What Do People Add And Reccomend To Their Water During Water Changes

[RossW]

I am in need of some "tap water conditioner" and was wondering what people use and reccomend?

I am on a well, and add softened water, but have been using Aqua Plus cause I had it.

Does anyone use "cycle" or anything like that at each water change to help the fish' protective coating or to reduce stress?  Is this line of products all fluff?

Thanks In Advance,
Ross

[SuperT]

I usually have some of this on hand.

http://www.bigalsonline.ca/BigAlsCA/ctl3664/cp18157/si1318823/cl0/bigalsmultipurposewaterconditioner64oz

I'm sure there are others...prime as an example.  I think my wife just saw this onsale and thats what we ended up with.  I use it for both fresh and marine.

Terry

[babblefish1960]

"Cycle" is a product of dubious veracity, and there seems to be little evidence that it does all that it says it does. Bacteria seems to have a shelf life, so it is hard to determine just what benefit it could have relative to their claims.  That being said, I am sure it doesn't hurt anything either, just perhaps a waste of money.

As for treating your water, it really depends upon your water that comes from the well. You obviously don't have chlorine or chloramine, so those sorts of conditioners are a moot point, other than Seachem prime which is good for the slime coat and helps transmogrify ammonia and nitrites to be detoxified into something that can be broken down by your own bacteria colonies.

[beowulf]

I also use the big al's stuff, have been for years, without any problems.

[KLKelly]

I am on well water and I use Prime Prime Prime and more Prime.  It only takes a small amount - even for my 90 gallon.

It helps detoxify metals - I have probably unknown stuff in my water so it makes me feel better.

I also have .25 of ammonia in the summer and .50 in the winter so Prime has been a big help.

Also - Cycle has a lot of additives.  Since fish have to breath the water - this may not be the best product out there.

I also have it on hand and use it whenever there are ammonia blips.  I can't do water changes easily as I've chosen to gas out my water for 24 hours before using it.

I was thinking of switching to Amquel because I hear it can lower ph.  Then I think that could be risky.

[sniggir]

I have to agree with kelly I Love prime... and you don't need to use as much of it as you do other water conditioner's and if you have problems with ammonia you can double or triple the dose for a quick fix... while you try and solve the problem

[RedFish]

I use Prime as well.   I notice you have smaller tanks.   My 2 are 29 gallons, and I change 10gal a week.  A teaspoon of prime is good for 50 gallons, so I use 1/4 tsp which is a bit over for the 10gal but Ok.

However it is a good deal trickier on my 10 and 5 gal tanks, and I plan on buying another brand, or finding 1/8 and 1/16 teaspoons!

Just FYI!

[estuary]

i go to Walmart and whatever cheapest aqua plus ,aqua safe
big Al's stuff is good too cycle is not a chlorine remover, adds bacteria, personally i think its a waste of money
i am going to look into prime too

[audioslave_36]

Prime,Prime,Prime,Prime,Prime,Prime,Prime,Prime,Prime,Prime,Prime,Prime,Prime,Prime,Prime,Prime,Prime,Prime,Prime,Prime,Prime,Prime, oh did I mention Prime ?


Dave

[DavidJohnson]

This is not relevant to those on well water but to those on city water I recommend that you not use most standard water conditioners such as the Big Al's variety.  I was doing this and it resulted in the loss of a few fish.  The problem is, when these products neutralize chloramine they release ammonia which we all know is also toxic to fish.  Have you ever seen your tank go cloudy after a water change?  This is because of a bacterial bloom because of all the ammonia that was released.  In the summer the city of Ottawa increases the amount of chloramine in the water and I was finding that after I made water changes some of my fish didn't look so well.  After a large water change I even had a few die.  So I resorted to my trusty information search tool called google and found out the above about ammonia getting released and that it is recommended that if your city uses chloramine to use a product that also detoxifies ammonia.  I picked up one of these products (don't recall what it was called) and now when I do a water change my fish look healthy and happy and I get no cloudy water.  So, I recommend that when buying a water conditioner buy one that detoxifies ammonia in addition to chlorine and chloramines.  Prime does do this as do many others.

