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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

External filter

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23 Jul 2013 23:12 #1 by irish-zx10r (James feenan)
I have my 180L setup a few days with a external filter running I didn't change the water from the filter
I taught this would help the cycle the filter looked like it wasn't clean in a few months so I just wondering should I clean it in the middle of a cycle
I have done 2 water changes both about 50%
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0.50
Nitrate 10
Ph 8.4

Ph looks high for just coral sand I doing a setup for cichlids

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24 Jul 2013 07:38 - 24 Jul 2013 07:39 #2 by Q_Comets (Declan Chambers)
I would suggest cleaning it before you put fish In the tank just in case you lose some of the bacteria colony during cleaning. I believe from what I have been advised here that if the filter has not been cleaned for a while this is more likely to happen.
Last edit: 24 Jul 2013 07:39 by Q_Comets (Declan Chambers).

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24 Jul 2013 08:02 #3 by irish-zx10r (James feenan)
Is there anything I should no or do with cleaning a external filter .
This will be my first time.

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24 Jul 2013 09:33 #4 by CrustyCrab (Peter Biddulph)
It's simple enought,
Turn off, close taps, remove filter, open.
Rinse the media, sponges as normal
Replace or wash out floss
Empty canister of water. Rinse.
Replace trays of media and foams
Prime if needed, or just open taps
When full, Turn on
There will be some air expelled, a little shake helps get the air out.
Job done

Have a YouTube search, loads of videos on this there.

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24 Jul 2013 10:39 #5 by christyg (Chris Geraghty)
Dont forget to use tank water and not tap water. ;)

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24 Jul 2013 10:54 #6 by paulv (paul vickers)

It's simple enought,
Turn off, close taps, remove filter, open.
Rinse the media, sponges as normal
Replace or wash out floss
Empty canister of water. Rinse.
Replace trays of media and foams
Prime if needed, or just open taps
When full, Turn on
There will be some air expelled, a little shake helps get the air out.
Job done

Have a YouTube search, loads of videos on this there.


just a little addition to crustycrab post, dont forget to remove the shaft and impeller and give both a realy good cleaning as dirt will encrust on them and slow down the flow rate. when your ready to put the filter back on the tank only connect and open the inlet pipe first untill water starts to come out the return pipe outlet on the filter, you may need a small bowel to catch any water spills, close the outlet pipe from the filter and connect and open the return pipe so you wont have any air locks. one thing i always do when i clean out a filter is to use a bottle of bacteria for helping a new filter to cycle, there are lots of good products out there. its not a big job to do, half an hour and your back up running again with a filter running at its full flow.

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24 Jul 2013 11:25 #7 by irish-zx10r (James feenan)
Thanks for the advice I will be doing a water change and I will do the filter at the same time hopefully when I do the next test on the water the results will be near perfect. I need to move some cichlids soon and it be good to have the tank up and running. I have a new cichlid holding and I am not sure which one I just seen baby's in the main tank, any jewel cichlid experts here have a few questions

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25 Jul 2013 11:12 #8 by paulv (paul vickers)
dont expect perfect water over night, it takes a long time for a tank to cycle, atleast one month, some guys on the forum even suggest a year before a tank is fully cycled. if you need instant tank ready to take fish then try the ORGANIC AQUA route. its a totally different system but im using it in a large 1000l tank with a 500l sump and for me its working great.worth thinking about.

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25 Jul 2013 12:55 #9 by irish-zx10r (James feenan)
I only got to clean the filter today and I say by the looks of it the last owner never cleaned it and I am lucky to have any of the fish I got off him to stay alive. Words can't describe on how bad it was. He said it was only three months old. I have cleaned cement mixers easier and it looked like what u see a farmer speeding in a field. Should the bottom be full of sand I took out about 10 big hand full and I don't know how the top even closed .

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26 Jul 2013 19:12 #10 by irish-zx10r (James feenan)
I am thinking about moving 50+ baby cichlids into my 180L tank they are all about a 1 inc long now.
Could I put a tight over the inlet pipe just to be sure none get sucked into it.
Would it be to soon to move them into a big tank by themselves. they are all a really nice colour and it will free up the fry tank. i was going to let my female cichlid rest for a bit in the fry tank she after having over 40 fry in the past few months.

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29 Jul 2013 10:22 #11 by paulv (paul vickers)

I only got to clean the filter today and I say by the looks of it the last owner never cleaned it and I am lucky to have any of the fish I got off him to stay alive. Words can't describe on how bad it was. He said it was only three months old. I have cleaned cement mixers easier and it looked like what u see a farmer speeding in a field. Should the bottom be full of sand I took out about 10 big hand full and I don't know how the top even closed .


the build up of muck in the bottom of your filter can be very helpful to your water as it contains a huge amount of anaerobic bacteria thats vital to breaking down nitrates, so mayb dont totally clean all this out even it may stink and looks like it will kill a whale at 100 paces. im sure some other members here can better explain the chemistry to you.

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