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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

one way of setting up a marine tank

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01 Nov 2007 14:01 #31 by lampeye (lampeye)
easy tiger! can you get a pic of them?

lampeye

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01 Nov 2007 14:37 #32 by Zulu (Vinny Keane)
dunno - it'll be very hard as they are small and transparent.
I'll see what I can do tonight. (...and I'll hold off on killing them just yet)

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01 Nov 2007 16:16 #33 by Anthony (Anthony)
Replied by Anthony (Anthony) on topic Re:one way of setting up a marine tank
They could be Feather dusters.
I have them growing in my tank. Touch them and see if they retract.
What test kit are you using.

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01 Nov 2007 17:24 - 01 Nov 2007 17:24 #34 by lampeye (lampeye)
do they look like any of these?




lampeye
Last edit: 01 Nov 2007 17:24 by lampeye (lampeye).

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01 Nov 2007 17:37 #35 by Zulu (Vinny Keane)
exactly like the top one!

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01 Nov 2007 17:51 - 01 Nov 2007 18:17 #36 by lampeye (lampeye)
nothing to worry about...thats a tube worm of some sort.
the bottom pic is a nstie though!

lampeye
Last edit: 01 Nov 2007 18:17 by lampeye (lampeye).

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02 Nov 2007 10:08 #37 by Zulu (Vinny Keane)
tried to take a photo but my fangled camera won't focus unfortunately. It's deffo more like the top pic. And, yes, it retracts into itself when I move my hand near it.

I'm really confused about the snails though, would it be possible that I just had too many in there?

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31 Jan 2008 13:12 #38 by phildevan2 (jimmy martin)
what is the prefered sand bed depth in a LRFO tank ,if its a matter of choice which is the easiest for a begginer.

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31 Jan 2008 22:35 #39 by lampeye (lampeye)
it depends if you want a deep sand bed to remove nitrates or a just something to look nice.
id recommend a 2 inch argonite sand. get something to slowly stir the sand like cerith snails or a sand sifting goby and you wont even have to touch it.

lampeye

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01 Feb 2008 08:58 #40 by phildevan2 (jimmy martin)
thanks ,i guess i was trying to get the best of both, but for looks i settled on the 2 inch base
i'll try the snails and goby

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01 Feb 2008 10:16 #41 by lampeye (lampeye)
if you are using live rock/sand for filtration dont get the goby, they eat all the good stuff in the live sand .

lampeye

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01 Feb 2008 11:32 #42 by phildevan2 (jimmy martin)
yep i was planning on that so i'll forget about the goby,again tks..

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05 Feb 2008 23:17 #43 by phildevan2 (jimmy martin)
i've live rock cycling in tank ,it went straight in ,and i've just noticed gerard evans article (curing live rock)
but there's what appears to be seaweed on the rock and forgot too ask the guys in fish shop about it ,is this ok or does it need to be removed

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06 Feb 2008 01:17 #44 by lampeye (lampeye)
no just leave it be. its probably nearly cured in the shop anyway. leave the lights off while its cycling. have you tested for ammonia , nitrite and nitrate?

lampeye

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06 Feb 2008 07:07 #45 by phildevan2 (jimmy martin)
ya, i've tested these and still trying to get my head around some readings ,tank set up for 6 days ,

pH 8.1 (increaded from 7.6)
ammonia 0mg/l (1.0mg/l max during cycle)
nitrite 0mg/l (0.5 mg/l max)
nitrate 10mg/l

carbonate 520mg/l
carbonate hardness 22 0KH
do these 2 have to come down before the next step?


i have an instant ocean hydrometer and i could pick any number it never gives the same reading twice.
i have access to a lab conductivity meter going to see if i can correlate the readings.

i'm aiming for soft corals with a few fish.

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06 Feb 2008 09:46 - 06 Feb 2008 09:47 #46 by Seany (Sean Phelan)
Phil,

The secret with the Hydrometer is to take 3 readings, ensuring no bubbles are attached to the indicator and take an average of the three. Alternatively you can buy a refractometer which take a little getting used to.

Carbonate Hardness 22 degrees KH !! Seems pretty high. Are you sure thats right?

Seany
Last edit: 06 Feb 2008 09:47 by Seany (Sean Phelan).

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06 Feb 2008 10:27 #47 by lampeye (lampeye)
hi phil,
seany is correct about the bubbles. use a chopstick or similar to tap the arm and make sure no bubbles are present. also rinse it with freshwater after each use.
you say your ph was 7.6? this is unusual as if you have the correct amount of salt it automatically sets the ph at 8-8.2. what did u increase it with?
also kh should be between 8-12dkh. what test kit are you using. either you did it wrong or your salinity is way to high or its too low and you byffered the ph/kh too much with some product?
dont add anything until you have these levels right.

lampeye

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06 Feb 2008 21:40 #48 by phildevan2 (jimmy martin)
tks for the tips ,i need to try a few

the hydrometer(or maybe me) seems to be settling ~ 1.021
the conductivity meter i spoke of had readings of
46.1mc/cm and it performs a conversion to give 29.8ppt sal.

its well water(7.1pH) i've used,(good auld midlands \"durrow\" water seany)
starting at 7.4 ph (saltwater mix)
these figures are absolutely correct verified with a couple of lab meters.
pH has settled at 8.0 and i haven't added anything

i'm thinking an increase in salinity will put the pH were it should be

the test kits are api reef master kits,
i've been reading about hard water and buffering etc.. is this what is happening .

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06 Feb 2008 22:40 #49 by lampeye (lampeye)
bring your salinity up to 1024. your ph is already fine. mine is always between 8-8.2. did you test the kh?
you wont need to add anything to your water as the salt mix will buffer it. if your kh is fine it will prob stay that way for a while (maybe months).
bring the salinity up and test the kh .
test your well water for nitrates to be safe.
lets us know!

lampeye

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06 Feb 2008 23:01 #50 by phildevan2 (jimmy martin)
hi lampeye
i'll do those changes,

but if the kh and calcuim stay at these levels
carbonate 520mg/l
carbonate hardness 22 KH

is that ok|

p.s the kids are finding all sorts of worm like things etc..great craic

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06 Feb 2008 23:10 #51 by lampeye (lampeye)
short answer no, well kh should be between 8-12.dkh. i dont really know what would happen if your kh was 22dkh....i suspect the kh reading is incorrect. check it again, reading the test kit instructions carefully.
if you are adding a clean up crew you should really leave the lights off until you add them so the unwanted micro algae doesnt take hold.

lampeye

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21 Feb 2008 23:42 #52 by phildevan2 (jimmy martin)
lampeye wrote:

if you are using live rock/sand for filtration dont get the goby, they eat all the good stuff in the live sand .

would the same be true for sand sifting starfish

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22 Feb 2008 09:55 #53 by lampeye (lampeye)
i believe so

lampeye

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