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

Cycling

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Joe Clarke (Joe Clarke)
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25 Jan 2012 08:39 #1 by Joe Clarke (Joe Clarke)

Cycling was created by Joe Clarke (Joe Clarke)

I've recently gotten a 150 lt tank and its been cycling for a week, I havent tested its paramaters yet but I'm curious. The 150 lt tank is taking over from my 90 lt. The 90 lt is already sold and will be going very soon. I am keeping the bog wood, gravel and plants from the old and putting into the new. I was wondering, by transfering all (including the water) from my established tank into the new tank (new external filter) will it speed up the cycle?

The person that bought the old tank is going away for 2 week holiday starting this week end, they are keen to set up the tank and start their own cold water cycle in the tank before they go.

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25 Jan 2012 10:01 #2 by igmillichip (ian millichip)

Replied by igmillichip (ian millichip) on topic Re: Cycling

If your old ornaments, bog-wood and plants are not killed by being placed in new water, then they will add something to the maturity of the tank.

However, they are unliklely to hold enough of the aerobic bacteria to seed a speedy 'cycling' (I hate that term) of the ammonia to nitrite to nitrate process. ie it would be unsafe to rely upon them as seeding the bacterial colony (although they may contribute a little).

ian

Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.

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christyg (Chris Geraghty)
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25 Jan 2012 10:17 #3 by christyg (Chris Geraghty)

Replied by christyg (Chris Geraghty) on topic Re: Cycling

If you put the media from the old filter (assuming it's still running) into the new filter, that should give you a good start

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BillG (Bill Gray)
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25 Jan 2012 10:24 - 25 Jan 2012 10:25 #4 by BillG (Bill Gray)

Replied by BillG (Bill Gray) on topic Re: Cycling

+1 on Ian's comments.

There will not be a significant level of bacteria in the actual tank water in your 90l set-up, so you are not really gaining anything by transferring the water, most of the bacteria will be in the filter and substrate with lesser amounts on the wood, plants and other ornaments. Its tedious but if you siphon the substrate from your 90l tank and add it to your 150L tank, then quickly add de-chlorinated water at the approximately the same temperature as your 90L tank, you should not kill off the bacteria in the substrate. Get your new filter up and running as quickly as possible and add filter squeezings from your existing mature filter, this will help in speeding up the cycle as it will get a large amount of bacteria into the filter media. If possible, place some or all of your existing media in the new filter too. Don’t add the fish to the new set-up for a few days but do add a small amount of fish food, this will rapidly breakdown in the tank and help feed the bacteria in your filter. Test the water parameters on a daily basis and keep a close eye on the Ammonia levels. If you have time to do it, add your fish a few at a time over the course of a few days.

Last edit: 25 Jan 2012 10:25 by BillG (Bill Gray). Reason: fixing a mistake

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Joe Clarke (Joe Clarke)
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25 Jan 2012 19:17 #5 by Joe Clarke (Joe Clarke)

Replied by Joe Clarke (Joe Clarke) on topic Re: Cycling

I've both tanks at the same temperature. I'll be transferring the substrate, water, plants, wood and rocks from the 90 lt established tank and I'll also be transferring the water from a 38 lt fry tank. The filter from the fry tank will be cut up and put into the center of the canister filter. I could also cut up the filter from the 90 lt tank and put that into the canister too. The 90 lt will be getting a new filter and going through a full cycle anyway. It means that 2 established filters will be put in along with 128 lts of water that's in current use. It means that only 20 lt will be fresh water, similar to what a good water change would be. Would this be enough to get it up and running quickly?

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25 Jan 2012 20:53 #6 by igmillichip (ian millichip)

Replied by igmillichip (ian millichip) on topic Re: Cycling

Predicting, from a remote computer, what will work effectively or not is not always easy.....in some cases we could instantly know what won't work.

What important is to note whereabouts various biological processes take place, that will give a hint.

Nitrosofication (the process of converting ammonia to nitrite) will occur within the water column and within the filters (if there is aeration). The amount of these bacteria within the water itself depends on a number of circumstances within the water (ie not easy to predict without other data).

However, the process of nitrification (nitrites to nitrates) will only really occur on a stationary surface (ie filter).
There will very few (effectively none of much use) of the bacteria involved in the process within the water itself.
The bacteria involved with this process are quite easily killed by changes, and are slow growing (much more slower than the bacteria involved with converting ammonia to nitrite).

Your old water, filters and bogwood will also have other microbes in them that are important to seeding a start of tank maturation.

So....it is impossible to give a straight direct 100% answer, but the above should give an indication of what you are up against and what to expect.

I would, however, treat the tank as if it were a newly set-up tank (ie, test water, take care with feeding, and increase water changes somewhat for the initial set-up period).

Ian

Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.

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Joe Clarke (Joe Clarke)
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25 Jan 2012 22:43 #7 by Joe Clarke (Joe Clarke)

Replied by Joe Clarke (Joe Clarke) on topic Re: Cycling

Cheers Ian. That's a good bit of help. Unfortunately because the 90 lt is sold and the person is looking for it. I'm trying to do my best to get my new tank ready as quick as possible. With feeding control, water changes, close monitoring and your advice I will try my best to get through the transition in one piece. Any more advice is more than welcome and I'll keep you updated

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Joe Clarke (Joe Clarke)
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05 Feb 2012 15:17 - 05 Feb 2012 15:21 #8 by Joe Clarke (Joe Clarke)

Replied by Joe Clarke (Joe Clarke) on topic Re: Cycling

Delighted to report. The tank is flourishing. Plants weren't doing so well with the change over. They all nearly died off but all have started regrowth and there are even new buds starting. The water parameters are nearly back to normal. Ammonia is a little high but gradually dropping. I had 3 casualties during the last 2 weeks. An old female betta which was coming close to her end of days anyway, a baby neon which was probably just too young to move and a ghost catfish which can be difficult to keep, they are very susceptible to water changes in heat or parameters. I've a second one that seems to be doing fine though. The transfer went better than expected and the only casualties were already in a weakened state. I also had an escapee of one amano shrimp but that escape route has since been closed.

PS Tried adding pictures but doing it on my phone won't let me for some reason

Last edit: 05 Feb 2012 15:21 by Joe Clarke (Joe Clarke). Reason: Added ps

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