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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

Water constituent affecting Cichlid behaviour

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24 Sep 2011 13:54 - 24 Sep 2011 14:01 #1 by roscelt (Paul Egan)
Hi All, I would sincerely appreciate your advice regarding my suspicions about my general water quality.

The background to my question is as follows:
  • I started my tank on Organic Aqua and ran it successfully this way for approx 9 months
  • I bit the bullet approx 2 months ago and came off OA in an effort to develop a cycled tank
  • I pulled out the Juwel internal filter from the beginning and employed an external JBL e1500 filter on a 350 litre Juwel Trigon tanked stocked with mainly Malawi cichlids
  • I have changed approx 20% of the water approximately every 2 weeks
  • However I notice that my fish on regular occasions shimmy along the coral substrate in an obvious effort to scratch. They have been doing this since the beginning of the tank setup but I've never seen evidence of a disease, so the theory was that it could be ammonia or waste in the water
  • Following on from recent posts about what is a truly cycled tank, I'm thinking that it may actually take several more months before my tank is fully cycled
  • In an effort to diagnose the potential issue I've periodically placed segments of polyfilter in the tank. After 1 day they polyfilter is coloured orange and after 1 week it goes dark brown. This tells me that I've got organic waste i.e. ammonia. Right?
  • What would you recommend for improving the water quality in my tank? Would it be weekly water changes?
  • I typically fill a 240 litre bin with approx 100 litres of water and run a powerhead in it overnight along with JBL water conditioner. Should I use different water conditioner and/or some kind of a bacterial fluid to help with waste processing?
  • I've not tested the water since coming off the Organic Aqua as I don't know how long it takes for the tests to work properly again.
  • In addition my tank water seems to have fine particulate matter suspended when I compare it to the crystal clear tanks of a more experienced keeper. Do I add another mechanical filter internally?
  • In general the fish are in good health and eating well.

Your advice and ideas much appreciated.

Paul
aka roscelt
Last edit: 24 Sep 2011 14:01 by roscelt (Paul Egan). Reason: adding signature

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24 Sep 2011 14:37 #2 by smitas5 (Marius Smitas)
Hi there,
I would test your water first and start from there
Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
Ph
Temp

there are more parameters, but these would be good to know.

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24 Sep 2011 18:08 #3 by igmillichip (ian millichip)
I should get back and see if I can help out with a short answer......but I don't believe a short answer in water chemistry is really much use.

I'll be back....just doing some organising for an H.S.I. mid october.

ian

Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.

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24 Sep 2011 18:12 #4 by KenS (Ken Simpson)
How often are the fish shimmying off the substrate? It's pretty normal for Malawis, but not if they do it continuously.

The polyfilter going dark brown is normal. Polyfilter will take the ammonia out of the tank so there will be none to mature the filter. Be careful removing polyfilter from a non-mature tank as it can trigger a cycle.

I have seen health problems with fish that were kept in OA and then moved ot a cycled tank. In some cases, they have succumb to disease, but if you're not seeing any disease, I wouldn't worry.

Regards,

Ken.

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24 Sep 2011 22:24 - 24 Sep 2011 22:37 #5 by roscelt (Paul Egan)
Tx Lads,

I'll try water tests tomorrow & post results but will OA remnants mess up readings?

They seem to shimmy in inconsistently & in pulses which indicates to me possible waste spikes. Latest episode was approx 4 days after last water change. But it's the sometimes urgent manner of the shimmying on coral sand & sometimes against the rock with front flanks & head that causes me concern.

Having said all the above my sprengerae bred 6 months ago, my brichardi bred approx 3 months ago & approx 20 fry left of original brood & right now my Pseudotropheus Acei mouth brooding. Would that be possible without ideal water conditions?

By way of further bacground I've never had to medicate to date.
Last edit: 24 Sep 2011 22:37 by roscelt (Paul Egan). Reason: Update species that bred okay

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25 Sep 2011 15:15 #6 by derek (Derek Doyle)
i dont think theres much wrong with your water paul. just add an internal power filter to take out dusty particles and you should be fine. you are being over fussy i think :)

30 tanks specialise in african cichlids, angelfish and various catfish

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25 Sep 2011 18:09 #7 by roscelt (Paul Egan)
Cheers Derek,

"being over fussy" - its possible alright. It was the recent spate of shimmying/scratching soon after a water change that had me concerned. Naturally I want to rule out any negatives. Maybe the suspended particles are irritating them an internal filter may do the trick as you suggest.

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