[kennyman]

The best way to condition water from a well or any other source is to bubble it in a container for 48 hrs. You can throw some plants such as Hornwort into the container to help remove many elements as well. This allows additives used to treat the water, before you got it, to gas off and the PH to stabilize. No conditioners or other snake oils are needed.

This system is not compatable with the use of a Python but I feel that a properly stocked tank can do better with smaller frequent changes of aged water as opposed to radical swings and all this additive stuff. Note the words properly stocked tank 

[sniggir]

I do believe in the method that Kennymann is talking about... ass a bubbler will eleiminate chlorine... but it will not break down chlorimine so I would still add a water conditioner that breaks down chloromine even if you were to age your water... aging your water has other benifits to such as having a stable PH proper temp and so on

[charlie]

I do believe in the method that Kennymann is talking about... ass a bubbler will eleiminate chlorine... but it will not break down chlorimine so I would still add a water conditioner that breaks down chloromine even if you were to age your water... aging your water has other benifits to such as having a stable PH proper temp and so on

Snigger, his water supply is a well, so he does not have a chloromine problem.I think Prime would be a good choice for you.
Regards

[kooby]

Prime is definitely what I would recommend. My boyfriend worked for years in a pet store (a good one, mind you, not some PetSmart kind of place... ) and he over the years has found Prime to be the best. It works well for me and my tank too. Good luck!

[Saltcreep]

However it is a good deal trickier on my 10 and 5 gal tanks, and I plan on buying another brand, or finding 1/8 and 1/16 teaspoons!

Just FYI!

Get into any drugstore and you'll find glass medicine droppers with rubber bulbs. Mine came two to a card, one straight and the other bent, for about $2. I think they're graduated down to .25 cc or ml. 0.5 cc of Prime is good for five US gallons. A decent squeeze will get you about 1 cc, good for ten gallons. With a little practice, you won't even have to look anymore. Only problem with these things is they're a little short. I just keep a small bottle of Prime which I refill from the larger one when the dropper doesn't reach the liquid.

[dan2x38]

I mature my water for 48 hrs. in a 25g bin treated with Prime to brake down chloramine. It' aerated plus use a heater to set water at tank temps. Since I inject CO2 that drops the tanks pH to 6.8-6.6 but our tap water is 7.5 so I add SeaChem acid-buffer to adjust pH. If not I risk pH shock if doing a large WC. I have a Pentair 1200 in the bin to pump the water. Aging the water stabilizes the pH too. I've tested and logged this for quite some time to insure the pH stability.

For the CPDs, Goldies, CPD breeder tank I use a smaller bin unheated treated with Prime. This water is also aerated. In this way I can control amount of conditioner for any smaller tanks.

[Nerine]

I buy what's on sale sometimes...I bought some wardley conditioner for a couple dollars, it has a ph up in it too for the cichlids, so far they seem to be fine!! but usually I buy the big jug of conditioner at big als or prime

plus I was doing the aging of the water until I needed the bucket for something else LOL

[Fishnut]

I have been using aqua plus for a long time, before then, I used some blue stuff that came in a yellow bottle.  I tried using prime due to the fantastic reviews, but it smelled like sulpher and when I used it, I lost some fish in my community tank, some CPD's, a betta and both goldfish in the pond.  I have no idea if it was just a bad bottle, but I'm back to using aqua plus.  Prime is so concentrated though that it's the most cost effective product. 

[beowulf]

I also age my water but without a bubbler or anything.  I add the Big Al's stuff when I put the water in and then let it sit for a few days to a week.

[charlie]

I have been using aqua plus for a long time, before then, I used some blue stuff that came in a yellow bottle.  I tried using prime due to the fantastic reviews, but it smelled like sulpher and when I used it, I lost some fish in my community tank, some CPD's, a betta and both goldfish in the pond.  I have no idea if it was just a bad bottle, but I'm back to using aqua plus.  Prime is so concentrated though that it's the most cost effective product. 

The sulphur smell is normal for prime.

What Do People Add And Reccomend To Their Water During Water Changes

I personally use Chloram X - http://aquascienceresearch.com/cloram-x.html, if you think prime is concentrated check this stuff out.
Regards