Water changes and chemicals to use?

[TygGer]

There seems to be soo many products out there recommended for use during water changes. I'm afraid to use to many products and poison the fish inadverdently. Currently I am using AmQuel, NovAqua and a Seachems pH 7.0 Neutral Regulator/buffer (which also removes chlorine, chloramine and ammonia similar to AmQuel). Does that sound ok?

What are you guys using to condition the water?

Thanks

 

[colesea]

Absolutely, positively, nothing. Then again, I keep uncomplicated fish.

The more delicate the fish, the more water chemistry you need beneath your control. The more specialized your purpose (breeding, grow-out, color enhancing), the more water chemistry is important.

But for a run of the mill tank, I don't bother. The additives are more complicated than the fish-keeping.
~~Colesea

 

[AndyL]

Really the only thing you should need in a tank is a good quality dechlorinator (preferably something that handles chlorine and chloramines).

I personally prefer seachem prime, but there are millions out there. I like the seachem prime because you don't need much - thus the expensive bottle lasts a lot longer than multiple cheaper ones. To give an idea, I ran out of prime on sunday, needed something for w/c's monday morning - So off to walmart, Jungle ACE was all that was available. It takes .5ml of seachem prime to dechlorinate 5g of water, and 1tsp of Jungle ACE to do the same.

I don't know why your using perfect pH - but you might want to research the whole ph modification topic - its been discussed on this board thousands of times.

Andy

 

[tetra girl]

I only use water dechlorinator and its 1 drop per litre and its really cheap

 

[mandi0808]

I use Prime on my tanks. As AndyL said, it is well worth the money. I also use Amquel at water changing time, as our water municipality adds, of all things, ammonia to our water, and the Prime sometimes is just not enough to bring the levels down. The only other thing I add to my tanks are ferts.

 

[Managuense]

a lot of the time i dont even de-chlor the water when i do a water change .

 

[geKo]

i just de-chlor and thats all!

 

[TygGer]

I have regular community fish in my tank. The reason I use the pH regulator 7.0 is because my tank tends to stay on the acidic side and the water from the tap is way akaline (dont remember exact reading). I thought that by adding the buffers, it would help the tank pH stability.

I guess Im just making this more complicated than it is. Also, I haven't done a search yet, but are there test kits out there that test for chlorine, etc? I always tend to add a little more than the specified dosage in my water because I was afraid of an traces.

 

[jd_energy]

I dechlorinate the water and add probably about 8 grains of aquarium salt every time I change the water.

 

[TygGer]

I dechlorinate the water and add probably about 8 grains of aquarium salt every time I change the water.

Your cories dont mind the salt?

 

[MarkRW89]

I just dechlorinate and leave the water in a barrel for a day or two

 

[TygGer]

Wow, I had no idea dechlorinating was all I really need to do.

What are you guys doing about the pH level?

And...

Is AmQuel a good product to use for dechlorinating?

 

[colesea]

With uncomplicated fish, pH isn't an issue. What the value is isn't as important as the stability of the pH, and regular water changes on a weekly basis can keep the pH stable in an unplanted tank.

Then again, this works for me because my tap water is hard and comes with its own buffers. If I were to try and fiddle with the pH, I would actually be doing more damage than good. The only way I could drop the pH in my tanks would be to get an RO filter or add so much HCl (aka pH Down) as to crash the tanks.

The pH of planted aquariums is a bit different, especially if there is CO2 bubbled through the water, and those tanks might need additive buffers.

pH and buffers are completely different entities. Buffers prevent swings in pH. Usually water with a high pH (say 8-10) is also buffered because they contain alkaline salts. It is very difficult to drop the pH on buffered water, and doing so might override the buffer, thus causing a pH crash. So unless you are attempting breeding, grow-out, color enhancement, or live plants, tis best not to mess with the pH. In any of those cases, RO water would be your best bet, then you can talior your pH accordingly.

To have an exact pH of 7.0 in your tank is a fantasy. Many fish can survive a pH range, say between 6.4 to 8.2. So if your tank pH is 7.8, it is perfectly fine. The cories may not breed, but they will still be healthy and thrive.

My cories handle a small amount of aquarium salts added to their tank without a problem, and I've had them for four years now.
~~Colesea

 

[jd_energy]

A ph reading of 7.0 in my tanks is not a fantasy, it is real. Mine is always right at about 7.0. The cories don't seem to mind the salt at all (of course it is a very small amount of salt). They are very healthy and very active. I have had 3 out of the 4 of my cories for a little over a year and they are not dead yet.