what water conditioner do you use?

[davidmold]

There is a fairly detailed breakdown of what Amquel does to the ammonia on this web page:

http://www.novalek.com/kpd58.htm

and the rest of the site has quite detailed information answering your questions. I do not think it is magic.

Also, consider whether you can prove that the chlorine and/or chloraminehas all gone after 48 hours if you just leave the water standing - I have heard many different times quoted for how long that can take, and it's much easier to use a product that will do it straight away.

 

[noncentric]

I use AquaSafe too. It works fine, but I've been wondering lately if there's a more economical choice... as in, one that goes farther (use less). It seems that with as many tanks as I have up, I buy AquaSafe a bit more often than I like. I dunno, maybe cost-wise, they all work out about the same. Any opinions based on personal experience as to whether some water conditioners are more economical than others? Maybe I should try to find larger quantities online. (just kind of thinking out loud now)

Hi homebunnyj - from what I've read in other forums, it seems that Seachem's Prime is considered the most economical (not considering the off-brand formulations). One ml of Prime treats 10 gallons.

500 ml bottle of Prime @ $8.50 = 5000 gallons treated @ $0.0017/gal
16 oz bottle of Amquel+ @ $6.50 = 960 gallons treated @ $0.0068/gal
16.9 oz bottle of AquaSafe @ $5.60 = 1000 gallons treated @0.0056/gal

I haven't used it myself, but will probably switch to Prime when my bottle of Amquel+ is finished.

 

[Lotus]

I use AP Tapwater Conditioner. It's one of the cheapest out there, unless you get bulk sodium thiosulphate. We have very little chlorine in our tapwater, and I've never had problems with the product.

16oz @ $5.29 treats 9,600 gallons = 0.00055 cents per gallon treated.

We get the gallon bottles.

One drop treats a gallon, a teaspoon treats 40 gallons. It sure saves a lot of time not measuring spoons upon spoons of dechlor when you're treating a tank.

 

[FroggyFox]

I use both Amquel and Seachem Prime. I condition the water first with Amquel, let it sit there, and then pour it in. Afterwards, I put in some Prime (for the slime coat).

Is there anything wrong with this?

I suppose there's nothing wrong with it...but its not necessary to use both.

 

[noncentric]

I suppose there's nothing wrong with it...but its not necessary to use both.

Yeah, I'm not too keen on the claims of "promoting Slime Coat". If the slime coat thing is the only reason to use Prime too - then it's probably not necessary.

 

[Orion]

Unless the tap water has ammonia in it then who cares if the water conditioner has the ability to remove ammonia. Ammonia is going to be ate up by the nitrogen cycle anyway, and so long as it doesnt get to the point where it's affecting the fish or showing up on the tests then it doesn't matter.

Sure just by letting water sit out for a few days will remove the cholorine too, but the more tanks you have then the more water your going to have to keep sitting around, and most just don't have the space for that. Just in my tanks the way they are now I change anywhere from 40-70 gallons each week. It's a matter of convinence more than anything else. It's not gong to hurt anything, so why not use it? Better safe than sorry.

 

[fishtrap]

Prime. Smells funny though, like sulfur. In fact, I've noticed that Flourish Comprehensive looks AND smells like soy sauce. NO, I'M NOT ABOUT TO DOSE MY TANK WITH KIKOMAN!!!!

 

[davidmold]

Unless the tap water has ammonia in it then who cares if the water conditioner has the ability to remove ammonia.

Because extra ammonia is produced by the dechlorinator as part of the dechlorination process.

 

[homebunnyj]

Hi homebunnyj - from what I've read in other forums, it seems that Seachem's Prime is considered the most economical (not considering the off-brand formulations). One ml of Prime treats 10 gallons.

500 ml bottle of Prime @ $8.50 = 5000 gallons treated @ $0.0017/gal
16 oz bottle of Amquel+ @ $6.50 = 960 gallons treated @ $0.0068/gal
16.9 oz bottle of AquaSafe @ $5.60 = 1000 gallons treated @0.0056/gal

I haven't used it myself, but will probably switch to Prime when my bottle of Amquel+ is finished.

