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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

About to set up my new tank

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12 Feb 2013 19:05 #1 by McQuaid (Mark McQuaid)
Hi folks

Well I'm getting another tank after a few years being out of it, basically starting a again, can't remember anything about it, so, I've bought a 240litre and plan on setting up a Malawi based set up

Anyone Reccomend a good filter for a 240 litre tank? Any other suggestions?

240 litre mixture of cichlids

55 litre marine tank currently holding a few coral and clean up crew

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12 Feb 2013 21:09 #2 by Debrick (Ciaran barrett)
Hey man
Gud choice on going for malawi's , I wud highly recommend getting a gud external filter & connect
a uv light to it , over filtration is best way forward , gud luck with ur endeavour
debrick

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12 Feb 2013 22:08 #3 by McQuaid (Mark McQuaid)
I'm looking at the JBL e900, suitable for aquariums up to 300litres

240 litre mixture of cichlids

55 litre marine tank currently holding a few coral and clean up crew

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12 Feb 2013 23:47 #4 by jeff (Jeff Scully)
Howye McQuaid JBL e900 is a good choice of filter for a tank that size but if your gona go cichlids i would go bigger and get the e1501 green line especially with africans because your tank will need to be over stocked to reduce aggression

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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13 Feb 2013 11:27 #5 by McQuaid (Mark McQuaid)
a massive price jump tho, the 1501 is out of my reach

240 litre mixture of cichlids

55 litre marine tank currently holding a few coral and clean up crew

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13 Feb 2013 11:38 #6 by dar (darren curry)
Have a look around you might pick up a cheap second hand one. Check the for sale section

Check out the angling section, it is fantastic

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14 Feb 2013 10:03 #7 by McQuaid (Mark McQuaid)
Well i went for the e900 new anyway, was within my price range and seemed like a very good filter after research, set it all up yesterday evening so im beginning my start up cycle, cheers for all the help guys

240 litre mixture of cichlids

55 litre marine tank currently holding a few coral and clean up crew

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14 Feb 2013 12:00 #8 by CrustyCrab (Peter Biddulph)
I would go for 2 smaller externals, each one rated for about a 300 litre aquarium, in the case of your 240.
Gives some security if one fails. Also with all the rock in a mbuna setup, the two inlets take wastes from two different areas of the aquarium.
If the mbuna are juveniles then you can start with one, and get the other one later on. Good advice with the UV.
Both filters and UV units always pop up in the for sale section of the forum.
Good Choice Mbuna.

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14 Feb 2013 15:25 #9 by McQuaid (Mark McQuaid)
Can you give me a link to some information about these UV lights? thanks

240 litre mixture of cichlids

55 litre marine tank currently holding a few coral and clean up crew

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15 Feb 2013 15:23 #11 by McQuaid (Mark McQuaid)
www.ebay.ie/itm/11W-UV-Light-Sterilizer-...5ff67#ht_6979wt_1111

How about that? its not brand name but half the price?

240 litre mixture of cichlids

55 litre marine tank currently holding a few coral and clean up crew

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15 Feb 2013 16:21 #12 by CrustyCrab (Peter Biddulph)
ebay link not working at the moment

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15 Feb 2013 20:44 #13 by McQuaid (Mark McQuaid)
If you just search ebay for the below


13W UV Sterilizer Lamp+ 220V-240V Power supply F Aquarium Tank keep Water clean

240 litre mixture of cichlids

55 litre marine tank currently holding a few coral and clean up crew

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15 Feb 2013 21:34 #14 by CrustyCrab (Peter Biddulph)
I have never used this model of UV. The bulb with it, looks the same as my pond UV bulb, with the same wattage.
That said, it is rated for your aquarium, and should do the job. I found a thread, reviewing this unit, pasted below.

www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=13997

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18 Feb 2013 14:59 #15 by McQuaid (Mark McQuaid)
I havent done anything about a UV light, im gonna wait to see if one comes up here for sale 2nd hand, but, what arrived today in the post was my water test kit

All my parameters are good so im ready to add some fish, very happy

240 litre mixture of cichlids

55 litre marine tank currently holding a few coral and clean up crew

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18 Feb 2013 20:55 #16 by McQuaid (Mark McQuaid)

240 litre mixture of cichlids

55 litre marine tank currently holding a few coral and clean up crew
Attachments:

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20 Feb 2013 17:17 #17 by jeff (Jeff Scully)
All my parameters are good so im ready to add some fish, very happy[/quote]


your tank wont be ready to add fish after 4 days you should look up how to cycle a fish tank their are a few ways

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 Feb 2013 17:27 #18 by ceech (Desmond Gaynor)
you need to cycle your tank or else find a friend wit a tank running a long time and squeeze his sponge into a bag use this dirty water to start your bacteria culture in your pump.Buy some cheap fish for cycle and monitor amonia and no2 levels.when you have zero of both of these then you should be good to go.Also wood in your tank will take the ph level down for malawi.They need a ph of 8 and more. Up to yourself but i would use just malawi rock and also some arognite gravel much better and raises ph in the tank.

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20 Feb 2013 21:51 #19 by CrustyCrab (Peter Biddulph)

you need to cycle your tank or else find a friend wit a tank running a long time and squeeze his sponge into a bag use this dirty water to start your bacteria culture in your pump.Buy some cheap fish for cycle and monitor amonia and no2 levels.when you have zero of both of these then you should be good to go.Also wood in your tank will take the ph level down for malawi.They need a ph of 8 and more. Up to yourself but i would use just malawi rock and also some arognite gravel much better and raises ph in the tank.


For me, using "cheap fish" to cycle a new aquarium is unnecessary and cruel. There are so many ways to fishless cycle an aquarium now, using media from another cycled filter, or as said take a "squeezing" etc.
From what I can see, the wood is not bogwood, and therefore wont effect the ph much.

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21 Feb 2013 07:51 #20 by ceech (Desmond Gaynor)
Agreed crusty but it is one sure way to do it.Being honest i never have the problem of having to do a full cycle in any tank i setup as i have some many filter and establish tanks.If you are doing fishless cycle note it is important to add a little food each day to the tank to get ammonia started.The new bacteria need something to feed on as they establish.I would ask the local pet store if they have a tank that has a separate filter system in the shop that fish they sell never go into.My store has a few show tanks that are always prestine and a good place to get bacteria to start a tank off if you are stuck.I also have had some success with Tetra safe start in the past and was impressed.Mind you i am still wary if it hides the results or the tank is actually near cycled.
Des

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21 Feb 2013 09:17 #21 by CrustyCrab (Peter Biddulph)
Yes Ceech, thats the best way, get media from an established tank, from a friend or LFS. I have also done this many times, and pass on media to others.

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21 Feb 2013 11:19 #22 by ceech (Desmond Gaynor)
Just note yoy will still have to monitor the tank levels as you can still have mini ammonia spikes.It may not give you an instant cycle so to speak.

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