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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

Problem with gravel

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14 Jul 2012 21:37 - 14 Jul 2012 21:39 #1 by jeff (Jeff Scully)
Hey guys, is their such thing as over cleaning the gravel with a gravel cleaner when doing a water change.
I do a water change twice a week and always get the gravel spotless.
The last few times and in the past ive done a water change and gravel clean, and about 6hrs. after the gravel starts going grey and by the next day its covered and starts to spread to glass and bog wood
I use the black quartz gravel and its in a few mts.
The next day i just clean the glass and move the stones around till i cant see it and the fish seem to clean it all off the wood and then its grand till the next water change

Anyone ever have this prob.


ive taking pics to show you but camera is not great

i dont know how to explain what it looks like the first time i seen it i said to the o,h that looks like damp or mould, if that makes sense

anyway here is a few pics any help would be great,

oh and i use api water conditioner have done for yrs. with no probs



you can see it on the inlet pipe in this one



you can see it on the wood in this one



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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Last edit: 14 Jul 2012 21:39 by jeff (Jeff Scully).

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14 Jul 2012 23:22 #2 by dave k (david)
jeff post some info on the tank how long up and running and ph nitrate etc...

dave.

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15 Jul 2012 00:53 #3 by jeff (Jeff Scully)
The tanks is running about a year now water is perfect

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10
PH 7.4

All Readings are from the API Test Kit

It only happens when i do a water change and gravel clean, and i have done water tests before and 12hrs. after, and the next day, and the water is always the same readings

The only thing i can think of is that my gravel is getting cleaned to much and their is not much bacteria left on it after its cleaned therefore whats left its going dead after new water is added (but thats just me running away with myself i may be wrong)

never had this prob before i started using the quartz gravel (anyone else used this before)

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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15 Jul 2012 08:34 #4 by Helen P (Helen Prout)
Hi Jeff,

I have read that much like rinsing out your filter media, you should only clean half the gravel in your tank at any one time - so as not to lose too much beneficial bacteria.

Maybe try giving this a go the next time you're doing your water change and see if it makes a difference?

best of luck
Helen

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15 Jul 2012 11:36 #5 by dave k (david)
jeff did you add any thing new to your tank recently? bog wood..etc

dave.

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15 Jul 2012 14:00 #6 by jeff (Jeff Scully)

Hi Jeff,

I have read that much like rinsing out your filter media, you should only clean half the gravel in your tank at any one time - so as not to lose too much beneficial bacteria.

Maybe try giving this a go the next time you're doing your water change and see if it makes a difference?

best of luck
Helen


Hey Helen that would be ok for a community tank i use to do that in the past but now i have big s/a cichlids and a lot of them so the tank gets dirty very quick

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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15 Jul 2012 14:02 #7 by jeff (Jeff Scully)

jeff did you add any thing new to your tank recently? bog wood..etc

dave.



Last month i put in some more bog wood but dont think that has anything to do with the gravel after its cleaned

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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15 Jul 2012 20:49 #8 by jeff (Jeff Scully)
Did not touch the tank today and now it back to normal as clean as can be, anyone else any ideas

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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17 Jul 2012 03:19 #9 by sheag35 (Seamus Gillespie)
only idea i have is as you clean your raising fine particles in the water column which settles on top of the gravel, as the fish pick and swim over the gravel it settles back in between the gravel particles giving the clean appearance.. maybe this is whats happening

Fishkeeping the Only way to get wet and wild

currently 25 tanks, and breeding is the aim of everything i keep
location:Limerick

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17 Jul 2012 10:20 #10 by CrustyCrab (Peter Biddulph)
Was thinking along those lines myself Shea.

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19 Jul 2012 11:59 #11 by jeff (Jeff Scully)

only idea i have is as you clean your raising fine particles in the water column which settles on top of the gravel, as the fish pick and swim over the gravel it settles back in between the gravel particles giving the clean appearance.. maybe this is whats happening


Thanks shea but its not just the gravel it does be all over the glass by the next day its like the whole tank gets a blast of an `ash cloud

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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19 Jul 2012 14:10 #12 by mickeywallace (Michael Wallace Cath Woods)
Hi Jeff
i would suggest you fill a glass of water and leave to settle for 24 hours to check it is not something in your water.

Otherwise i would ask how long has this problem been happening? Was it happening before you added the big s/a cichlids?
i suspect that the cichlids are moving the gravel causing the gravel to grind itself to dust.

i would consider removing the gravel from the tank and wash it completely. (some people do this every six to twelve months) no matter how well we clean gravel in the tank we do not get everything! and cleaning it externally allow you to use plenty of water without stressing, harming your wet pets
mickey

Mickey Wallace & Cath Woods

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19 Jul 2012 17:38 #13 by jeff (Jeff Scully)
hey mickey i will try the glass of water now and see how it is 2moro night and let yea know

its only happened since i added the quartz gravel a few mts. so could be the gravel but i dont understand how it does be on the glass and wood the next day

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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19 Jul 2012 20:58 #14 by JustinK (Justin Kelly)
I think youve answered this one yourself.
It only happened since you added the gravel.
Did you rinse or clean it before it went into the tank
It sounds like fine dust getting stirred up.

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19 Jul 2012 21:09 #15 by mickeywallace (Michael Wallace Cath Woods)
Hi Jeff
the problem is the gravel itself, i would remove it and wash it again it would seem that your cleaning is just disturbing it and like dust in the air around us, it spreads through out your tank. if washing the gravel does not work then the only other alternative is to remove the gravel.
mickey

Mickey Wallace & Cath Woods

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19 Jul 2012 21:31 #16 by jeff (Jeff Scully)
hope im not sounding like a smart ass with an answer to all the reply's,,, but although this gravel is stated ready washed and ready to go i did wash it just to be sure and their was nothing on even the first rinse the stuff was spotless,

when i said is it the gravel what i mean is it the gravel is that its so small, and when i clean it am i taking all the bacteria off it ??? and thats why its like adding new gravel (if that makes sense)
sorry im starting to feel like a moanbag now,
but how if its the gravel is it spreading on the glass and stuff

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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20 Jul 2012 13:54 #17 by JustinK (Justin Kelly)
Did you rub some off with your finger ?
You should only run along the top of the gravel.
Dont be sticking your syphon down tru it.
A gravel clean can be as good as a water change as the fish poo and food etc will be there feeding nitrate production.
Though a water change will lower it, a clean will remove some of the cause.

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12 Sep 2012 00:37 - 12 Sep 2012 00:39 #18 by jeff (Jeff Scully)
forgot to follow up on this, (well il never forget it just tried to forget it for a while)

after a mt. of madness, when i ran out of water conditioner of-course just went and bought another bottle the next week my problem had stopped i never changed anything about the way i clean my tank ive been doing it the same way for years and never had a prob. and since then still no probs. so im putting it down to a DODGY bottle of conditioner it was the only thing new when this happened

i also now use a different conditioner the last few changes and find it great

i wont bad mouth the dodgy bottle on here but will pm it to you if wanted
id bet me car on it im right what happened

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.
Last edit: 12 Sep 2012 00:39 by jeff (Jeff Scully).

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