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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

bio home filter media

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17 Dec 2015 22:36 #1 by robert (robert carter)
Hi ,just wondering if anyone has used this and what they think , I have been using bio home ultra in my koi filter for the last 3 years and certainly in a over stocked koi pond has proved brilliant . I have put it into my aqua one cf 1200 on my tropical tank which again is overstocked with amazing results . Not cheap though 3 kg cost 90 euro and that was needed just for the external tank filter . But I reckon you get what you pay for. Is anyone else using this media ?

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21 Dec 2015 13:50 #2 by robert (robert carter)
amazed that no replies to this, has anyone even heard of this media?,comes from the Pond Guru ebay site formally tyne valley aquatics

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21 Dec 2015 23:54 #3 by Jim (Jim Lawlor)
I don't know anyone personally who has used it - probably like yourself I have read loads of reviews.

I know a few people around Dublin must have used it because I have seen small quantities for sale on donedeal. I'm about to order a load of it as I have about 2,000 litres of tanks with externals or sumps. I'll let you know how it works out, although it apparently takes months for the anaerobic effect to start

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22 Dec 2015 07:53 #4 by robert (robert carter)
Yes you are right about 6 months before nitrates start to fall . In my koi pond they run at about 10 ppm, bearing in mind it's very much overstocked and has no plants in it . My 350 litre tank filter has only had it in it 3 months again overstocked ,just can't stay away from fish shops, ammonia nil, nitrite zero and nitrate 15 ppm in a planted community tank . 20 kg of it in the pond filter last three years and 3kg in the external tank filter , at about 30 euro per kilo so not cheap but an amazing media ,that will never have to be replaced

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22 Dec 2015 14:23 #5 by Jim (Jim Lawlor)
Good to hear someone else's experience of it. Does it really take 6 months to deal with nitrate ? It says 2-3 months on the tin...

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22 Dec 2015 15:09 #6 by robert (robert carter)
yes I found it took about 6 months in the pond ,but maybe that is due to outdoor temperatures , don't want the tank to go too low as its planted and the plants like a bit of nitrates . the pond guru on u tube has a few videos about it ,but bear in mind it his product . how much did you pay for it and where did you get it ? robert

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23 Dec 2015 15:10 #7 by Jim (Jim Lawlor)
got it on filterpro.co.uk - about stgĀ£8 per kilo

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23 Dec 2015 22:37 #8 by robert (robert carter)
That's a great price

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23 Dec 2015 23:00 #9 by nomad (pat murphy)
Was wondering if I used the product in an external pond filterbox what is the procedure when shutting the filterbox down for the winter,do you give it a good washing and then dry so its ok to use in the spring,cheers

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24 Dec 2015 02:49 #10 by robert (robert carter)
My pond is filtered by a three box system the bio home media being in the last box I run my filters all year round 365 days a year. Including the 35 watt uv Don't think it is a good thing to shut the system down, my koi produce some waste even during the winter ,and at present the pond temp is 9.2 degrees .
Your better off letting things run . That way some bacteria will stay in the media and then naturally increase as temperatures rise and the fish load increases.

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24 Dec 2015 19:35 #11 by nomad (pat murphy)
Thanks for the info Robert,what do you do regarding feeding when the water temp drops too low and what temp do you stop feeding them.Im feeding mine a couple of times only with wheatgerm sticks and stop feeding altogether when its down to around 5 degrees,ive no koi only sarasa comets and goldies,,,

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24 Dec 2015 20:10 #12 by robert (robert carter)
I stop feeding at about 8 degrees this seems to be the temp when my koi don't seem interested in food even wheatgerm . I do however heat my pond to 7 degrees just to keep the koi moving around a bit , they tend to get ulsers or scores if just lying on the bottom of the pond for a long time

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24 Dec 2015 21:03 #13 by nomad (pat murphy)
Great stuff,thanks Robert I bought the last half kilo of a guy on adverts.ie for my external filter for the aquarium but I need about another kilo plus I,d say.I must look into it further regarding using it in the pond filter as there very good prices on the filterpro website, What would you recommend would be the best of their biohome products for the blagdon minipond filter and a jbl crystal profi1500e ex filter,cheers..

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24 Dec 2015 21:26 #14 by LemonJelly (Johnny Cowley)
I've heard good things about it but I've never used it. I used chunks of lava rock in my filters instead to try and get the same results.

