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
Water Buffering
- johnportman (John Clarke)
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What do you use to buffer your water for your Cichlids or do you use anything at all.
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- Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
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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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- igmillichip (ian millichip)
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Irrespective of which type of african cichlid, the buffering system really needs be kept topped up with a balance in redox by regular partial water changes.
ian
Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.
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- johnportman (John Clarke)
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The ph is always around 7.4 but should it be higher.
I do a 30% wc every week.
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- Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
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level. It can be gradually raised with certain additives but if the fish are in good health and all else is well then I personally wouldnt mess with it.
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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- dyco619 (steve carmody)
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wrecked me brains for about an hour, then realized that i put in the wrong number of drops



i can laugh about it now


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- stan (stan)
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I use coral gravel as a substrate.
The ph is always around 7.4 but should it be higher.
I do a 30% wc every week.
Hi john
Im the other side of the bridge and dont add anything to buffer the water. Using normal play sand and rocks from the garden which possibily do buffee the water slightly
My ph would be around 7.8-8.0
Stan
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- dyco619 (steve carmody)
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i tested my ph one day to find it was 5.5!! couldnt figure out how that could be! tested it again and it was still 5.5..
wrecked me brains for about an hour, then realized that i put in the wrong number of drops![]()
![]()
i can laugh about it now![]()
Dear Steve, I will leave it without any comment![]()
yes chris i know its hard to believe im not perfect..


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- johnportman (John Clarke)
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The fish look healthy, there flyin around the tank when lights on and they eat everythin, if they dont the synos catfish do.

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- igmillichip (ian millichip)
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Obtaining a pH is not buffering the pH.
The pH must be buffered even if the pH is somewhat lower than would be in nature for the rift valley lakes.
The pH buffering for Tanganyikan and malawi water will also work towards fulfilling the redox balance and conductivity of the water (much more vital parameters when compared to allowable pH ranges).
ian
Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.
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- andrewo (andrew)
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Lastly avoid using too much addictives to buffer your ph.
regards,
andrew
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- ceech (Desmond Gaynor)
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