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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

HELP! Added sand to tank...Now I've a milkshake!

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29 Nov 2011 21:15 - 29 Nov 2011 21:15 #1 by grgeorge (George Rahmani)
I made the TERRIBLE mistake of not washing my sand before putting it into my tank....Its ordinary playsand that I got in Woodies. I know now that I was meant to rinse it out in a bucket multiple times before gently putting it in and that is what I'll do next time but for now I'm a little worried.

I had taken all the fish out and put 'em in a bucket but I decided to put 'em back in because it was going on a few hours at that stage. Will they be alright?

I did a 60% water change after 4 hours and I think it has cleared up a little bit but its still ridiculously cloudy. Should I turn on my filter? Will I just continue doing water changes everyday (10-15%)? Will this clear it up? Or do I have to strip down the tank completely and start again properly?

.......I need to learn to be patient and do things right the first time.....
Last edit: 29 Nov 2011 21:15 by grgeorge (George Rahmani).

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29 Nov 2011 21:26 #2 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re: HELP! Added sand to tank...Now I've a milkshake!
Has the Tank cycled fully yet.

Kev

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29 Nov 2011 21:27 #3 by SSS (Sion S)
If I were you i'd stick on the filter and see if it helps things out. You might have to clean out your filter tomorrow depending on how bad the sand was to start off with.

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29 Nov 2011 21:32 #4 by jwm (sean sean)
It should be fine. PATIENCE PATIENCE. The sand will settle but it Needs some kind of mechanical filtration. The sand is very fine and will take awhile to settle

A person who surrenders when he is WRONG, is HONEST. A person who SURRENDERS when not SURE, is WISE. A person who surrenders even if he is RIGHT, is a HUSBAND.

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29 Nov 2011 21:32 #5 by grgeorge (George Rahmani)
Tank was set up two weeks ago, 0 ammonia 0.25ppm nitrite and nitrate was almost 40ppm I think it was just finished cycle?

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29 Nov 2011 21:40 - 29 Nov 2011 21:44 #6 by mech1 (pat bell)
I done the same on my last tank about 2 months ago it takes 3 days to clear, turned on filter anyway, just gave the sponges/ box/ motor a rinse in old tank water in a few days.

Maybe better to put the filter / heater and fish in a big clean plastic container until it settles.

Knocklyon 2 min from J12 M50
Last edit: 29 Nov 2011 21:44 by mech1 (pat bell).

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29 Nov 2011 21:43 #7 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re: HELP! Added sand to tank...Now I've a milkshake!
What type of Filter specifically?

Kev.

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29 Nov 2011 21:47 #8 by SpiderMonkey (Mark O'Neill)
Stick some filter floss in your filter works a dream.
My tank took two days to clear fully


Mark

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29 Nov 2011 21:48 #9 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re: HELP! Added sand to tank...Now I've a milkshake!
Beat me to it Mark.

Kev.

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29 Nov 2011 21:59 #11 by m4r10 (m4r10)

Tank was set up two weeks ago, 0 ammonia 0.25ppm nitrite and nitrate was almost 40ppm I think it was just finished cycle?


Also, I'd say your tank has not finished cycling, you should have let it cycle 2-3 weeks more.

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29 Nov 2011 22:05 #12 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re: HELP! Added sand to tank...Now I've a milkshake!
I agree, nowhere near finished cycling.

Kev.

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29 Nov 2011 22:10 #13 by ger310 (Ger .)
George,as the lads said...the tank is nowhere near cycled.........and is this the same tank that you have planted with compost and gravel in it?

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A Wonkey....duh ha :)

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29 Nov 2011 22:53 #14 by BlueRam (Sean Crowe)
have filter on with filter floss in it and replace filter floss each day till clear as lads said mate sorry to say but dont think it as fully cycled yet and in sayin that u can never really FULLY cycle a tank u could mature a tank after a good good few months off running

wat fish have u in the tank ya should have being lookin at about 6 ta 7 weeks befor addin fsh did u add filter squzzings to boost it at start or anything?

best off luck with it

sean

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29 Nov 2011 22:57 #15 by grgeorge (George Rahmani)
Oh right, I thought that once the ammonia spikes and then goes down and you start getting nitrate the tank has been cycled....just goes to show how much I have to learn!

Yes Ger, this is the same tank. The gravel I have in it is really fine and black, its more like grit that gravel really, I think its that glass stuff. My original logic was that the gravel was really fine and that some of the sand would fall but the rest would stay on top...I'm starting to think now that eventually all the sand is going to end up falling through the gravel anyway....The more I think about it the more today was a real mistake! :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :( :( :(

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29 Nov 2011 23:02 #16 by grgeorge (George Rahmani)

have filter on with filter floss in it and replace filter floss each day till clear as lads said mate sorry to say but dont think it as fully cycled yet and in sayin that u can never really FULLY cycle a tank u could mature a tank after a good good few months off running

wat fish have u in the tank ya should have being lookin at about 6 ta 7 weeks befor addin fsh did u add filter squzzings to boost it at start or anything?


I've got 6 glowlight tetras and 8 rummynose tetras in there..I hope they'll be ok.... I can't even net them out to put them somewhere temporarily because I'd just be stabbing in the dark!

I did add filter squeezings at the start, along with some water and mulm from another tank thats been running for over 6 months now.

