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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

Water Buffering

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24 Aug 2011 19:42 #1 by johnportman (John Clarke)
Hi Folks.

What do you use to buffer your water for your Cichlids or do you use anything at all.

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24 Aug 2011 20:35 #2 by Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
I use coral sand as the substrate but my water from the tap is pretty hard and has a ph of 7.8 anyway so I have very little to do.

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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24 Aug 2011 20:41 #3 by igmillichip (ian millichip)
I gather you mean Tanganyikan or Malawi (and other rift lake species) as opposed to other African cichlids.

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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24 Aug 2011 21:04 #4 by johnportman (John Clarke)
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.

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24 Aug 2011 21:12 #5 by Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
Just as long as it is stable you should be fine John. Big sudden changes in ph are the killer as opposed to its
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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24 Aug 2011 21:21 #6 by dyco619 (steve carmody)
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 :crazy: :crazy: :crazy:
i can laugh about it now :laugh: :laugh:

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24 Aug 2011 21:36 #7 by stan (stan)
Replied by stan (stan) on topic Re: Water Buffering

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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24 Aug 2011 21:40 #8 by dyco619 (steve carmody)

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 :crazy: :crazy: :crazy:
i can laugh about it now :laugh: :laugh:


Dear Steve, I will leave it without any comment :whistle: :P


yes chris i know its hard to believe im not perfect.. :angel: :whistle:

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24 Aug 2011 21:40 #9 by johnportman (John Clarke)
Thanks for your relpy lads.
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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24 Aug 2011 21:47 #10 by igmillichip (ian millichip)
There is a major difference between buffering the pH and obtaining a pH.
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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26 Aug 2011 17:02 #11 by andrewo (andrew)
Hi John; it might be worth trying out with aragonita sand; i find that for me it stables my water to almost a ph of 8 (my tap water is 7). Try putting some larger pieces of crushed aragonite/ocean rock in a sock in the filter you run; this helps a bit too.

Lastly avoid using too much addictives to buffer your ph.

regards,
andrew

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26 Aug 2011 18:09 #12 by ceech (Desmond Gaynor)
I use baking soda a cup each time i change my water each week , plus the rocks i have and the sustrate also help.My ph is a stable 8.5 never moves.

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