked in the least.

I hate Juwel internal Filters because of how much valuable space they occupy, removing it, and setting up a new external, would be a better way to go, you won't need to re-cycle the Tank because you can use the Media from the Juwel, please don't think I am, in any way, dissing your set-up, it looks great, I am a big Fan of Red-line Barbs.

Kev.

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19 Nov 2011 18:27 #5 by paulfluke (Paul)
Man, you don't know how happy it makes me being able to remove the air pump - it's so noisy !! I put up with it because it though it was helping loads - I'm gonna turn up the return nossle and I have a little extension so it should disturb the water plenty and has a nice water trickle sound lol :)

Not over stocked I don't think - 8 small tigers, 5 denison , 2 bermese loaches and one common pleco who's getting replaced v. soon with a smaller L number..there's plenty of room to my eye anyways.

Not a fan of the internal myself - Santa's is bringing me a eheim external filter ...hopefully :). Not sure on which one though - hoping to get one with a built in heater so there's even less in the tank - any suggestions on model ??

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19 Nov 2011 18:38 - 19 Nov 2011 18:39 #6 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re: Should I remove Carbon Sponge ?
Lucky you, a nice pressie. I'm glad I didn't offend.

Eheim are bullet proof, at least I think so.

I have this , www.eheim.de/eheim/inhalte/index.jsp?key...iendetail_32319_ehen a fab Filter, so silent I have to check to see if it's running !!

I like to keep various elements separate, the Heater, if it fails, will need replacing etc, I like to keep things simple.

Kev.
Last edit: 19 Nov 2011 18:39 by stretnik (stretnik).

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19 Nov 2011 18:46 #7 by paulfluke (Paul)
Keeping the heater separate makes sense alright .. and the eheim pro 3 looks to be the job and not a total bank breaker either. cheers

..an don't worry about offending..I'm pretty new to all this and all help is very appreciated.

Paul.

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