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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

new tank

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16 Oct 2009 22:57 #1 by funkychic (trish coughlan)
i finally got my new marine tank . river-reef 94lt
its set up about a week now . but the clean up gang in yesterday .
every thing is alright at moment .
just have to be patience looking forward to put fish in .
anyone an advice .

plus a big thanks to all at seahorse for there help

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16 Oct 2009 23:13 - 16 Oct 2009 23:20 #2 by irishfirepics (Dennis Prior)
i got the exact same one, great tank, im new to marines myself but the best advice i can give is to let it fully cycle. i only put my first fish in yesterday. i got 2 clowns (swapped the damsel for a clown and paid the difference) and a cleaner shrimp. it took exactly 5 weeks for my tank to fully cycle, it took alot of restraint not to buy anything but im glad i waited and my fish seem to be doing great. do not use the filter media that came with it as it breeds nitrates use live rock rubble in the compartments i got mine in sea horse the lads gave me some rubble at a good price coz i got the tank off of them. i have mine setup as follows

compartment 1: heater
compartment 2: 1 kg LR rubble
compartment 3: 1 kg LR rubble and activated carbon
compartment 4: 2 power head pumps (direct one of the heads to the surface to create surface aggiation and help gas exchange theother is blowing over the LR)

also have about 7kg or 8kg of LR in the tank

oh and the little mistake i made during cycle was leavin the lights on, algae went mad but after i turned them off it went away.
Last edit: 16 Oct 2009 23:20 by irishfirepics (Dennis Prior).

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16 Oct 2009 23:28 #3 by reefpaddy (paddy kelly)
Replied by reefpaddy (paddy kelly) on topic Re:new tank
best of luck trish, the advice just given about removing the media is spot on. glad to hear there is another salty on board

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18 Oct 2009 02:04 #4 by platty252 (Darren Dalton)
Congratulations Trish on the new tank.
I have to say i am surprised they sold you a clean up crew a week after the tank was set up. Maybe they gave you some established media for the filter or some live sand from an established tank? How is you tank cycled so quickly?

I think the best advise is to Wait until the tank is fully cycled. If you have live rock in the tank you can sit back and enjoy the critters, corals, sponges or algae (good algae) that start to appear before you introduce any livestock.
You can expect a diatom algae bloom around the 6-8 week mark. This is normal and it is a good idea to introduce the clean up crew when this appears. Don't worry the diatom bloom will pass.
With such a small volume of water you will need to top up the water almost dayle to keep the salinity stable. You can just use tap water. Only the water evaporates and not the salt so no need to add salt water dayle. You also need to keep the temp. stable.
IMO patients is the key to a successful start.

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18 Oct 2009 05:40 #5 by Ian (Anthony Ramirez)
Replied by Ian (Anthony Ramirez) on topic Re:new tank
Congrats trish looking forward to your first picture here

Fishkeeping CV: Co-founded, 1st President of the only surviving Fishkeeping Club (Accredited by Dept. of Fisheries) in the Philippines (mypalhs.com). I have mostly reared tropicals - Arowanas and monster fishes. My oldest arowana is 13years old (died in a tropical storm). Ive since reared a Black,...

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18 Oct 2009 06:50 #6 by giunceris (gintaras barbsys)
hi,i can advice to use bio digest bacteries!to remove algae from tank you can use AQUAKAT tank cleaner very good stuff!

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18 Oct 2009 21:09 #7 by funkychic (trish coughlan)
hi all thanks for sound advice . i just came in and the sand is all brown like alge i did a 10 percent change and the ammonia is 0.5 nitrite is 0 nitrate 0.25 . plus one of my hermit crabs is dead . . can i clean out the sand it been live ??????

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18 Oct 2009 21:20 #8 by irishfirepics (Dennis Prior)
no dont clean the sand this is the diatom algae bloom, i got the same thing, its a good sign. just leave the lights off and it will go away in a week or so. you will need to get rid of the orignal filter media asap if not done already ie: sponge pad, ceramic pellets and bio balls they breed nitrates. you will get your ammonia spike soon after your diatom algae bloom and a few weeks later your tank will be cycled. just relax and let nature take it's course. it's so hard but will save you so much hassle in the future.

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18 Oct 2009 21:46 #9 by funkychic (trish coughlan)
thanks i was just reading about diaom bloom . what about the carbon ? i have new white fliters in >

hows your tank ?????

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18 Oct 2009 21:48 #10 by funkychic (trish coughlan)
when do i put bio etc back in ????

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19 Oct 2009 06:47 #11 by irishfirepics (Dennis Prior)
Hi

you dont use the filter pads, bio balls etc... at all. just get 2kg of live rock rubble and put it in the 2 back compartments. i use a filter bag with carbon in it in one of the compartments(helps clear up the water, you can get it from your lfs)

my tank is doing great, i have 2 clowns in it and a cleaner shrimp. i'm looking to get one more cleaner shrimp and one more fish(not sure whick one yet)

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20 Oct 2009 20:39 #12 by funkychic (trish coughlan)
hi n i was in seahorse today , i took filter sponges carbon out i put live rock in compartments . how long did u wait before you put fish in ? . what about a goby or

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20 Oct 2009 20:46 #13 by giunceris (gintaras barbsys)
before you put fish in tank you should wait at least 4 weeks than test your water and if water parametrs are ok just then you can put fish into tank!

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20 Oct 2009 21:17 - 20 Oct 2009 21:23 #14 by edser123 (edser123)
Replied by edser123 (edser123) on topic Re:new tank
Platty be careful using tap water as this normally feeds red algea depending on the water params,i would go down the ro route and remin with the ro water.I had a 100 gall tank and ran it on 100 kilos of live rock and circulation pumps it worked very well i will see if i can find a photo cheers ed.
Last edit: 20 Oct 2009 21:23 by edser123 (edser123).

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20 Oct 2009 21:22 #15 by edser123 (edser123)
Replied by edser123 (edser123) on topic Re:new tank

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21 Oct 2009 11:10 #16 by irishfirepics (Dennis Prior)
I waited 5 weeks before i put my fish in.

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