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
Spray Bar and External filters
- Gilly (Sean GIllivan)
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I got a new filter there and just finishing assembling it....Its the jbl e901....It was a rocky installation... i had everything assembled and i began to siphon the water and next think the filter began to leek water also one of the hoses came loose from the bracket and water began to go everywhere on the floor....i really dont trust those hoses and how tight they fit into their brackets..
I have the spray bar ontop of the water level and its making the usual splashing noise. i just want to ask a few questions as its my first external filter...
how do you know everythings really in place... i dont want to wake up tomoro and something came loose and my bed is now a lilo...?
and are you able to put the spray bar under the water level ? i dont want to hear the splash all night...or ill be peeing every 5 minutes...
also any tricks to actually getting the filter to go quite or does it do that eventually after a few hours...?
Thanks guys
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- igmillichip (ian millichip)
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However, at least you do get a good array of attachment choices free in the box with JBL as opposed to having to fork out another 20 odd euro for such attachments.
The main tubing from the tank to the filter is very good, so it is only the bits that connect to a spray bar that become flimsy.
Yes, you can use the spray bar under water, but you would best be changing the attachment to one of the other output attachments (which will allow better flow and not put strain on the L-connectors).
JBL externals are very quiet. So if there is a noise then it may not be primed correctly.
Priming JBLs is pretty easy with the palm-primer button.
Switch off the filter and make sure the input and output ends are under water.
Turn the flow rate levels to full.
Do not prime if the output lever is set to near "no-flow" as you will force water out of the seal of the filter.
Slowly prime the device until no bubbles come out of the output. Wait a few minutes, then do it again to double check purging of air.
ian
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- JohnH (John)
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You ought to be able to set the angle of the spray bar to direct the water spray into, rather than along the water surface.
After it has been running a couple of hours check all the connections for water leaks (just in case).
As to getting up to pee every five minutes - you have that to come, with age cometh dodgy bladder...although every five minutes is a bit severe)

Anyone offer further advice to Gilly?
John
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N. Tipp
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.
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It's a long way to Tipperary.
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- igmillichip (ian millichip)
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Anyone offer further advice to Gilly?
Pelvic Floor exercises.....but don't ask me for any videos.
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- Gilly (Sean GIllivan)
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Ian if something goes wrong and water starts spray everywhere on the jbl filters... whats the quickest way to get it to stop... just turn off the filter....
Im a bit worried about my gouramis since i set up the external there going to low current parts of the tank... how do you decrease the flow on the jbl filters... does decreasing the flow put pressure on the filter... almost like covering the house of a vuccum puts pressure on the vacuum?
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- davey_c (dave clarke)
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Below tank is for sale
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- Gilly (Sean GIllivan)
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Life is as dear to the mute creature as it is to a man. Just as one wants happiness and fears pain, just as one wants to live and not to die, so do other creatures.
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- Gilly (Sean GIllivan)
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Life is as dear to the mute creature as it is to a man. Just as one wants happiness and fears pain, just as one wants to live and not to die, so do other creatures.
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- igmillichip (ian millichip)
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But.....you increase the volume by x amount (the volume of the filter)

Just a note on the brackets for the spray bar....when fixing, make sure that they are not over any of the holes as that could cause a spraying of water all over the place (especially if upwards and out of the tank)
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- Gilly (Sean GIllivan)
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Life is as dear to the mute creature as it is to a man. Just as one wants happiness and fears pain, just as one wants to live and not to die, so do other creatures.
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- davey_c (dave clarke)
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great advice from Ian, John & Dave as usual
...brackets for the spray bar....when fixing, make sure that they are not over any of the holes
that got Me in the past... a light Ballasts worst nightmare...
I don't really use Spray Bars, I prefer the other type of return nossels but this is because I have an Internal running in the tank aswel, a U4, I use this more so to create surface agitation, great Filter for aeration too...
In relation to the noise of the Filter, just make sure both the Intake and return are fully submerged
and keep pumping the primer button on the top of the filter until the bubbles are gone, when the water returns completely clear of bubbles, plug it in and happy days...
You'll See a huge difference in water quality once the Filter is settled
Externals are where it's at...
Des
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- Gilly (Sean GIllivan)
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Des will any other danio shoal with my kerris, i know u havent had kerris in and would love to make the shoal from 8 to 12...
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- Q_Comets (Declan Chambers)
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- Gilly (Sean GIllivan)
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I love when the "top dogs" get involved... and your posts get answers with solid info
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...I didnt seed it at all......
I think You should have seeded the filter Sean, You might have to suffer a semi-cycle as a result...
although Your Tank is very lightly stocked by comparison to most others, so You (or more to the point, the Fish) might get away with it...
Des will any other danio shoal with my kerris, i know u havent had kerris in and would love to make the shoal from 8 to 12...
Yeah, I'd imagine the Kyathit, Hikari, Roseus, Gold Ring etc. etc. would all Shoal together, might be nice to add some different patterns/colours to the Shoal but I'd personally just keep 'em all Kerri Danios, just because they are such an eye catching species...
Des
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- Gilly (Sean GIllivan)
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- davey_c (dave clarke)
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i have setup additional tanks by using 50% mature water and filter squeezings to seed an unused sponge filter while lightly stocking almost straight after without a negative reaction. while i'm not recommending anyone do the same i can see gilly's situation being of a similar process!
i would say feed sparingly and keep an eye on params while doing frequent waterchanges... would syphoning the gravel prolong the process? just asking for my own future reference

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- Gilly (Sean GIllivan)
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Am i completely wrong... do new filters cycle even though there intaking water that is rich in bacteria
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- davey_c (dave clarke)
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All I meant is that, it is a good idea to seed a new filter, that's it...
by adding some bacteria rich media in to the new filter...
Des
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- Gilly (Sean GIllivan)
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I was just a bit confused because my knowledge of a tank being cycled was that there is bacteria that turns ammonia to nitrites and another that converts nitrites to nitrates....so the installation of a new filter wouldnt alter that at all....if i already had an internal doing exactly that... do you get me? i presumed that by installing a new filter the tank could only increase in maturity and not decrease into a mini cycle....
You boys know better than me so ill check parameters daily....
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- newbejkjimk (damien kelly)
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jim
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- davey_c (dave clarke)
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when i'm opening my filter i put it in a basin, unhook the inlet/outlet coupler from the top and put it in the basin... no water will come from it apart from because its closed off by the leavers. then i open the lid and sit that in the basin, you may get a very small amount of water coming from the impeller area but thats all... then the cannister is free to do with as you please

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Below tank is for sale
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- newbejkjimk (damien kelly)
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Life is as dear to the mute creature as it is to a man. Just as one wants happiness and fears pain, just as one wants to live and not to die, so do other creatures.
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