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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

new tank

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17 Nov 2011 21:22 #1 by lindseys06 (lindsey)
Hi, I am starting a new tank soon and I want to put sand in it.
Is this harder to look after, is cleaning it hard?

How do you clean sand? the tank has an undergravel filter.

I am moving from a 40 litre tank to a 3 foot jewel (not sure of the litre) but its a lot biiger than what I have. Any advice on the differences in a bigger tank?

I currently have a shubunkin, 5 cloud monnows, 5 neon tatras and an apple snail.

Any advice would be great.

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17 Nov 2011 21:38 #2 by Arcadian (Stephen)
Replied by Arcadian (Stephen) on topic Re: new tank
For cleanliness i'd opt for a thin layer of play sand and go for either an internal or external power filter. I don't think there's any easy way using sand with an undergravel filter as you'd still need a layer of gravel with the sand on top seperated with a gravel tidy, plus the sand would compact tightly in places.

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17 Nov 2011 22:25 #3 by AquaticGardenDan (Daniel Madziag)
When cleaning with syphon clener You will remowe some sand from tank so it's god to have more of it to replace top layer with new clean sand.

Dan.

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18 Nov 2011 09:11 #4 by smitas5 (Marius Smitas)
as Dan mentionned you will be losing some sand during cleaning. Do not forget your 24/7 cleaning (filter).. have your intake (external filter) slightly higher than you would for gravel. I would lift at least 20cm over sand. for internal, depending on the size you'll have to have it higher too, but depending on the size of filter and hight of the tank, you may not have a lot of space..

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19 Nov 2011 12:20 #5 by lindseys06 (lindsey)
Replied by lindseys06 (lindsey) on topic Re: new tank
Thanks everyone I don't think ill be getting sand so.

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19 Nov 2011 13:38 #6 by Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
Hi there,

If at all possible I would consider changing from an undergravel filter to another more efficient type of filtration. Im guessing your tank is somewhere 120 and 180ltrs. If you post the exact dimensions we can tell you what it holds. A good external filter for a tank that size wont cost too much and you will doubtless find one in the for sale section here. Removing the UGF will allow you to use sand which is a doddle to maintain if done properly. Do keep some spare in a bucket or bag somewhere as you will siphon some up when doing waterchanges. When using sand as a substrate, give it an occasional stir to prevent dead spots forming. This occurs when detritus breaks down under the substrate and gasses can build up under the sand which smell pretty bad and can be dangerous to your fish. Giving it a bit of a mix when doing your routine water changes will prevent that happening. Sand in my opinion is a great substrate that doesnt cost much and is easy on the eye. Oh, if you do go down the route of using sand, be carefull when cleaning your glass. Be sure not to let sand get between your sponge or scraper as trapped grains will scratch glass. Best of luck,

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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19 Nov 2011 15:56 #7 by lindseys06 (lindsey)
Replied by lindseys06 (lindsey) on topic Re: new tank
Thanks I might do that as i've never used an under gravel filter before.

Yes my tank is 180 liters and my current tank is 37 liters. Is it easier or harder to run a bigger tank?

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24 Nov 2011 10:20 #8 by Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
Hey, sorry I didnt get a chance to reply until now, I cant post as regularly as I would like to lately.

There is a bit of debate regarding wether it is easier running larger or smaller systems. Long story short, some problems in larger setups take longer to cause harm, for example, a broken heater. The water volume of the larger tank will maintain a higher temp longer than a smaller one. This comes in handy when you dont realise straight away that it has malfunctioned or you have forgotten to plug it back in, as I have done on occasion. However,it is of course easier to do water changes in smaller setups because you change a larger percentage of the water with every bucket so its a bit of a trade off. Problems with water quality take longer to affect fish in bigger tanks but it is more difficult diluting issues in a bigger setup as more water needs to be changed. In the end the aquarist needs to be ready to commit to whatever maintanence the tank will need. If you prefer the look of a bigger tank, go for it but be prepared to put time into it. On the other hand, if a smaller setup is prefered, be ready to test frequently and act quickly should an issue pop it head up, as it will eventually. Your 180ltr tank is a pretty handy size to maintain either way so best of luck with it and keep us posted on how its going.

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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