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
New tank need help
- lawlessr (Ross Lawless)
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Hi all new to the site i am in the middle of setting up my 300l tank havent decided fully what africans i want to keep, there is so many fish i would love ,but my main question for the moment is about my fishless cycle ,i started off adding amonia that my brother in law made up in his lab so it is pure with nothing added to it he made it up at 10 percent,i added enough amonia so that i had a reading of 5ppm the cycle is running two weeks on saturday my nitrite is at 5,0 mg/l my nitrate is at 50mg/l my PH is 7.8 i also have a filter pad from my 4 year old tank in my new tank(Oscars x2 ,silver dollers x4,green Severn).My question is that i read on the net my amonia should fall when the nitrite started to rise and when the nitrate had spiked my nitrite should have fallen, am i just two anxious to get my fish but with my readings i should have seen some drop with the amonia at least.I have never done a fishless cycle before, when i got my other tank it was already cycled as i baught it from a friend.If any one sees if i am doing anything wrong it would put my mind at rest if u would let me know i would be greatful

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- jeff (Jeff Scully)
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Where the tongue slips, it speaks the truth.
A life making mistakes is not only more honourable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing at all.
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- lawlessr (Ross Lawless)
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- stretnik (stretnik)
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www.algone.com/aquarium-articles/technic...ion/fishless-cycling
It looks like you have the same Aquarium as me, if you haven't already done so, I'd advise you to put a smear of Silicon on all areas where the wood comes to a 90 deg angle, Clearseal have improved their Stands and Lid considerably in the last few Years but I still noticed areas prone to soaking up Water and swelling, it's esy to do by squeezing it along your seals.
Kev.
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- lawlessr (Ross Lawless)
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I would like to get some Fontosa is my tank two small for them if not how many could i get into 300l and is there any good tank mates i could get to go in with them
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- lawlessr (Ross Lawless)
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- stretnik (stretnik)
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Kev.
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- lawlessr (Ross Lawless)
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- stretnik (stretnik)
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www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php/fforu...llon-aquarium#115371
Kev.
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- jeff (Jeff Scully)
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Sounds like a plan i hope to get out to seahorse on sat if my wife hasnt any plans for me but will the starter kit work when my readings are at what they are at ,by the way thanks for the reply
no probs at all mate
not a 100% sure about the readings side of things cause i did it at the start, but well worth looking into
Where the tongue slips, it speaks the truth.
A life making mistakes is not only more honourable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing at all.
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- jeff (Jeff Scully)
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Here's a link, hope it helps as I have always used the Organic method, ie. using hardier Fish etc.
Cool link thanks kev
www.algone.com/aquarium-articles/technic...ion/fishless-cycling
It looks like you have the same Aquarium as me, if you haven't already done so, I'd advise you to put a smear of Silicon on all areas where the wood comes to a 90 deg angle, Clearseal have improved their Stands and Lid considerably in the last few Years but I still noticed areas prone to soaking up Water and swelling, it's esy to do by squeezing it along your seals.
Kev.
and again thanks Kev
Where the tongue slips, it speaks the truth.
A life making mistakes is not only more honourable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing at all.
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- lawlessr (Ross Lawless)
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- lawlessr (Ross Lawless)
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- stretnik (stretnik)
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You can get the Wood from most Local Fish Stores (LFS) Call before going out to make sure your Trip isn't wasted.
Thanks for your comments.
Kev.
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- lawlessr (Ross Lawless)
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Went out to seahorse today to see what can be done about my cycling problem uying ,and it was good news they tested the water for me and it was my readings that were the problem i was waiting too long to read the ammonia so my readings now are PH 7.5 nh4 was 2ppm which i taught were reading 5 all the time NO2 5PPM and NO3 100 so at the minute i am back on track ,i have to keep an eye on NO2 it should drop in the next couple of days and when it dose a good water change and ready to stock up.yee ha.
I also couldnt resist buying these two convicts for my oscar tank hopefully they will settle in well and my oscar will leave them alone as he is not too fond of new tank mates they are in a couple of hours all seems well and they are feeding well.
Ill keep u all up dated on my african tank as i go along thanks for all the replys and the help

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- steothegreat (stephen flanagan)
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just keep the patience
what ammonia are you using.
and in the middle of my cycle i did a 50 per cent water change and that really boosted things along
just make sure to have the water conditioner added as the will not be good for oyur benefical bacteria.
any question feel free to ask and ill try help through my experience

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- lawlessr (Ross Lawless)
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