What are your favorite tank additives?

[Anglerman]

From reading on this forum I have concluded that Stress Coat is worthless, am I right? What are everybodys favorite additives, including water conditioners, supplements, etc?
I am a beginner but I didnt like Amquel++, it actually smelled like ***. When I bought the stuff it smelled like nothing; a month later it smells like rotten eggs, and had sediment in the bottom. I emailed novalek; they wrote back saying it was normal. THe guy was concerned about the sediment though. SO they are going to send me a free bottle of NovAqua. Any of you have any similar experiences?

[Hannys_Papa]

Prime (smells too but who cares), Flourish... i guess thats all i really add right now.

[Red K]

I've always used Stress Coat, not as an additive but just to remove chlorine from the tapwater. If it's worthless, then I've had the world's toughest fish all these years.

[TipStylez]

i try to use as less chemicals as possable...so i been adding nothing to my tank for almost 8months now.

[Roan Art]

Prime and ferts for my plants.

Shouldn't add anything else, IMO.

Roan

[Aqualung]

The only thing I add to my water is Flourish Excel in one of my planted tanks(carbon source for the plants).

[cyberbeer65]

I add prime during waterchanges,and nothing else.

[Raskolnikov]

My favorite tank additive is water. Lots of fresh water. :)


More to the heart of your question, though. In the rare occasion that I need it, I use Prime as a dechlor. I also use Seachem plant additives where required.

[jason2894]

i use prime to condition my water and i also use stress coat if i have torn fins and tails and it seems to work nicely for me.

[Roan Art]

My favorite tank additive is water. Lots of fresh water. :)Bah, best answer yet :)

Roan

[wesleydnunder]

If working with city water I use prime. If wellwater, I use Raskolnikov's method.

Mark

[Anglerman]

I meant to say that StressZyme was probably garbage, gathered from what you more experienced fish keepers said. Sounds like Prime is very popular for water conditioning.

[Roan Art]

I meant to say that StressZyme was probably garbage, gathered from what you more experienced fish keepers said. Sounds like Prime is very popular for water conditioning.
I think most of us are saying is that you don't need stuff like StressZyme.

Prime and Amquel+ are the only two water conditioners that I *know* deal with chloramines. Bio Safe probably does too. Many of the others do not deal with chloramines at all, only chlorine. Better safe than sorry, which is why I recommend Prime to everyone.

Roan

[mandimoron]

I use Big Al's Multi-Purpose Aquarium Water Conditioner, and that's about it. It deals with chloramines as well as chlorine and, IIRC, costs a little less than name brand stuff.

Oh, I once tried using Cycle when I got the betta tank, but I don't think it really did much. O_o

[liv2padl]

If wellwater, I use Raskolnikov's method what does Dostoevsky and suffering have to do with additives? ;-)

[Jay]

From Roan...


Prime and Amquel+ are the only two water conditioners that I *know* deal with chloramines. Bio Safe probably does too. Many of the others do not deal with chloramines at all, only chlorine. Better safe than sorry, which is why I recommend Prime to everyone.

I use both Prime and Bio Safe depending on how aggressive I want to be on the "bad guys". For example if I am disinfecting my canister filter with bleach I use Prime to neutralize. If I am just changing water I use Bio Safe. It just occurred to me that I have not compared per use costs. :idea:

Jay

[RTR]

Normally I use no additives, I age my water before use with circulation and tempering. I do test, and if chloramines are present (optional for my utility) I use Prime.

[wesleydnunder]

liv2padl, seek therapy. You're not well...walk toward the light...we need to go fishin sometime. If the redfish ain't bitin we can always keep each other amused with absurdities.

Mark

[squall_japan]

My ADA liquid ferts.

[Roan Art]

what does Dostoevsky and suffering have to do with additives? ;-)
ROFL ROFL!!!!

If you don't use them, you'll be forced to read Crime and Punishment?

One of my favorite books, btw :)

Roan

[hurricanejedi]

I currently just use Prime.

If you use CO2 should you still use Flourish Excel or another type of fertilizer?

Arizona Aquatic Gardens (sells shrimp) says to dose iodine once a month if you have shrimp. It says they do this in their nurserys. Is this worth it or just trying to sell a product?

[Galaxie]

I use Big Al's Multi-Purpose Aquarium Water Conditioner, and that's about it. It deals with chloramines as well as chlorine and, IIRC, costs a little less than name brand stuff.

This stuff sells for $12.99 for 64 oz. By far the cheapest stuff out there. Can anyone verify they have used it successfully and it does treat "chlormine"?

thx

[mishi8]

This stuff sells for $12.99 for 64 oz. By far the cheapest stuff out there. Can anyone verify they have used it successfully and it does treat "chlormine"?

thx

It's worth it to not just compare on price per ounce, but also how much product you need to treat your tank volume. Prime is more expensive per ounce, but it's concentrated, and so you only need 1mL per 10 gallons of tank water. Plus it not only breaks the chloramine bond, but neutralizes the resulting ammonia as well.

