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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

Using methylene blue

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13 Apr 2012 19:25 #1 by JSleator (Jason Sleator)
Anyone know about using methylene blue in a planted tank? Will is mess up filter bacteria? Is it ok for snails?

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14 Apr 2012 15:33 #2 by BillG (Bill Gray)
Methyl blue should not kill your plants unless you use a huge dose. Once you follow the guidelines for dosing, you should be ok. It is very effective at killing bacteria, however, in a well established tank; the impact to the filter should be minimal. You may experience a mini cycle after treatment, but once not too heavily stocked, your tank should be ok.
Regarding the impact to snails, i have no personal experience using methyl blue in a tank with snails. However I have read mixed reports, most saying it had no adverse impact on snails. Once you don’t have copper added to the brand you are using, it appears it will be ok with snails. Please note, this is based on my research on the matter and is not a guarantee :)

I think a critical question you need to ask is what are you treating with methyl blue and is there an alternative treatment. Given that methyl blue will be absorbed by any porous material in your tank, rock, wood, substrate etc. it will linger in the aquarium for some time. It is also removed by a carbon filter, so you would need to ensure any active carbon media is removed from your filter ahead of treating.

Here is a good link which gives a lot of good technical detail on methyl blue - www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumMedication3.html

Cheers,

Bill.

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16 Apr 2012 19:54 #3 by JSleator (Jason Sleator)
Thanks BillG. I ended up not using it, it was a bit of an impulse purchase as everything else in the shop had copper in it, and i have assassin snails, and have no idea where they are buried in the substrate. I wanted to get something as i knew i was going to loose the fish if i didn't act quick (it was fast spreading fungus problem) I did loose 2 of the 6 odessa barbs, but have since got the assassin snails out, and dosed with interpet no 8.

The fish seem to be OK, (none of the other fish in the tank got it, just the odessas) signs are disappearing, but one poor criter has literally NO tail left, he is fine tho, and is swimming around and eating, fungus has stopped, just hope his tail grows back ok!

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16 Apr 2012 20:06 #4 by igmillichip (ian millichip)
Methylene Blue is simply a wonder drug in fish health and human health (I usually give it special coverage in my water chemistry talks as it is so useful).

It does have the potential to damage plants and disrupt parts of the nitrogen cycle.

Ian

Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.

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17 Apr 2012 15:15 #5 by JSleator (Jason Sleator)
I have been reading up a bit on it, and came across meth blue baths for fish. I was thinking it might be a good idea for a little fishy bath for new arrivals as part of quarantine. Seeing as i have bought it i think ill use it for this reason.

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