regular maintenance chemicals?

[nellybelly]

I've been using a variety of maintenance chemical since starting my tank - most recommended by my LFS. My tank stays pretty stable. I have a 20 gal tank with a UGF and an aquaclear filter with sponge, charcoal and ammonia filter. On a weekly basis, I use:

- StressCoat in my water change
- Bullseye 7.0 (my tap water is pretty acidic 6.2 range)
- Cycle (used to use StressZyme) for an additional dose of bacteria
- Amquel for ammonia cleanup

I;ve seen some discussions of ammonia removers and the recent discussion on the use of StressCoat but was curious about the regular maintenance chemicals you pros use (if any:) )

[carpguy]

Most of my chemicals are for the plants.

Healthy fish will take care of their own slime coats. I've seen a few suggestions that aloe or stresszyme type products may interfere with normal gill function. Not needed IMHO.

I use Amquel as my dechlorinator for change water. I don't add it to the tank aside from that… A cycled tank shouldn't have any ammonia needing taking care of.

A healthy cycled tank has plenty of bacteria. A healthy colony will adjust its numbers rapidly to accomodate reasonable and gradual increases in fishload. The bacteria-in-a-bottle type products aren't needed. For my dollar the only one that seems to be useful for a cycling tank is BioSpira. I did a fishless cycle, but may give BioSpira a try down the road. After the cycle is established it'll take care of itself, so long as you take care of it.

The perfect pH products also aren't especially beneficial. They seem to tend to produce swings more than anything else. Fish can thrive in somewhat less than optimal pHs… they're not real crazy about swings.

I also have soft acidic water. I went with fish that tend to prefer that and added a couple of tablespoons of crushed coral to my filter in a mesh bag. The coral dissolves slowly and stably over time. It supplements the very low KH buffer and knocks the pH up a few tenths, from the low to the high 6s.

So just Amquel at changes and some crushed coral, plus a mess of fertilizers.

[aquariumfishguy]

A vital question here is how long has your tank been set up? If already cycled then there is no need to add "extra bacteria". From how you sounded, it would seem as if you've had this tank up for a month or more. If thats the case I wouldn't be worried about adding the extra dose of "bacteria". And as for stresscoat...I think in the end, it comes down to your preference. You must go with what works best for YOU. Again, if the tank is cycled you certainly dont need chemicals (water conditioner) that removes ammonia as you shouldn't have any.

That said, please let us know whether or not the tank is cycled so we can further assist you. But all and all, I would say 'no' you do not need all the extra chemicals, this is JMO and is based upon my personal experience...

[RTR]

I am not a "pro" in that I do not make money at the hobby (rather the opposite I'm afraid), but I am an experienced hobbyist and operate a few dozen tanks.

My routine maintenance chemicals consist of:

A test kit for chlorine/chloramine.

I do age all my water 48-72 hours before use, and I do check prior to use that all the chlorine is gone from aeration, circulation, and tempering before use. If chlorine is present after that aging period it is generally chloramine (my water company does use it periodically). If chloramine is present, I neutralize it with Prime or Amquel. If the water is clear of such, I use nothing - why should I? No buffers (a waste of time and money IMHO & IME, more likely to cause problems that solve them). No slime-promoting chemicals, healthy fish is clean water have no need of such. To me that is pollution. Cycle's primary function to me is enrich the LFS and the manufacturer while polluting your tank. Do a dilution of that stuff some time and check the nitrogen content if you doubt this.

All IMHO & IME, YMMV.

HTH

[OrionGirl]

I'm pretty well inline with RTR and carpguy. I use filtered, aged water, so no need to treat for chlorine (no chloramines present right now--soon to change, at which time Amquel or Prime will be used in the water, but not within the tank). pH is controlled through CO2 and 'natural' means like wood and crushed coral. I do weekly water changes to keep the water chemistry stable, as well. I do supplement nutrients for my plants--but this is with fairly high lighting and CO2 supplementation.

[tomm10]

I agree with everybody here that you don't need these chemicals. A lot of lfs folks really don't know enough of what they're talking about.

Just about any chemical that advertises it will adjust your ph is bogus. In reality, for most fish its more important that your ph be steady rather than at a certain number.

RTR wrote a great article explaining ph and hardness and I unfortunately can't remember the link. RTR could you post it? I've tried to read a lot of things in the hopes of understanding how ph and hardness work in the aquarium and this article was the ONLY one that helped me out. ITs worth a read and will help you understand why adding chemicals isn't such a great idea.

If you have tap water its not a horrible thing to add something like stress coat or amquel to remove chlorine but you only need to add it to the water you are adding to the tank, not the whole tank. I keep two 5 gallon buckets with my aquarium. One it to take water out of the tanks and the other stay filled with water that ages for a week between changes.

Bio Spira is really the only product I have ever heard of that actually has useful bacteria and you'd really only need to add that to a brand new tank.

Remember, no matter how helpful the chemicals are the more you add to the water, the dirtier the water is. Fish like clean water :D

[fishfood]

I always keep a bottle of Melafix on hand. And don't forget test kits. They are well worth the money. Test often and keep your water parameters in check and your fish will thank you.

[RTR]

tomm10:

http://www.tomgriffin.com/aquasource/hardwater.shtml

I'm glad the article helped - it is a bit heavy, but I really had to work on that one to have it comprehensible at all.

I do agree with fishfood on the test kits - I don't do any test on all tanks rouitinely, but I do some tests on some tanks often, almost randomly, just to be certain that what I think is going on is reality and not my imagination.

[nellybelly]

My tank is about 18 months old (actually my father and I manage it together - it's in his office). It's cycled. I test pH and Ammonia every week (clearly I also need to be testing Nitrites and Nitrates as I've learned from reading here). We do weekly water changes (adding the StressCoat to the new water only). The pH hovers around 6.8 +/- a tenth or 2. Ammonia tests 0ppm. The water is very clear. We have a store bought cave and plastic plants.

We've really been enjoying having the tank and initially relied on advice from the fls and the fish folks a Petco. It's been frustrating as often the advice is contradictory).. I'm planning to get my own 55 gallon bow tank (my xmas present!) and found this forum while doing research and trying to learn more about fish keeping. I've been thrilled with the practical, no-nonsense advice.

So, it sounds like I've been wasting my money on some of these chemicals!

When I go to the 55, I'm comitted to spending the $ to get the right equipment to simplify maintenance and will be reviewing others advice for appropriate filters etc ( I'd like to get away from the UGF and HOT and perhaps go with a canister system so I don't have so much stuff hanging off the tank... but that's another discussion...)

Many thanks to all

[tomm10]

RTR, Its a heavy subject! You simplified it just enough for my little brain :p There are plenty of articles out there that require a phd!

[RTR]

Thanks, tomm10 - it is worth the effort if it helps folks to grasp the chemistry. I do understand the chemistry due to my background, and some of the web articles confuse me badly. :shake:

nellybelly - you should only need to check ammonia and nitrite in immature tanks, or after major disturbances to the setup (which does include any use of dye, antibiotics, or other "meds'). Or perhaps I should add to check those when things just don't look right (fish behavioral changes). Monitoring pH/KH and nitrate are the tests I do most often. Either the pH or KH is an excellent measure of stability of the water chemistry, nitrate is the handiest pollution measure we have - not just for nitrate itself, but for all the other things we cannot easily monitor or even identify.