"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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24 Dec 2015 21:35 #15 by nomad (pat murphy)
How did the lava rock it fair out regarding nitrate etc ..

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24 Dec 2015 22:03 #16 by robert (robert carter)
Hi nomad ,to me the best is bio home ultra , I took all the media except sponges out of the aqua one cf12 00 that came with my tank and replaced with 3 kg of bio home ultra . Hoping that santa going to leave me a crystal profile 1500e under the tree this xmas so will see what media is in this. Might run it as mercanical filtration and keep the cf12 00 as biological ,like to have two external just incase I get a breakdown . Same way as I have a spare pump for the koi pond if needed . Enjoy the Christmas

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24 Dec 2015 22:07 #17 by robert (robert carter)
Hi , I have tried lava rock a long time ago ,and didn't get anyway as good levels with it that I get with the bio home for the last 4 years . Again I say both pond and tank are overstocked .

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25 Dec 2015 19:50 #18 by nomad (pat murphy)
Sounds like I,ll be looking into using the biohome ulta so,thanks for your advice Robert,cheers...

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29 Dec 2015 20:51 - 29 Dec 2015 20:52 #19 by Jim (Jim Lawlor)


20kg biohome ultra & 10kgs of mini arrived today. I'm going to put them in every external & sump I have - we'll soon see how good it is !
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Last edit: 29 Dec 2015 20:52 by Jim (Jim Lawlor).

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29 Dec 2015 20:55 #20 by robert (robert carter)
great where did you get it , will be interesting to see what results you get

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29 Dec 2015 22:05 - 29 Dec 2015 22:14 #21 by Jim (Jim Lawlor)
original order from filterpro.co.uk - just arrived.

had to resort to spreadsheet to figure out how to distribute it . . .


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Last edit: 29 Dec 2015 22:14 by Jim (Jim Lawlor).

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29 Dec 2015 22:26 #22 by robert (robert carter)
if its any help , I have 3kg in by aqua one cf1200 on a 350 community tank ,in the pond I keep adding a bit now and again reckon about 15 kg in the third bay of the filter pond size approx. 1000 gals pumping 8000 litres an hour through the fllter

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29 Dec 2015 23:07 #23 by Jim (Jim Lawlor)
thanks - I have it all worked out - 1kg per 100l for most tanks - 1.5 per 100l for cichlids tanks (tangs & mbuna).

Will have to wait til the OH is out to get hold of the kitchen scales!

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08 Jan 2016 17:21 #24 by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne)
The biogravel is 15 sterlings per kg.
Any idea how many litres of media is 1 kg.
I m using some biocerapond and crushed lava rock over an undergravel filter at the minute.

Thanks

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08 Jan 2016 17:53 #25 by robert (robert carter)
Hi , I haven't heard of bio gravel ,all I can tell you is that with biohome ultra media 1 kg is about a litre , Jim in the previous post has worked out quantity per 100 litres

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08 Jan 2016 20:12 #26 by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne)
Thanks Robert :)
I will stick to the biocerapond and lava rock, both are 2 euros / litre.

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08 Jan 2016 23:37 #27 by nomad (pat murphy)

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09 Jan 2016 02:02 #28 by robert (robert carter)
Checked the link out seams this stuff has the same sort of properties as the biohome ultra I use but much much cheaper . Reckon it would be brilliant used with an undergravel filter or in a koi trickle tower filter . I certainly find the biohome ultra brilliant in both my pond and trop tank . One day ,if I can get planning permission from the good lady would love to get back into a big cold water at least 250 litre to grow some small koi on and reckon that the bio gravel would be brilliant as a cold water media . One point do find it takes that bit longer to get going in cold water but reckon that's expected

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10 Jan 2016 20:31 - 10 Jan 2016 20:32 #29 by Jim (Jim Lawlor)
here's the first 4.5 kg of biohome gone into the sump on my 300l malawi tank.



starting to add it to all other externals as I can get to them - also changing the sequence of media as per Pondguru - to put all mechanical including floss before the biological and then filling last 2 baskets with biohome.
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Last edit: 10 Jan 2016 20:32 by Jim (Jim Lawlor).

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10 Jan 2016 21:11 #30 by robert (robert carter)
looking good Jim , I pimped my aqua one cf1200 as per the pond gurus you tube video when setting it up for the tropical 350, result are great ,sorry but I just rave about this media ,

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