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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

carbonate hardness

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29 Jan 2008 15:50 #1 by suckers (matt lait)
hi.
ive just tested my tank (twice weekly) and the carbonate hardness has gone up to 15deg with a ph of 7.2. im filtering thru peatplus and have bog wood in the tank(3 pieces about 1ft each in length). apart from investing in a R.O any ideas on how to lower these readings (btw the tap water is very hard here :angry: kettle scales up in less than a mth)
matt

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29 Jan 2008 18:16 #2 by KenS (Ken Simpson)
It's GH (general hardness) that would cause scaling. What type of fish are you keeping? It may not be necessary to adjust it.

Regards,

Ken.

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29 Jan 2008 23:27 #3 by suckers (matt lait)
KenS wrote:

It's GH (general hardness) that would cause scaling. What type of fish are you keeping? It may not be necessary to adjust it.


i have in this tank
Guppys x2(Poecilia Reticulata)
zebra loach,x2 (Botia striata)
Black Tetra,x3 Black Skirt (Gymnocorymbus ternetzi)
Neon tetras x5(Paracheirodon innesi)
Copper tetras x3(Hasemania marginata)
Peppered Cory x8(C. paleatus)
Common or maybe sailfin Pleco(one and he is enuf) (8 inch at the moment) (Glyptoperichthys gibbiceps)
Bristle nose Pleco x1(Ancistrus spp.)

(ps i hope the latin names are correct!)
all of the fish are in good condition , none are gasping for air (if thats the right expression)
im running an aquapro1 external filter and a vita tech internal filter (branded eheim inside)
tank is planted with 8 different varieties with 2 a being broad leafed kind.
hope this helps answering my delema.
(lfs said i could get R.O water from them till i get things sorted(but i dont know if R.O is the only answer)

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30 Jan 2008 00:37 #4 by KenS (Ken Simpson)
RO, would soften the water. There is also a filter medium from API call the Water Softner Pillow. You just put it in your filter and it softens the water without impacting pH or KH. However, it needs to be recharged in aquarium salt after every water change which means opening up your filter regularly.

Most of the fish you list, would prefer softer water. However, if they seem ok, then I wouldn't worry too much. Your pH is spot on which is more important. Most of the water parameters that are listed for fish refer to their natural habitat in the wild. However, most of the fish in the hobby are tank bred so are able to adapt to differing water conditions.

You also say that the hardness has increased in the tank. This could be due to the heavy rainfall we've been having recently which has played havoc with water parameters in several parts of the country.

Yes, you could use RO, but it's a lot of hassle and expensive in the long run. You shouldn't really need it for a community tank unless your water parameters are off the scale.

Regards,

Ken.

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30 Jan 2008 01:29 #5 by suckers (matt lait)
thanks for that info. i might just get some R.O for the week in away then see what happens
thanks again

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