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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

Help picking an external filter ?

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26 Aug 2010 22:00 - 26 Aug 2010 22:08 #1 by barr (declan)
Hi All

After talking to a member on here I’ve decided to go the whole hog and get an external filter :)

I feel guilty for getting rid of a perfectly nearly new internal but hope it will be worth the effort and cost.

Anyone recommend the best value filter at the moment? There seems to be a good few makes to choose from -are they all similar in function? My tank is 190 litres.

Is it true they need a lot less cleaning than an internal filter?

Thanks
Last edit: 26 Aug 2010 22:08 by barr (declan).

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26 Aug 2010 22:18 - 26 Aug 2010 22:19 #2 by Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
They require a lot less maintenance than an internal and a host of other benefits. Tetratec, Fluval and Eheim are some of the popular makes. Each manufacturer will have several types to suit your tank. Ive heard good things about the JBL range too.

Jay

Location: Finglas, North Dublin.

Life
may not be the party we hoped for, but while we
are here we might as well dance.
Last edit: 26 Aug 2010 22:19 by Viperbot (Jason Hughes).

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26 Aug 2010 22:28 #3 by barr (declan)
Viperbot wrote:

They require a lot less maintenance than an internal and a host of other benefits. Tetratec, Fluval and Eheim are some of the popular makes. Each manufacturer will have several types to suit your tank. Ive heard good things about the JBL range too.

Jay


How often do they need cleaning compared to the internal?

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26 Aug 2010 22:33 #4 by Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
That depends entirely on what fish you keep and the size of the tank. However, a genral rule of thumb is to do some maintenance every 4-6 weeks. Given your tank is a 190ltr, Im assuming you wont be keeping anything too large or messy so you should be fine.

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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26 Aug 2010 22:46 #5 by barr (declan)
I was hoping it would have be longer intervals with an external.

I clean my current internal once a month and it never seeemed to be a problem.

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26 Aug 2010 22:52 #6 by mickdeja (Mick Whelan)
PM sent dude..........:)

Follow me up to Carlow

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26 Aug 2010 22:53 #7 by Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
This is just how I go about it. Different setups, different circumstances. Like I mentiond earlier, there are other benefits to using an external such as much more surface area for beneficial bacteria to colonise, the ability to change filtration media to suit a particular setup, better flow and in most cases they are a lot less noisy. Shop around too, there are bargains to be had and dont forget to check the for sale section here on the boards.

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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27 Aug 2010 17:16 #8 by barr (declan)
What about the filter media in external filters. Does this need to be replaced occasionally like internal filters?

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27 Aug 2010 17:33 #9 by Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
That depends on the media. What are you going to be using?

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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27 Aug 2010 20:06 #10 by sincgar (Feargal Costello)
Externals are the biz. You have a wide choice of media and room to fit lots. You can even clean it without getting wet. I disconnect mine, take it outside, clean it, refill it with RO(works as partial wc for tank also) and then fit it back to the tank, plug in and off it goes.
Its a CristalPfofi e900 with a lilypad, spraybar outlet and the only way I know it is running it to check the outlet its so quiet
also looks good as only inlet in tank and outlet at water surface. Fitted inline heater as well so that is also outside of the tank meaning more fish room

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27 Aug 2010 20:07 #11 by barr (declan)
Its between these. They all come with their own media I believe - I think the prices are far cheaper than the shops

www.zooplus.ie/shop/fish/filters_pumps/c...ernal_filters/146499


www.zooplus.ie/shop/fish/filters_pumps/c...filters/eheim/146650


www.zooplus.ie/ask?query=fluval+205&num=20

the 205 model

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27 Aug 2010 20:10 #12 by sincgar (Feargal Costello)
bigger is better. I love my e900

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27 Aug 2010 20:11 #13 by sincgar (Feargal Costello)
PS its also the only one narrow enough to fit in cabinet (8" door) but room inside. The filter has lots of trays for media. It comes with sponges and noodles but there are plenty of alternatives f- carbon, nitrate, phosphate etc. Easy to prime

Only my 2pence as never had the others

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27 Aug 2010 20:18 #14 by dubfish (Alan Martin)
That JBL E1500 looks to be great value @109 and free P&P as well,bigger the better.

Regards Alan..

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27 Aug 2010 20:21 #15 by barr (declan)
If they are bigger would they be nosier?

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27 Aug 2010 21:05 #16 by dubfish (Alan Martin)
barr wrote:

If they are bigger would they be nosier?

Not necessarily,granted the propeller will be bigger,but the flow rate is what its all about,there's ways of reducing the hum of any external.If its in a cabinet,insulate the inside with styrofoam or fiberglass foam,that stuff the use in attics.

Regards Alan..

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27 Aug 2010 21:10 #17 by dar (darren curry)
more filtration is better, but too much flow is not. bigger is not always better

Check out the angling section, it is fantastic

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27 Aug 2010 21:14 #18 by fishmad1234 (Craig Coyle)
cant go wrong with a owl tetra tec external

at the end of the day it becomes nite

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27 Aug 2010 21:19 #19 by dar (darren curry)
get a fluval i have the 405 and it lost exactly half its power in exactly 2years right when the warranty was up, how precise is that :angry:

Check out the angling section, it is fantastic

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27 Aug 2010 21:24 #20 by barr (declan)
dar wrote:

get a fluval i have the 405 and it lost exactly half its power in exactly 2years right when the warranty was up, how precise is that :angry:



Precision engineering :) I think the 205 is decent value at 86 spuds.

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