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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

PH above 8, should I be worried

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25 Mar 2008 20:37 #1 by dclifford (Derek Clifford)
I have tested the water in both of my tanks and the PH is reading around 8.4~8.5. Should I be worried about this? Historicaly it has always been around 8. I have tested the water with 4 different tests. 2 are aquarium kits, 1 is a digital meter and the other is litmus paper.
I am in maynooth. The tap water is reading about 7.8 straight from the tap.

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25 Mar 2008 21:05 - 25 Mar 2008 21:06 #2 by lampeye (lampeye)
what fish are you keeping?
what kind of substrate do you have?
what kind of rocks?

lampeye
Last edit: 25 Mar 2008 21:06 by lampeye (lampeye).

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25 Mar 2008 21:17 #3 by dclifford (Derek Clifford)
Both tanks have play sand as substrate. variety of plants. No rocks. 1 tank has half coconut shell.
Tank 1: 4 corys, 2 ottos, 2 dwarf gourami and 11 von rio tetra.
Tank 2: pair kribs, 1 otto, 2 corys and 5 guppies.

All other parameters seem fine.

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25 Mar 2008 22:43 #4 by KenS (Ken Simpson)
Your pH is on the high side for your fish. However, a relatively stable pH, high or low, is much better than one that constantly fluctuates.

Going back to Lampeye's question. What type of rocks/substrate do you have in the tank as this can contribute to a high pH.

BTW, your water is perfect for African Cichlids. I was told that a year ago and haven't looked back since:laugh:

Regards,

Ken.

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25 Mar 2008 22:55 #5 by mickeywallace (Michael Wallace Cath Woods)
Could i just ask what recent changes you have made and how often you do water changes and top ups
Mickey

Mickey Wallace & Cath Woods

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26 Mar 2008 03:59 #6 by sheag35 (Seamus Gillespie)
try adding peat to your filter and adding bogwood both will reduce your ph to more acceptable levels for the fish you have

Fishkeeping the Only way to get wet and wild

currently 25 tanks, and breeding is the aim of everything i keep
location:Limerick

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26 Mar 2008 08:20 #7 by dclifford (Derek Clifford)
I have made no recent changes to the set-up. I complete approx 20% water change every week.

I assume that peat would or bogwood would change the colour of the water. How would i know how much peat to use?

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26 Mar 2008 11:23 - 26 Mar 2008 12:44 #8 by KenS (Ken Simpson)
Many of us have experienced changes in pH over the past couple of months probably due to the amount of rain. However, those changes have mainly been down rather than up.

It may only be a temporary rise so maybe best not to try and rectifiy it. It's pretty easy to raise pH, but a lot more difficult to lower it. Adding peat to your filter will help, but it will eventually become less effective and will need to be replaced. You will need to constantly monitor to ensure your pH remains stagle and replace the peat when it starts to rise. You will end up with a fluctuating pH which is worse than one that's stable. Adding bog wood will help, but not significantly in my experience. Soaking bogwood for a few days releases a lot of the tanins which will reduce the water staining effect.

Regards,

Ken.
Last edit: 26 Mar 2008 12:44 by KenS (Ken Simpson).

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