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29 Nov 2011 23:14 #17 by BlueRam (Sean Crowe)
as the others said do that with the filter floss and see how things are do small water changes each day also till clear just be careful when puttin water back in that u add it slowly as if u are pourin it in fast the current from the new water going into the tank will move the sand around again happent me not thinkin ha sand id great lookin but a pain cleaning and that also keep some extra as that over time when u are Vacuum the sand u will be taken some out so that will need to be topped back up over time

sean

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29 Nov 2011 23:18 #18 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re: HELP! Added sand to tank...Now I've a milkshake!

Oh right, I thought that once the ammonia spikes and then goes down and you start getting nitrate the tank has been cycled....just goes to show how much I have to learn!

Yes Ger, this is the same tank. The gravel I have in it is really fine and black, its more like grit that gravel really, I think its that glass stuff. My original logic was that the gravel was really fine and that some of the sand would fall but the rest would stay on top...I'm starting to think now that eventually all the sand is going to end up falling through the gravel anyway....The more I think about it the more today was a real mistake! :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :( :( :(


More important than anything.... Don't lose Heart or go beating yourself up over this, it'll settle eventually,
Over time, with movement from your Fish, Filtration and Water changes.

Kev.

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29 Nov 2011 23:27 #19 by ger310 (Ger .)
George,take in all that the lads said and then don't add anymore fish,plants,substrate or ornaments.......Your Ammonia/Nitrite readings should 'always' be 0 so even a slight Nitrite reading is serious and can be damaging(there is a great thread on here that i cant seem to find but is very informative about the Nitrogen cycle so have a look your self)....Sand on top of gravel is something i never tried but i can imagine it being like a box of cornflakes if you get my drift?......Yeh trying to net them fish in a clear tank is a nightmare so you will only turn it upside down if you try!!
Stop beating your self up aswell about mistakes,i could write a short story about my first few months in the hobby so compared to me,your doing quite well!!
Leave well enough alone now George and be patient for a few weeks ok and it should work it self out

Best of luck,Ger

What do you call a three legged Donkey?

A Wonkey....duh ha :)

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29 Nov 2011 23:33 #20 by grgeorge (George Rahmani)
Thanks a lot everybody. I can't get over how nice everyone is on this forum. I'll put some pics up eventually when its all sorted out. A before and after sort of thing.

George

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29 Nov 2011 23:48 #21 by BlueRam (Sean Crowe)
good man George lookin forward to see say it is going to be a cracker

sean

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02 Dec 2011 17:47 #23 by grgeorge (George Rahmani)
Hey Mark,
Thanks for checking up on me.
It didn't clear up after 3 days...I had put some filter floss and everything in it but no luck (or no patience?)

Anyway, I realised that there was FAR too much sand there and it was all so so messy. I had about an inch of organic compost covered by about an inch and a half of fine gravel and then about 3 inches of sand dumped on top...I honestly don't know what i was thinking.

So I've stripped down the tank and hosed it down. Gonna set it up again tonight. I think I'll go with the compost and some normal pea gravel this time and forget about the sand altogether. What do you think? I've heard really mixed reviews about sand...it can create anaerobic pockets that can be lethal for the fish. The only reason I put the sand in in the first place was that I eventually wanted some bottom dwellers, I was thinking of a gang of panda corys. Would they be ok with the gravel?

George

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02 Dec 2011 18:00 #24 by SpiderMonkey (Mark O'Neill)
Didn't clear up? Wow that's strange what filter are you using?
When I did my tank i put in a extra internal to clean it up quicker








Was it as bad as mine?

Mark

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02 Dec 2011 18:10 #25 by grgeorge (George Rahmani)
wow! such a massive difference!

I was using an internal filter - Interpet PF3.

Really nice tank btw. What do you have as your substrate? Is the clown loach ok in it?

Also, I've been dying to ask, is that another one of your tanks in your sig?

George

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02 Dec 2011 18:26 - 02 Dec 2011 18:27 #26 by SpiderMonkey (Mark O'Neill)
I bet if you had of left it for a few days more it would of cleared up.. ah well

It's JBL Manado the clown is doing great I would love to give him away but my little one loves the bloody thing :)

The sig isn't mine wish it was! Just loved the pic when i saw it
Put a few pic's up when you get the tank sorted George


Mark
Last edit: 02 Dec 2011 18:27 by SpiderMonkey (Mark O'Neill).

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02 Dec 2011 18:35 #27 by grgeorge (George Rahmani)
Will do Mark. And I'm going to take my time and do it properly this time! :crazy:

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02 Dec 2011 18:39 #28 by SpiderMonkey (Mark O'Neill)

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02 Dec 2011 19:06 #29 by grgeorge (George Rahmani)
Haha, I think I'm gone off sand for a while to be honest. I'll cap it with ordinary gravel. I'll give that a good wash though! As long as its nice and rounded and not sharp I should be ok with bottom dwellers like corys, right?

George

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02 Dec 2011 19:24 #30 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re: HELP! Added sand to tank...Now I've a milkshake!
George, Sand is a great Substrate, it keeps all the crap on the surface, I use it in two of my Tanks and it's perfect, for Cory, Loach etc it's Heaven! I use Sand either from LFS, The Early Learning Centre or Aquatic Shops, NO OTHER SAND!!

Kev.

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