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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

Filter flow slower

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19 Feb 2014 11:06 #1 by Jasonb (Jason Browne)
Hi there,

I have a sneaking suspicion that the flow in my filter has slowed down. I'm basing this on the water flow from the output pipe not looking as strong, not sounding as loud (I normally have a slight 'splashing' sound coming from the tank) and the current in the tank not looking as strong.

I'm thinking I'll just do a bit of a clean of the filter/pipes. Does that sound like a good plan? I know about cleaning the filter media in tank water, but is it a bad idea to clean all the media at once, should I do it over a few weeks?

Thanks...

J.

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19 Feb 2014 13:35 #2 by newbejkjimk (damien kelly)
Hi jasonb yes it is a good idea to clean the tubes and intake and outflow pipes I am always surprised at the increase in performance after a good clean out. If I were you I would also give the filter media a light cleaning also I’d say you would be safe enough providing that your tank is a mature
jim

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19 Feb 2014 14:18 #3 by hammie (Neil Hammerton)
I have experienced this once or twice with my api nexx, however none of my other filters ever have done the same....
Use a length of string attached to a cloth or baby bottle cleaner and pull it thru the filter tubes.
that will pull out any buildup out and help greatly

clean out the media in water taken out of the tank, not in tap water

and make sure you clean out your inlet / spray bar as there can be alot of crud builds up in this location

hope that helps


Neil

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23 Feb 2014 21:41 #4 by Jasonb (Jason Browne)
Thanks for your replies...

I cleaned the filter media and filter pipes today and the increase in flow is plain to see, so I'm happy with that!

One quick question, when I cleaned the filter media, the water in the filter has a lot of dirt and sediment in it. Is it ok to empty the filter and get rid of this water, and replace it with clean tap water (after treating the water of course)?

J.

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23 Feb 2014 21:47 #5 by hammie (Neil Hammerton)
I would probably avoid putting tap water directly into the filter (even when dechlorinated) personally and instead use the water already in the tank

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23 Feb 2014 23:04 #6 by davey_c (dave clarke)
How intense of a clean you can do on your filter depends on your tank stock and media, if you have low stock levels you can get away with a better clean but if you have ceramics or bio balls etc in your filter chances are they won't need cleaning as often so if you give the dirty sponges a good clean they will replenish their bacteria colony swiftly... remember though that your tank is also a home to bacteria so although everyone has their own opinions this is just mine... sure frequency of waterchanges can also help your water stability during filter maintenance.
I would empty the filter housing of all the gunk, leaving it there will only mean it'll keep building up but what you won't see is what it does to your water params. Unfortunately I can't explain how it affects so much but have personally fallen for it.
Fill your filter with water from your tank and your laughin, I would always put freshly treated tap water into the tank hoping it gets well diluted before reaching the filter :)

Below tank is for sale

my plywood tank build.

www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php/forum...k-build-diary#137768

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24 Feb 2014 06:49 #7 by paulv (paul vickers)
All the advise above is perfect, one more thing I do is to use filter start up bacteria in a bottle after a good filter sponge cleaning. This will help to avoid any amonia spike in the tank. Dont do a water change untill following week, not to disturb the tank chemistry too much.

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25 Feb 2014 21:45 #8 by Jasonb (Jason Browne)
Once again, thanks for the advice! I tested Ammonia and Nitrites today and they're both still 0ppm so it looks like the tank 'survived' the cleaning of the pipes / filter media.

I'll leave it for a week or two and then replace the water in the filter with tank water.

Thanks again...

J

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25 Feb 2014 22:06 #9 by irish-zx10r (James feenan)
Did you clean the impeller and clean in around the shaft where it sits in the filter ? check to see if the rubbers are ok and the shaft that holds the impeller, if any of these are old they might need to be replaced. With the amount of spinning the impeller does there is lots of wear and tear. A new shaft is small enough money and great to have as a spare. It can make a hugh difference to the flow rate when
in good condition.

James

Something fishie going on here

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