Thanks, noncentric. And Froggy, I am going to check into ordering online. It's gotta be cheaper than shelling out what I do now at the lfs.

 

[ninamarie]

Amquel for the pond and then Betta stuff well for the bettas duh.

Made the mistake of using the Betta for the goldies in the house thinking it would be about the same well minutes later the little goldies died

So hard lesson learned, stick to the norm don't wander off the path!!!

 

[Seiryoku]

I use API stress coat and stress zyme.

Me too ^^)b

 

[straitjacket]

These simply doesn't work as indicated by the manufacturers. If they did, then water changes are not necessary.
If you could chemically show me how these products remove NH3, NH4 or NO3, I would gladly use them. But I refuse to accept the fact these product such as Amquel or Seachem Prime as a magical element.

Rohn

Chloramine is a concern for me, since it's currently in the city's water supply as it is in many other districts.
Days when all you needed to do was set a few buckets of water out for water changes is gone. The chloramine doesn't leave the water like chlorine does and I've experienced the damage it does. This is the reason I use these conditioners.

 

[nighthawk17]

ok then with those answars i have a few more questions i live out in the country and im using water strait off the well couse the water out of the tap kills outside plants so i figured it wouldnt be to good for fish i was planning on getting some water from the store and some stuff to nutrulize the clorine would that be a beter idea then the water out of the well that is filled with lots of metals... and all the goldfish the plan i had with those is to buy them to add some color to my tank and when i get some more money to just give them to my uncle witch has a couple outside ponds... i was also wondering why i wouldnt have any algae growth when the tank has been set up for 6 months in sunlite i got a pic of the tank i will try to put it in here http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f67/nighthitman/tank.jpg

 

[nighthawk17]

in that picture i have the the 3 plant bulbs that actually grew circled in red and the f guppy in blue

 

[Orion]

I don't have a clue as to the chemical process in which it actualy dechlorinates the water, but if ammonia is a by-product then in an established tank that still shouldn't be an issue.

 

[davidmold]

I don't have a clue as to the chemical process in which it actualy dechlorinates the water, but if ammonia is a by-product then in an established tank that still shouldn't be an issue.

No, that's fair enough and quite true, I just meant that's why they put it in there, I think, so if the tank is not established it won't make the situation worse.

 

[GeraldTheMouse]

some kind in a yellow bottle. i think its by tetra aqua... or something like that, its the only kind i can ever find at walmart, or petsmart.

Yeah, its called Tetra Aqua. I use it like once a week.

 

[Lotus]

Because extra ammonia is produced by the dechlorinator as part of the dechlorination process.

That's only in the case of chloramine, which is a bond of ammonia and chlorine. The dechlorinator breaks the bond and neutralizes the chlorine, leaving ammonia.

If you have simple chlorine in your water, there won't be ammonia produced.

 

[rohnds]

Thank you for the link describing work AmQuel works. I wonder if you read the article carefully. It was written more as commercial than scientific article.

Let me paraphrase what it states:
According to the statement ammonia reacts with AmQuel to form aminomethanesulfonate and water. Then this hydroxymethane of the hydrocarbon complex react with more ammonia to form (I quote) non-toxic, stable water-soluble substance. Anyone which HS chemistry would immediately wonder what happened to sulfate SO4 compound. Did it just magically turn disappear? No because it has to be in the water since it molecule of the aminomethanesulfonate.

In the last paragraph it states that sulfonate reacts with free chlorine to form OCl- and Cl-
This just as foot note.

Like I said, good commercial for AmQuel with no scientific basis.

I never stated that chlorine will dissipate from volume of water in 48hr. It all depend on the volume of water, surface area and the amount of chlorine in the water. Most people have 5 gallon water bucket. And in 5 gallon cl2 will disappear in about 48hr, if not even sooner.

Rohn

 

[TommyR]

Chlor out.