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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

water evaporation

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30 Jun 2010 19:24 #1 by r2potat2 (Derek Martin)
my water seems to be evaporating very quickly i was away from monday mornig till wednesday evening and when i got back i have lost an inch and a half of water, that seems like a lot its a 4ft tank with 1 marine white t8 4ft long in a hood that has a 2ft by half a foot opening at the top so its well ventalated is it normal to be losin that much water

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30 Jun 2010 19:32 - 30 Jun 2010 19:37 #2 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re:water evaporation
Yep, same here, I have a three foot open Tank with 6 T5 over it, I topped it up every few days, if it's in a cool Room, check Ceilings and contents of Wardrobes for signs of Mold, I had windows closed over the Winter only to find Mold on Leather Shoes and Belts.

I now keep a sheet of loose fitting Glass on top with sides exposed this allows transfer of Gasses and reduces evaporation. Perspex gets scratched and eventually turns opaque from cleaning of mineral deposits and doesn't seem to catch the evaporating Water as well as Glass does.

You can use Vinegar or Citric Acid to clean calcium deposits from Glass

Kev.
Last edit: 30 Jun 2010 19:37 by stretnik (stretnik).

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30 Jun 2010 19:34 #3 by Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
Its been pretty warm recently and tank water levels can drop quickly. It may help to adjust the heater a couple of degrees lower during the warm spell.

Jay

Location: Finglas, North Dublin.

Life
may not be the party we hoped for, but while we
are here we might as well dance.

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30 Jun 2010 19:58 #4 by silverdollar (Paul Hosback)
ye an auto top off is the only way to go

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30 Jun 2010 20:27 #5 by dar (darren curry)
stretnik wrote:

You can use Vinegar or Citric Acid to clean calcium deposits from Glass


not to undermine your answer Kev (and please don't think i'm having a dig) but someone reading this could see the calcium build up on the glass in the tank and might think of cleaning it with the above, which should be pointed out is a big no no

Check out the angling section, it is fantastic

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30 Jun 2010 20:31 #6 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re:water evaporation
No probs, been at this a long time so maybe this novice can confirm it for me.

www.yamatogreen.com/CleaningAquariumGlass.htm

Kev.

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01 Jul 2010 08:32 #7 by dar (darren curry)
Kev wat does vinegar do to water, does it lower the ph, i asked this many moons ago on another forum but the oul noggin is leaking more and more info the older i get. also i find wit the build up of calcium above the water line if you keep on top of things wit a simple top up and run the aglae cleaner over it does the trick, i neglected my glass panels that cover my tank and boy did i have a job cleaning them, hot water, hot soapy water, vinegar, lobbed in the dish washer then scrubbed and rinsed although they were cleaner they were not as gleaming as i'd expect wit so much elbow grease

Check out the angling section, it is fantastic

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01 Jul 2010 09:37 #8 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re:water evaporation
Because the Post was pertaining to water evaporation, I suggested a Glass cover to reduce it and that if the cover, through splashes you get from bubbles breaking at the surface, got limescale residue, you remove the Cover and clean as I stated with Vinegar etc , not to try cleaning it while it was on the Tank.

Calcium build-up will damage Glass if you try rubbing it without trying to dissolve it first.

Kev.

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01 Jul 2010 09:51 #9 by dar (darren curry)
cheers Kev

Check out the angling section, it is fantastic

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01 Jul 2010 10:00 #10 by JohnH (John)
Replied by JohnH (John) on topic Re:water evaporation

boy did i have a job cleaning them, hot water, hot soapy water, vinegar, lobbed in the dish washer then scrubbed and rinsed although they were cleaner they were not as gleaming as i'd expect wit so much elbow grease


Darren,
by the same token - and once again not having any sort of 'dig' - it is worth stressing to anyone not knowing - that as well as keeping vinegar out of a set-up tank no-one should EVER let soap or ever more especially detergent (washing-up liquid, hand-washing liquid) anywhere near tanks containing Fish or inverts - they are deadly, where actually a small amount of vinegar wouldn't be.
The best thing to remember here is that everyone should keep any chemicals away from their water.
I of course accept that some are beneficial (Aquarium Remedies for example), but it's far better to ask and be safe and not sorry.

John

Location:
N. Tipp

We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.


ITFS member.



It's a long way to Tipperary.

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01 Jul 2010 10:31 #11 by dar (darren curry)
this is very true John, which is why i stated that i rinsed it afterwards maybe i'l head back and mention thoroughly rinse, i just made my original statement as kev left a space in the comment and that space could have caused slight confussion so i helped to clear it up slightly, i had visions of some one wit a bottle of vinegar scrubbing the inside of the tank and lets face it stranger things happen

cheers lads

Check out the angling section, it is fantastic

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01 Jul 2010 11:37 #12 by Ma (mm mm)
Replied by Ma (mm mm) on topic Re:water evaporation
Same here, lose 6-7 litres a day T5 luminaire and no cover, but I do clean and top up every htree days, so I lose about 20litres between cleaning. It is not a problem I take it other than having to top it up? Three days is as long as it gets left without maintanence.

As for cleaning glass on top, g'luck with that, wouldn't like to have to keep my braces transparent, they white up so badly it would take me hours of scrubbin. No thx:)



Mark

Location D.11

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18 Jul 2010 00:06 #13 by Norrie Rugger (Ían Ó Ceallaigh)
You would need a considerable amount of vinegar; to adjust the pH of a large volume of water, such as an aquarium

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18 Jul 2010 02:41 #14 by Jaffacakehead (John McPartland)
I've been removing the old silicone from an old 120L tank to reseal it and while I was at it I figured I'd try and clean it up a bit. The water is very hard in my area and there was a lot of limescale on the back inside of the tank and the top two inches all around the inside due to evaporation. I was tempted to use some chemical cleaners and then I remembered this thread and went and got the vinegar. The glass is shining now and all the old silicone is removed. Vinegar is the business. The tank is like new. I just have to seal it now and wait 48hrs or so for the silicone to cure and its sorted. Obviously you shouldn't use it on a tank that is set up but if you are ever thinking of stripping a tank down and cleaning it or if you want to clean up a second hand tank then I would definitely recommend vinegar.

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