Water Conditioner - Which One?
- Thread starter Cariogram
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i believe that all "conditioners" that 'eliminate' chlorine use the same active ingredient ... sodium thiosulfate, so changing brands will have no effect on your water other than oxydizing the chlorine.
while i don't use dechlorinators (well water) i always suggest that folks use conditioners that have no 'bells and whistles' ... protecters, stabilizers, coatings, balancers, and the rest of that crap that does nothing but remove money from your wallet.
while i don't use dechlorinators (well water) i always suggest that folks use conditioners that have no 'bells and whistles' ... protecters, stabilizers, coatings, balancers, and the rest of that crap that does nothing but remove money from your wallet.
I like Seachem Prime myself. You just need a very little bit to condition the water and on my smaller tanks, the 500mL bottle lasts a long time and costs about $10-$15 USD. Prime I think removes Nitrites and Nitrates as well.
Some others I have heard people like are Tetra Aqua Safe and Kordon AmQuel+. Most baisc water conditioners will do the job IMO.
My procedure for smaller tanks is take water out. Fill bucket up with new water and add water conditioner. Let it sit a few minutes to make sure the temperature is correct. Then I syphon the water back into the small tank. Reason I dont pour is because I do not want to disturb my tank too much.
For larger tanks, I use a python to clean and drain the water. Then when I am adding back the water (ususally right before I start), I will add the water conditioner. In the python, I try to get it nice an bubbly while not disturning the tank. I beleive this helps gas out the chloramine and stuff. I could be entirely wrong - but it doesnt seem to hurt.
Good Luck
Aries
Some others I have heard people like are Tetra Aqua Safe and Kordon AmQuel+. Most baisc water conditioners will do the job IMO.
My procedure for smaller tanks is take water out. Fill bucket up with new water and add water conditioner. Let it sit a few minutes to make sure the temperature is correct. Then I syphon the water back into the small tank. Reason I dont pour is because I do not want to disturb my tank too much.
For larger tanks, I use a python to clean and drain the water. Then when I am adding back the water (ususally right before I start), I will add the water conditioner. In the python, I try to get it nice an bubbly while not disturning the tank. I beleive this helps gas out the chloramine and stuff. I could be entirely wrong - but it doesnt seem to hurt.
Good Luck
Aries
gosh, two posts for the price of one--lol. I am being lazy. So, if you get confused about which thread you are in....all my fault.
my definition of a good water conditioner is how many gallons of water does it treat for a buck. All i have ever been after is chlorine and chloramine elimination. Along with the heavy metal detox. After that you seem to be paying for worthless marketing hype.
Fresh water will restore all the electolytes that need restoring. It will provide all the trace minerals that may have been depleted. It doesn't do anything for the aloe vera. But wait, i forgot, fish don't immerse themselves in aloe vera anyway. A healthy fish should not need anything to "restore" their slime coat. Water changes do not wash away slime coats.
And, the bacteria oriented water conditioners that suggest you need to use them at every water change--no. the colony of denitrifying bacteria in your tank does not get damaged during water changes.
DeChlor and Tap Water Conditioner are two products that bring the cost per gallon of water conditioning way down. There are others--those are just two I have used for many years.
I know a lot of people that swear by amquel. That way they are protected from the ammonia released as chloramines have the bonds broken. They are more comfortable not exposing their fish to the brief ammonia spike. I do not pay attention to that . Have never experienced any problems. And, the bio-filter will take care of the free ammonia that results from the chloramine elimination very quickly.
my definition of a good water conditioner is how many gallons of water does it treat for a buck. All i have ever been after is chlorine and chloramine elimination. Along with the heavy metal detox. After that you seem to be paying for worthless marketing hype.
Fresh water will restore all the electolytes that need restoring. It will provide all the trace minerals that may have been depleted. It doesn't do anything for the aloe vera. But wait, i forgot, fish don't immerse themselves in aloe vera anyway. A healthy fish should not need anything to "restore" their slime coat. Water changes do not wash away slime coats.
And, the bacteria oriented water conditioners that suggest you need to use them at every water change--no. the colony of denitrifying bacteria in your tank does not get damaged during water changes.
DeChlor and Tap Water Conditioner are two products that bring the cost per gallon of water conditioning way down. There are others--those are just two I have used for many years.
I know a lot of people that swear by amquel. That way they are protected from the ammonia released as chloramines have the bonds broken. They are more comfortable not exposing their fish to the brief ammonia spike. I do not pay attention to that . Have never experienced any problems. And, the bio-filter will take care of the free ammonia that results from the chloramine elimination very quickly.
chlorine or chloarmine?
