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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 temperature increased

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16 Apr 2013 19:47 #1 by Santiagovalcarcel (Santiago)
Hi Guys

Came back yesterday and temperature in my 180lt was 27 degrees and the heater has thermostat so it only comes one when temp ges lower than 23 deg. I disconnected heater yesterday just to make sure thermostat is not failing. Today it was at 28 degrees so did a bit of a water change and added cold water and went down to 25

My 60 ltr tank has not changed and it remains at 25. Are you guys experiencing something like this and if yes are you shortening the light time, or just doing water changes ? also if water temp is at 28-30 would that cause fish to get sick ?

Thanks in advance for advice

Santiago

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16 Apr 2013 20:59 #2 by igmillichip (ian millichip)
Last question first...........it depends on which fish you have as to whether or not the higher temp will cause problems or not.

An increased temp will also lower oxygen levels, and affect other things such as the proportion of ammonia in the tank.

Aquarium thermostats give only a guide as to the temperature.

You need a thermometer.......but your thermometer needs to be reasonably accurate.

Now....the physics......water has a high specific heat capacity.....that will mean that it will hold the temp for quite a while (compare a boiled kettle to some toast made at the same time).

We've had some warmer days recently.

A larger tank will need much longer to drop in temperature and will depend on outside temperature and dimensions of the tank.

ian

Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.

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17 Apr 2013 09:48 #3 by Santiagovalcarcel (Santiago)
Hi Ian

Thanks for reply. I am keeping Cichlids from Tanganyika I have a thermometer ... actually two of them.

I run air pump during night time and have a pretty good filtration and water flow in my tank. Should I run the air pump 24/7?

Thanks again

Santiago

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17 Apr 2013 11:04 #4 by JustinK (Justin Kelly)
Water flow or lack of around the heater stat can give a localised reading higher than the rest of the tank.
Are your other thermometers at different levels in the tank to get an overall reading ?
I had trouble with circulation before with a 190l which was resolved by moving the spraybar
and adding an internal to push the surface water away from the heater.

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17 Apr 2013 12:09 #5 by Santiagovalcarcel (Santiago)
Hi Justin

I have thermometer on each side of the tank I have one 1500 cristalprofi and one 950 cirstalprofi as well.

I did a small water change last night and went down to 25 deg and today in the morning it was the same.

I was looking into getting a cooling fan cause a chiller is too expensive ... if Tangs are ok in 28-30 deg then I iwll just not worry or make more often water changes, I do 20% every week

Thanks for reply

Regards,

Santiago

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17 Apr 2013 17:17 #6 by igmillichip (ian millichip)
It all depends on which species you have.

Those that would naturally inhabit shallow waters or live near the surface would be subjected to temperature fluctuations going upto around 30C, but that would not be for constant periods of time.

I wouldn't keep lower dwelling tangs at those high temps for very long at all though.

The thermostats on your heaters are unlikely to be ones that keep the temp at the given temperature.
You'd need a proportional thermostat for that and a very powerful heater (but I see noi reason whatsoever to have such thermostats in a fish tank).

The thermostat you have is most likely, like most aquarium thermostats, an on-off type.
In those type there is a lower switch and an upper switch in the hyteresis loop....and there are times when the temp can jump past the upper switch limit and keep the heater on for a temperature above a switch-off value.
This is quite common during the stabilisation period of new heaters.

Would a fan help? who knows.....but it may increase the rate of evaporation and water top-ups.;)

ian

Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.

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17 Apr 2013 17:24 #7 by igmillichip (ian millichip)
If you are interested in thermostat ins-and-outs then you are welcome to read this simple guide to thermostats (now....this version was aimed at reptile thermostats, but the principles apply to any).

I haven't done part 3 yet as that is maths and electronics needed to design and build computerised thermostats :)

docs.google.com/file/d/0B07wAC7V5eLqcjkw...OUU/edit?usp=sharing

ian

Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.

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17 Apr 2013 19:29 #8 by JustinK (Justin Kelly)
What heater are you using ?
You would have to allow a degree or two variance in setpoint temperature and actual temperature.
I remember previously setting a heater slightly lower to allow for the occasional increase in temp.
Is it holding temp now ?
What about room temp? has the heating being on ?
a tank generally loses heat to the room, but if your overheating the room
then the heat can transfer into the tank
Keep an eye on it just in case its on its way out

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18 Apr 2013 09:26 #9 by Santiagovalcarcel (Santiago)
Hi Justin

I have JBL ProTemp S 200W and it is set up to 22 degrees which usually gives me the 25 degrees I need and when I bought it they told me it has a thermostat so it will only heat when temp in tank drops lower than set up - to be honest I rarely see the light turning ON in that heater unlike the one I have in the 60 ltr which switches ON and OFF often to keep temp

Room gets light during the day so it gets pretty warm, tanks are in shade but can't scape the heat of a normal spring/summer day.

I did not have the chance to check last night or today due to work commitments but will check if the water is holding temp.

I woud like to know if the Tangs will be ok if temp increases to 28 degrees which the highest I recorded - I hope they will be fine otherwise I need to look into getting cooling fan

Regards,

Santiago

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