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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

Sand substrates

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10 Aug 2011 10:28 #1 by fergusq (Fergus Q)
has anyone used desert sand as a substrate? My wife bought it in error and I had put half of it in before I realised....this was 2 days ago and all seem ok. Id kinda like to add the rest of the bag in since its open but some sites say its not great to use....any thoughts?

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10 Aug 2011 13:40 #2 by Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
Hey. Ive never heard of desert sand for aquariums but once it is inert or says aquarium safe on the bag then you are pretty much good to go. There are opinions on all substrates used in cichlid setups but once it isnt broken glass or contaminated you should be fine. I will add that most like to dig and some even swallow it to aid digestion so keep that in mind I guess. I myself use coral sand in my african setup (for its appearance as well as its buffering capabilities) and despite the claims that it irritates their gills and causes them not to display their best colours, mine are thriving.

Jay

Location: Finglas, North Dublin.

Life
may not be the party we hoped for, but while we
are here we might as well dance.

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10 Aug 2011 14:12 #3 by ceech (Desmond Gaynor)
I think as long as you have cleaned the sand well you should be fine.
I use aragonite sand in my cichlid tank its great because it does not get alge on it and turn green always staying nice and clean looking :-)

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10 Aug 2011 14:54 #4 by fergusq (Fergus Q)
ok thanks...it doesnt specifically say aquarium safe as far as I can see but Ill look through the ingredients! She picked up some red sandtoo, which might look ok but I woner what makes it red! :unsure:
A good washing of it would be in order before putting it in for sure!
Thanks
Fergus

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10 Aug 2011 20:59 #5 by christyg (Chris Geraghty)
You will need to 'rake' sand every month or so, as it compacts down with the weight of water. This can cause aneorobic 'pockets' which can contain gas which can cause problems.

I'm sure some of the more knowledgeble members will enlighten us further. :)

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10 Aug 2011 21:20 #6 by ceech (Desmond Gaynor)
i stir the sand each week as the air pockets that hold the gases happen depending on how deep the sand is.I would be very careful using coloured sand !!! remember to turn your filter off when raking thr sand as it can damage it.i do mine when doing water changes ;-)

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