First you have to know which chemical is in your water, for you may need different water conditioners for them.
Visit this site to see what the differences are, paying close attention to the * marked products that "treate chloramine" but do not treat the ammonia released from that. This ammonia is deadly -- for small water changes, maybe 10% you may not harm fish, but if you do larger (and I strongly recommend larger water changes of 25 to 50% a week in general) then the fish can be killed by the ammonia released.
Review of water conditioners
First you have to know which chemical is in your water, for you may need different water conditioners for them.
Visit this site to see what the differences are, paying close attention to the * marked products that "treate chloramine" but do not treat the ammonia released from that. This ammonia is deadly -- for small water changes, maybe 10% you may not harm fish, but if you do larger (and I strongly recommend larger water changes of 25 to 50% a week in general) then the fish can be killed by the ammonia released.
Review of water conditioners
Really.
I don't seem to have that issue. i do at least a 50%-60% pwc weekly. I use a couple of products that do not convert the ammonia (released as the chloramine chemical bond is broken) to ammonium. The issue has never come up in my tanks-with sensitive fish, juveniles in grow-out, or the basic display we all seem to keep.
I can test the ammonia level within minutes of the pwc and detect no measureable level.
I always assumed it was because I had a healthy bio filter. A filter capable of keeping the ammonia well below toxic levels. That coupled with the dilutuon that occurs as a result of the water already in the tank typically keeps fish safe. An interesting article deals with ammonia toxicity and the implications of ph and temp. Here is a link:
http://www.thekrib.com/Chemistry/ammonia-toxicity.html
If, for some reason, your ammonia levels sky rocket at water changes then an amquel, or ammonia fixing product would be called for. In most instances, however, the fish and the bio filter in an established tank will do just fine with the wee bit of ammonia generated at pwc's. In part that old saw 'the solution to pollution is dilution".
I don't seem to have that issue. i do at least a 50%-60% pwc weekly. I use a couple of products that do not convert the ammonia (released as the chloramine chemical bond is broken) to ammonium. The issue has never come up in my tanks-with sensitive fish, juveniles in grow-out, or the basic display we all seem to keep.
I can test the ammonia level within minutes of the pwc and detect no measureable level.
I always assumed it was because I had a healthy bio filter. A filter capable of keeping the ammonia well below toxic levels. That coupled with the dilutuon that occurs as a result of the water already in the tank typically keeps fish safe. An interesting article deals with ammonia toxicity and the implications of ph and temp. Here is a link:
http://www.thekrib.com/Chemistry/ammonia-toxicity.html
If, for some reason, your ammonia levels sky rocket at water changes then an amquel, or ammonia fixing product would be called for. In most instances, however, the fish and the bio filter in an established tank will do just fine with the wee bit of ammonia generated at pwc's. In part that old saw 'the solution to pollution is dilution".
I believe that you actually need to be sure to get the Amqual Plus to neutralize the ammonia. Seachem Prime and Tetra Aqua-Safe also neutralize the ammonia that comes from breaking the chloramines.
I use Wardley's Chlor-Out and I have the worst tap water you could possibly immagine. I have ammonia at a minimum of 0.25 ppm, nitrites at 0.5-0.75 ppm and nitrates at 7 ppm in my tap water with a ph of 7.6 and other minerals dissolved in it. I have never had any problems with my fish after a water change and my ammonia/nitrites test 0.0 within hours after a major water change barely exposing my fish to any harmful toxins. Its cheap and effective. For new tanks cycling the old fashioned way (with fish) and horrible tapwater, I could see using amquel plus or some other designer water conditioner otherwise I go for the cheapest product that does the job.
I use Seachem's PRIME as well. As previously stated, it removes chlorine, chloramines and ammonia, and detoxifies nitrates and nitrites. And to top it off, 5ml treats 50-gals of water (which is economical for me when doing water changes for 180gal and 125gal tanks).
Just a wee note --
I've been reading a lot about chlorine and chloramine and what I'm seeing more and more lately is that city municipalities are moving away from chlorine to chloramine.
People who just use a chlorine remover might want to consider changing over to one that removes both chlorine and cloramine and neutralizes ammonia. I doubt the city will tell you if and when they are changing and I'd hate to see someone end up with a nasty surprise.
Roan
I've been reading a lot about chlorine and chloramine and what I'm seeing more and more lately is that city municipalities are moving away from chlorine to chloramine.
People who just use a chlorine remover might want to consider changing over to one that removes both chlorine and cloramine and neutralizes ammonia. I doubt the city will tell you if and when they are changing and I'd hate to see someone end up with a nasty surprise.
Roan