Amquel Plus Killed My Fish. Need Opinions On Dealing W/ Company! Please Help.

valval1029

valval1029

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Aug 29, 2004
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Hello. As some of you know I used Amquel Plus by Kordon to try to lower my nitrates in my FO tank. The bottle says it is safe for fresh and saltwater fish and to add 1 tsp. per gallon. I added 3 to a 30 gallon tank. A few hours later almost all of my fish were dead. I was able to save 2 clowns by quickly moving them to a 5 gallon bucket of newly mixed water and a powerhead.

It says to maintain good water circulation/aeration. I had a 303 fluval and a powerhead & had no reason to think that would be insufficient...

Anyway, I left 3 messages for the president of the company and have heard nothing. What should I do? I feel others will have the same results. Also, I lost $300-$400 of fish.

This site explains the product:
http://www.novalek.com/korgd28.htm

The bottle also says: NON-TOXIC TO HUMANS, PETS, & AQUATIC LIFE.

Could have fooled me...
 
I've never heard it's toxic to fish, but I've neer heard it lowered nitrates either.
What fish did it kill, and what was the setup. What were the nitrates.

The only thing I can think of is that I've heard it can do bad things to pH. What was your pH and kH?
 
Amquel PLUS is new I think. The link above tells you what it is supposed to do. All of my levels were normal except my nitrate was about 60 ppm. As some of you know, I was in the process of getting new, bigger tank b/c I didn't realize the 30 gallon was overcrowded based on the fact my LFS knew what I had and sold me more fish.

This thread from 2 weeks ago tells the "story"...

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33993
 
From what you posted previously, my best guess is that maybe it used up all the oxygen in the water and the fish died of CO2 poisoning. Don't know how much that helps. I haven't tried to get recompense from a company for something like that before.
 
While I can sympathize with your feelings, I'd have to say you're not likely to get any kind of compensation from Amquel. When you use ANY fish product and experience a loss, there are too many variables to determine if the addition of the product caused the deaths, or if the product was even used correctly. In this case, your tank was seriously crowded, and any change could have resulted in a lethal stress event. It's not the company's fault.
 
And unfortunately, regardless of whether or not the product was directly involved in the event (as it obviously was, but that is not the same as liability), the thing shown most clearly is that quick fixes and magic bullets are not either of those things. Basic old-fashioned husbandry is still the safest technique around.

High nitrate, like many other things, is a symptom. Treating a symptom is doing nothing for the basic underlying cause of that symptom. Treat the cause, not the end result of the cause.
 
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Someone from Amquel called today. They are going to test my bottle. They said they don't have problems usually with the product. I'm just happy someone called...

If it isn't the products fault, that's fine. I'm not one to cause "trouble". However, maybe there should be a note on the bottle for possible effects or something. In reading the description, I had no reason to question using it. I had been doing extra water changes due to overcrowded conditions and didn't expect this to "cure" anything--- just maybe be an aid until I could transfer fish.

Other than the nitrates, all other tests were fine and the fish were not showing signs of stress. Within a few hours, they were dead. A consumer trying to lower nitrates may be overcrowded or need to do more water changes and buy this product to help. I wouldn't want it to happen to anyone else. That's my biggest issure here really.

I appreciate that Amquel has called me and will let me know the situation. Thanks for your opinions.

Valerie
 
Here's the thing. They didn't just make this stuff up in a coffee break room and bottle it then put it on the market hoping no one would put two and two together when their fish died. I am sure at the very least the product was tested before they went through the trouble of bottling, labeling, marketing, etc.

While it may be the cause of your fishes demise which I doubt seeing as I too have used tons of this stuff and sell it to many friends who breed clowns, yours would be the exception and not the rule so I can't see them deciding to just up and pay for all your livestock.

As already seen in a reply or two here, others have used it without any trouble.
 
I am not really expecting any reimbursement. As an educated person, I obviously know they didn't just bottle some stuff without testing it. However, I was upset at the results of course and DO know that my fish which I had for several months, except for one, were 100% fine at about 10 am and by about 4pm (when I got home) were all at the bottom of the tank dead after using the product according to the bottle's instructions. The company has picked up the bottle I used for testing and although this is obviously not happening to the majority--- it did happen and I give them credit for looking into the matter further. I don't plan on making an issue out of it, although I will be wary about what products I add to my tank in the future...
 
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