[CatLover]

As far as conditioner goes, I have used many different products and have not had a problem with any.

I have used stress coat as a chlorine ahlomine neutralizer, but the only time I have really used it for its "healing" purposes is when I bought some neon tetra at petsmart. When I got them home one of them had started this awful gill-bleeding thing. I think it was transport stress related. Anyway I took the other fish out of the bag and put him in a separate 1 gallon thing with a combination of his water from the store and then some water out of the tank he was about to go into (I was careful about temp, etc)

Then, I added a pretty large dose of stress coat and placed an airstone attached to a wussy pump (I call the 10 gallon pumps "wussy pumps" because they aren't very powerful) in with him. I ran the airstone with the stress coat and the bleeding quit. (it was really bad) I continued this treatment for quite a while with him. Now, probably about 3 months later, I can still tell which neon he is because the gill area on one side is still very dark red, but I don't know if that will ever go away.

I know, strange example. I thought that fish was going to die quickly because he was so visably bleeding. That is why I took such drastic measures. Anyway, I'm really glad I was able to save him. My mom, "they're only $1.99 and they have a warranty anyway, why not just go get some more...

For general purposes in a large tank- its "healing powers" are nonexistent. The huge dose in such a small amount of water is what helped clot the blood

[RockabillyChick]

i just use wardleys chlor-out. that's it.

[Emg]

I use Tetra "AquaSafe" as a conditioner. The bottle says that it treats for chloromines as well as chlorine..along with a stress coat....I'm assuming that it does since I've had no problems with it. I have been considering switching to "Prime" though from some info I have read up on it.

I also dose daily with flourish "excel" as a carbon source for my planted tanks...with weekly dose of "flourish" for micros and traces.

And....lots of fresh water !

[wwildcats04]

I use DeCHLOR, ferts, salt sometimes but not usually

[partsrep]

Prime and water. Last I checked fish live in water so that's what I prefer. Prime detoxifies my tapwater and other than that I'm done. Think about it next time you take a bath or a shower. How would you like a chemical bath instead?

[ROLLIN]

I only add water and fish food.

[budrecki]

I like to add fish every now and then :duh:

[djmodifyd]

i use amquel, and cichlid salt....thats all that is added

[Larissa]

I use prime because we have chloramines here. I've used aquasafe before because it says that it treats chloramines, however, I'm not sure if it leaves ammonia behind or not. I'm going to get some flourish soon because I finally just bought some live plants.

[Galaxie]

This stuff sells for $12.99 for 64 oz. By far the cheapest stuff out there. Can anyone verify they have used it successfully and it does treat "chlormine"?

thx

I just got a reply from Big Al's support.

"Big Al's Multi-Purpose Water Conditioner does treat both Chlorine and Cloramine. The dosage is approximately 1 teaspoon per gallon (or one capful)."

I can't see adding 55 capfuls for my weekly 55 gallon tank water change. Thats just crazy. I'm sticking with my Tetra AquaSafe .... 1 capful treats 20 gallons @$6.99 per 16oz.

[fishlore101]

I have used coppersafe in my tank and it didn't smell. I might get yelled at if I say I do this but I put in coppersafe when I add more fish (if there isn't any in the tank already). You just never know what kind of illness new fish bring in to your tank. I also use EasyBalance to make the tap water safe.

[AMETHYST212]

i use aqua safe i have been using for about 2 yrs now and no problem and sometines i add a little of aquarium salt just to prevent any problems.

[mandimoron]

I just got a reply from Big Al's support.

"Big Al's Multi-Purpose Water Conditioner does treat both Chlorine and Cloramine. The dosage is approximately 1 teaspoon per gallon (or one capful)."

I can't see adding 55 capfuls for my weekly 55 gallon tank water change. Thats just crazy. I'm sticking with my Tetra AquaSafe .... 1 capful treats 20 gallons @$6.99 per 16oz.
Mah, I never really thought of the price in terms of cost-per-use. My tanks are all on the small side, so I guess it doesn't really affect me much.

[test4echo]

Is anybody here using Cycle? I would never add in any amount of water to any tank without it.

[darkstar974]

Well after reading good things on here it is and has been Prime and water for me.

Dark

[wwildcats04]

IMO cycle is a useless product

[mishi8]

Is anybody here using Cycle? I would never add in any amount of water to any tank without it.

Cycle is a waste of money. It does not contain the correct bacteria, and the bacteria are not alive anyway. You don't need to add anything to your water aside from a conditioner.

[Slappy*McFish]

I agree, save your money and stop buying Cycle.
Prime is the only chemical I use, too.

[joephys]

I use AmQuel (kordon) (its not the same stuff as amquel+), flourish (seachem), and acid and alkaline regulator (seachem). (My tap water has almost no buffering capacity)