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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

Hi All

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18 Aug 2015 10:32 #1 by CG (K Lynch)
Hi All was created by CG (K Lynch)
Hi All,

I'm new to taking care of fish. I'm currently trying to work out how to cycle a new tank.
It's much more complicated than I envisioned :blink:

I'm K and I'm from Cork.

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18 Aug 2015 10:45 - 18 Aug 2015 15:11 #2 by JohnH (John)
Replied by JohnH (John) on topic Hi All
Welcome K.
If you look in the 'Articles' section there are some articles (now, there's a surprise) which should help you with your present conundrum.

John

ps, if you haven't bought one yet, your 'best friend' from the off is/will be a Water Testing Kit.
Don't be fobbed off with the 'Dip-strip' type of ones though - while being considerably cheaper they really are false economy.

Location:
N. Tipp

We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.


ITFS member.



It's a long way to Tipperary.
Last edit: 18 Aug 2015 15:11 by JohnH (John). Reason: Addition.

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18 Aug 2015 10:47 #3 by SpiderMonkey (Mark O'Neill)
Replied by SpiderMonkey (Mark O'Neill) on topic Hi All
Welcome to the forum K all the info you need is here!

Mark

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18 Aug 2015 11:20 #4 by paulv (paul vickers)
Replied by paulv (paul vickers) on topic Hi All
Welcome to the forum K. Cycling your tank is the most important part of starting up, so read all about it and take your time.

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18 Aug 2015 14:50 #5 by Q_Comets (Declan Chambers)
Replied by Q_Comets (Declan Chambers) on topic Hi All
Welcome along K patience in the beginning saves a great deal of work when the first fish arrive take it from someone who did 20% water changes daily for weeks in a not cycled tank.

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18 Aug 2015 15:12 #6 by alan 64 (alan)
Replied by alan 64 (alan) on topic Hi All
Patience is the key word here unless u know someone with an established tank u can get some filter media off them and that will dramatically decrease the process time

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18 Aug 2015 16:51 #7 by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne)
Replied by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne) on topic Hi All
Welcome along to the forum :)
I wish i knew i needed to cycle a tank when i got my first one :whistle:

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18 Aug 2015 18:39 #8 by helix8008 (Tomas Novak)
Replied by helix8008 (Tomas Novak) on topic Hi All
Welcome K!

+1 on the water testing kit, and don't forget "safe tap water" treatment. That will take out heavy metals and chloride from tap water.

Tom

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19 Aug 2015 05:02 #9 by CG (K Lynch)
Replied by CG (K Lynch) on topic Hi All
Thank you all for your warm welcome. I appreciate it.


I have been cycling a 100 ltr tank (with heater and filtration for a 250 ltr+ tank) with fish food for about 5 days now.
I used biotol on the water and thoroughly washed the play sand (for hours ..arghh).
Yesterday, my ammonia was at about .5 . ph 7.6
I rang the local pet store in Cork and the guy said to cycle with fluval cycle and a couple of hardy fish.
He said my ammonia levels were way too high.
I did a 40% water change and got it down to .2
I have a lot of time to devote to taking care of the fish. I can do what's necessary.
I have a test kit, water conditioner etc
and I'm eager to get started.
Unfortunately, I don't have a friend who might give me media.

I have not yet decided what to do. A fish cycle with bacteria from a bottle and treatments or a complete fishless cycle.

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19 Aug 2015 11:57 #10 by paulv (paul vickers)
Replied by paulv (paul vickers) on topic Hi All
Concider using Organic Aqua, I'm running a large tank on it. Just add the aqua and add your fish same day.

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19 Aug 2015 13:20 #11 by carlowchris (chris)
Replied by carlowchris (chris) on topic Hi All
Surprise surprise.....yet another pet shop that just wants to sell ya stuff.....fish that will ultimitly die and a magic cure in a bottle

any bacteria in a bottle will help with your cycle but what are your nitite and nitrate levels?????

Testing these too will help you see if the waste is processed or if you just have a tank full of ammonia

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31 Aug 2015 20:16 #12 by Bazd99 (Barry Delaney)
Replied by Bazd99 (Barry Delaney) on topic Hi All
Hi k
Welcome to the forum. I only recently joined the forum but i have learned alot already. Everyone is so friendly and welcoming B) B)

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