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 test kits

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mossy (gavin blanchfield)
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24 Aug 2010 19:48 #1 by mossy (gavin blanchfield)

water test kits was created by mossy (gavin blanchfield)

just wondering whats your views on water test kits in fishkeeping

how many people have and use them?
price wise good or bad?
are they a necesity or not?
can you keep fish without one?

rgds

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dyco619 (steve carmody)
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24 Aug 2010 20:00 #2 by dyco619 (steve carmody)

Replied by dyco619 (steve carmody) on topic Re:water test kits

to be honest i rarely use them, i have one but would only use it if im setting up a new tank or if i think there might be a problem,

i havent tested my QT tank for about 9 months and never lost a fish in that time either,
i never change my routine regarding water changes etc..
it works for me, maybe other people may not agree...

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Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
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24 Aug 2010 20:16 #3 by Viperbot (Jason Hughes)

Replied by Viperbot (Jason Hughes) on topic Re:water test kits

I have two for kits each for both my fresh and saltwater setups. I keep two so I can be relatively sure of the readings I get. They are pricey, especially the marine ones in the LFS but not so bad if bought online. Definately a requirement for anyone keeping a salty tank in my opinion. Also, anyone starting out in fresh or salt should have one. Its peace of mind knowing whats going on in there ya know. Just my two cents.

Jay

Location: Finglas, North Dublin.

Life
may not be the party we hoped for, but while we
are here we might as well dance.

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Fishowner (Gavin fishowner)
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24 Aug 2010 21:47 #4 by Fishowner (Gavin fishowner)

Replied by Fishowner (Gavin fishowner) on topic Re:water test kits

mossy wrote:

just wondering whats your views on water test kits in fishkeeping

how many people have and use them?
price wise good or bad?
are they a necesity or not?
can you keep fish without one?

rgds

1. Most fishkeepers will have one,be it strips or test tubes.The newbies may not have them,and ironically they are the ones who need it most in the initial set up.

2. Price wise varies,the strips are cheaper but not overly accurate,the test tubes are more expensive but more accurate. Most people start out on the strips. Remember to check the expiry date of the test kits.They can be expensive but they last a while if you aren't always using them.

3.Are they a necessity. Well if you wanna keep your fish alive long term then yes its is a necessity.For example: Vodka looks like water but its not. You can't tell this unless you have a test kit.You have no way of knowing your water parameters without a test kit. Also given that your fish can't tell you of water problems,its the basic requirement in my opinion that you would have one.

4. Same as the above answer really,if you want to keep them long term then you will need one. Similarly if you dont have one starting off, you may well continue to lose fish.

Just my twopence worth really. As for weekly testing,Im a freshwater,and maybe I should test weekly but I can honestly say I dont test my water that often.If I suspect anything might be wrong I will test it immediately. Id be interested in knowing how often the rest of the members on here use the test kit?

Also I used strips for a while and found the results between them and the test tubes very different.
Gavin

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