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
Is it just me?......?.....
- Gonefishy (Brian oneill)
-
Topic Author
- Offline
- Premium Member
-
- Posts: 667
- Thank you received: 148
I clean my tank every week and do a 35% water change, siphon the bottom, scrape down the glass on the inside (magnet cleaner, blade if get algae build up), trim a few plants and the usual. Some weeks I'll clean my external in terms of the top coarse filter floss...
Anyway, I set out to do a quick clean but it's never quick! Tonight for example after opening one of my externals the impeller was getting caught and ended up spending 20mins figuring it out....and that's after extracting the external from under my tank which has a shit load of equipment and leads - 2 1501 crystal profis, jbl uv crystalliser, 4 tmc aquagrow led beams, 2 54w t5s, multichannel light controller, full co2 system and all the plugs and leads that go with these....
So, some weeks I end up tugging out some plants by mistake, others it's like tonight, others again I knock the co2 line off the diffuser! Pull out a plug by accident while messing around in the tank cabinet etc...so it never, ever turns out to be the quick clean I set out to do....
Is there something wrong with me or is this commonplace?

Please Log in to join the conversation.
- davey_c (dave clarke)
- Offline
- Elite Member
-
- Posts: 922
- Thank you received: 163

Below tank is for sale
my plywood tank build.
www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php/forum...k-build-diary#137768
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- Gonefishy (Brian oneill)
-
Topic Author
- Offline
- Premium Member
-
- Posts: 667
- Thank you received: 148
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- Homer (Kevin)
-
- Offline
- Elite Member
-
- Posts: 907
- Thank you received: 228
Kev.
The Glass is always greener on the other side.
It's NOT "Chee lick", NOT "Chee Chee Licks"!!! Cichlids is pronounced as "Sick Lids"!!!!!
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- Aroshni (Lydia Olivera)
-
- Offline
- Premium Member
-
- Posts: 520
- Thank you received: 106
Lydia
Lowtech Shrimps nano 30l
www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php/forum...-lowtech-nano-shrimp
Lowtech Vision 180l Community
www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php/forum...-lowtech-vision-180l
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- Ski (Alan McGee)
-
- Offline
- Premium Member
-
- Posts: 581
- Thank you received: 82
Do 75% changes weekly and vacuum gravel and clean externals once a month.
So it's just a big job once a month and the rest is just syphoning the water outside and then replacing from conditioned water in water butts.
Always set a timer filling the water butts up again cos very easy to forget about them. 13 min for a 220 litre water butt

Please Log in to join the conversation.
- hammie (Neil Hammerton)
-
- Offline
- Platinum Member
-
- Posts: 1204
- Thank you received: 184
HELL NO
There is always some kinda drama when doing water changes!!!!
a fish in the face or a cray fish trying to attack me is my latest ones.....
had a JD hit me in the face last week and dropped the syphon hose....... WET FLOOR
Stopped the syphon and dried the floor!!!
put hand in the tank to move bog wood and crayfish was where I put my hand!!!! he attacked in fear (in fairness if i seen a hand the same size as me come for me i might lash out too) and he wouldnt let go of my hand!!! sore enough but was more worried about hurting or injuring the cray fish
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- anglecichlid (ciaran hogan)
-
- Offline
- Elite Member
-
- Posts: 902
- Thank you received: 201
+1When emptying a Bucket of conditioned water into the tank, the F@ck'n Water NEVER goes straight in, it invariably ends up everywhere BUT the Tank. There is always a bit of Water left in my Siphon and it always spills out just as I thought I had it empty. Changing T5 Bulbs , I always put the Bulbs back, then remember I haven't put the caps on first! Removing an internal to clean it, usually one sucker comes off but is still stuck to the Glass and no matter what you do , it slides everywhere but refuses to detach itself and if you do manage to dislodge it, it slips from your fingers and you have to remove the lid to try to retrieve it.
Kev.
Pmsl

Anyone with a aquarium can keep fish,
But it takes real skill to be a fish keeper,
And it's spongeBob,
SpongeBob lives in a pineapple under the sea
BLANCHARDSTOWN
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- Jim (Jim Lawlor)
-
- Offline
- Premium Member
-
- Posts: 506
- Thank you received: 72

Please Log in to join the conversation.
- Gonefishy (Brian oneill)
-
Topic Author
- Offline
- Premium Member
-
- Posts: 667
- Thank you received: 148
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- Jim (Jim Lawlor)
-
- Offline
- Premium Member
-
- Posts: 506
- Thank you received: 72
I wish it was just you - then it wouldn't be me!
Lol
I think you jinxed me - since I posted on this thread I've broken two heaters and a pump. I also managed to get an external filter spraybar to move while I wasn't there (must save been some tension in it when I repositioned it) and spray half the tank out through a tiny hole in the lid

Please Log in to join the conversation.