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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

Oily top on water

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20 Aug 2006 15:37 #1 by Damian_Ireland (Damian_Ireland)
All,
I currently have an EHeim external canister in my new tank , setup about 3 months. I have noticed that there is like a oil slick on the surface of the water and am not sure whats causing it. All the fish are perfectly healthy but I am wondering what it is. I have always had a powerhead and think that it is something to do with the lack of circulation on the surface .

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20 Aug 2006 16:32 #2 by platty252 (Darren Dalton)
You need to brake the surface to airate the water.
If you agitate the surface of the water this will get rid of the oily surface.
You can get this oily skin on the water from fish food stc.
If you are using a spraybar with your Eheim you can face it upwards to break the surface.

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20 Aug 2006 16:48 #3 by Damian_Ireland (Damian_Ireland)
i dont have a spray bar but the water entering the tank is breaking the surface.

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21 Aug 2006 01:40 #4 by Peter OB (Peter O'Brien)
Just aggitate the surface and it will go.

Can sometimes be caused by too many minerals in the water ( Too much plant fertiliser is usually to blame in this situation).

Happens in my Cichlid tank, i just put the venturi valve on for an hour and it goes.

Smoke me a Kipper, I’ll be back for breakfast.

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21 Aug 2006 02:32 #5 by JohnH (John)
Replied by JohnH (John) on topic Re: Oily top on water
This may be inappropriate for your 'slick' but, for what it's worth, many years ago when I used to space heat my fish house with paraffin there was a constant 'war' against oil on the water surface. I found a pretty effective way to clear it in the short term was to 'float' newspaper on the surface, the oil would be soaked up by it...but this wasn't a cure, merely a way to keep it at bay. This had to be the absorbent stuff, not the modern 'shiny' paper as used in magazines or colour supplements.

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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21 Aug 2006 13:43 #6 by platty252 (Darren Dalton)
You can drag a paper towel (kitchen roll) over the surface to soak it up.
But you need to figure out what is causing the oil slick.
Maybe you are feeding your fish with foods that have a high oil content.

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21 Aug 2006 14:14 #7 by Dave (Dave Fallon)
Usually the problem is related to the interaction of molecules of proteins and other organic by-products from certain foods and waste with the surface tension of water. Water molecules have the ability to basically to attach microscpoic proteins and other DOC(dissolved organic carbons) to the surface of H20 molecules. Basically the principal used in Marine Skimmers is shown here, the ability to harness this property of water to remove DOC from aquariums. Obviously a skimmer is rendered useless in freshwater and is therefore void as a solution.

A good indication that there isnt enough surface tension is that the film still manages to exist. In a fish only system this usually isnt a problem as aggitation can be maximised however if its a planted tank and water aggitation needs to be at a minimum then you will have to try and change your regime slightly.

Cheers

Dave

Qui Vivra Verra.

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24 Aug 2006 13:14 #8 by Damian_Ireland (Damian_Ireland)
thx for all the info. i will change the food for a week or so.
On a separate kinda issue, or maybe related , is there a way to check oxgen level in water ? I am a little concerned cause i dont use a powerhead . Nothing major since i aint lost any fish... but just wondering

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25 Aug 2006 03:10 #9 by Dave (Dave Fallon)
Yes, there are electronic readers and a single test kit for oxygen made by tetra.

Qui Vivra Verra.

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