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
How many filters ?
- Mike53 (Michael)
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Correct me if i'm wrong but the rule of thumb i believe is the filter should turn over at least 5 x size of tank per hour.
I have a jbl 1500 on a 330 ltr tank.
Jbl 1500 - 1500litre per h 5x330 = 1650
I have a few big fish that produce a lot of big poops. Do i need another filter ? I'm guessing i do.
Whats everyones opinion on this. I have read about redundant filters ... i.e by having more filters it doesnt neccessarily mean you can have more fish either.
Ive never really had a problem for four years running with one, but this last year few years my fish have grown, hence more waste, more nitrates and i have noticed the jbl needs more cleaning.
The other issue i would have is running two filters means two sets of in and two sets of out pipes, along with heaters, cO2 pipes it would be very tight getting them in the corner allowed within the clearseal tank.
Mike
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- gunnered72 (Eddy Gunnered)
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If you find your Nitrates are high increase your water change volume...
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- LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
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Also, sometimes flow rates and volume turnover are not always the be all and end all. While a higher turnover is probably good for mechanical filtration, there's a good case to be made for slower rates benefiting biological filtration.
"The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won't let go of your life; your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they're not punishing you.They're freeing your soul."
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- irish-zx10r (James feenan)
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here is a video that might help
Something fishie going on here
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- igmillichip (ian millichip)
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Unfortunately, as well, the turn-over rate of a filter tells you very little about its efficiency unless comparing itself to itself.
Having a second filter is an excellent idea as even the best filters can suddenly breakdown, and having a second work-horse working is not going to be a bad thing as there is no personal hate between filters

ian
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- Mike53 (Michael)
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- LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
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"The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won't let go of your life; your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they're not punishing you.They're freeing your soul."
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- igmillichip (ian millichip)
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The second filter doesn't necessarily have to be another external. In fact, there can be distinct advantages to having 2 different types of filter running together.
I agree.
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- Gonefishy (Brian oneill)
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a mix of internal and external also works well...
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- hammie (Neil Hammerton)
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Also with second filter, a breakdown isnt the emergency it could be
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- robert (robert carter)
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