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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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21 Jan 2008 14:07 #1 by cathaloc2 (cathaloc2)
how do i clean my external filter iv only cleaned me dads external pond filter and never cleaned my external aquarium before.i forget the brand doh :unsure: .
what do i need to clean??how much etc????
and how often.
keep in mind they were houseing malawi's but now im moving to tangs in couple weeks.

o'connor

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21 Jan 2008 14:46 #2 by Dave (Dave Fallon)
Depends on the model.

Turn taps. Turn unit off. Remove taps/pump head. Take base to sink or wherever.

Floss needs to be changed ideally every 2 weeks, This may not always be the case as your obviously going to need to change it more frequently if you keep big or messy fish as opposed to neons.

Carbon if you use it needs to be changed every month, it only has a certain service life and after about 5-6 weeks it can begin to release what it has absorbed.

Sponge can be changed whenever they become heavily clogged. Most units have more than one so you can alternate the changing over several months.

Bio Balls/ceramic rings technicaly dont need to be changed to much however I'd change both at 6 month intervals just to replace the ones that have become clogged and cannot be cleaned.

Most importantly clean the impellor every time you open the unit. Cleaning the blades and the shaft will ensure you get the longest life possible out of it. However I'd even change this every year just to be on the safe side, for the few quid that they are, it'll do no harm.

Regards

Qui Vivra Verra.

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21 Jan 2008 15:24 #3 by cathaloc2 (cathaloc2)
ok cheers
but do i need to clean it fully out or leave some the mess there as cleaning fully
would ruin all bacteria etc

o'connor

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21 Jan 2008 15:59 #4 by Dave (Dave Fallon)
As long as you clean the media in TANK water, damage to beneficial bacteria colonies will be minimised.

Qui Vivra Verra.

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21 Jan 2008 21:22 #5 by cathaloc2 (cathaloc2)
cheers

o'connor

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