Good & Bad chemicals

[Needeles]

Hello, I have been reading around more and just have a simple question. Are there really any safe/good chemicals to use in a tank. I myself am rather new to the fish hobby, and I really enjoy it, and just want to know if there are good chemicals to use in a tank and if there are what might they be and what might they do. I currently use Jungle Ammonia Chloramine Eliminator (ACE) and Tetra EasyBalance with Nitraban. I do normal cleanings/waterchanges everyweek and try not to overfeed my fish. I also regularly check & change my filter as directed. I just mainly want to know what I should and shouldn't use in my tank. I want to learn what I can now as I will be getting a much larger tank in the future and want to keep everything good and healthy. Thanks.

[Wishful]

The ideal, of course, is to get your tank well enough set up that you need to use the fewest possible treatments. As for "safe" chemicals, no matter how good the brand, it's only as good as your accurate and appropriate use of it.

I know my LFS carries a couple different brand of each major type of treatment and while each person I talk to has preferences between them, I've never heard anyone say "absolutely don' t buy x-brand" for any solid
meaningful reason.

Frequent testing, water changes as needed, good cleaning habits, not overfeeding or overstocking will take care of the majority of your tank needs.

[Rbishop]

DO NOT USE TETRA EASY BALANCE WITH NITRABAN.

There you go, I said it, you heard (read) it.

Need a meaningful reason? It misleads newbies into thinking water changes are unnecessary which results in a build up of toxins/DOC that will slowly kill the fish.

[Roan Art]

DO NOT USE TETRA EASY BALANCE WITH NITRABAN.

There you go, I said it, you heard (read) it.

Need a meaningful reason? It misleads newbies into thinking water changes are unnecessary which results in a build up of toxins/DOC that will slowly kill the fish.
I'm going to start a thread on this 'cause I am sick of people who don't know any better getting hoodwinked into using this garbage.

Nip it in the bud, so to speak. Maybe OG will sticky it for us.

Roan

[Ms.Bubbles]

I think that the less chemicals you put it your water the better. A basic dechlorinator is all that you really need--you don't need one that "enhances slime coat" or any of that nonsense, either. All a fish needs is clean water (water changes), oxygen (water circulation, plants) and food. Chemical products are unnecessary (except occassionally for medicating sick fish, and even then, salt can be used for ick).

[dorkfish]

Actually, if your city/town only uses clorine in the tap water, all you need to do is let it sit for 24H and the clorine will evaporate out of the water, no water conditioner nessisary.

[Needeles]

Hello, thanks for the replies. I know that I still need to do normal water changes even when using the EasyBalance. I know that there is no way I could go months without doing this. I just thought mabye it helped keep some of the Nitrate levels down. I willstop using this right away. Is the other stuff that I use (Jungle ACE) ok to use when I add/change the water. It says to use 5ml to 10g of water. I have been using just 5ml to my 20g. Thanks again.

[Ms.Bubbles]

I don't have any experience with Jungle ACE dechlorinator, although I know it's supposed to remove ammonia as well as chloramines--I'm not sure why anyone needs a special product to remove ammonia every week if their tank is cycled though.

You mention that you're only using half the recommended amount of dechlorinator...why is that?

[Needeles]

Hello, I only use half because I have heard so many bad things about adding chemicals that I wanted to be safe. The ammonia levels in my tank seem fine. I mainly use it to remove the Chlorine and whatnot from my tap water. I'm not sure how to check this from my tap as I live in the country and have well water. so I was told to add it just to be safe. I was told it shouldn't hurt my fish or the tank any.

[Ms.Bubbles]

Normally it's adviseable to follow the directions on the product precisely regarding the amount to use, but since you use well-water you may be OK using 1/2 the amount since well-water usually doesn't usually contain chlorine...However, others with experience in this area may be able to advise better on this issue than me.

Looking into it it seems that people use an ammonia-reducing dechlorinator when their tap water contains ammonia, but it looks fine for everyday use too.

Dechlorinator is the one chemical that is always recommended in the aquarium.

[dorkfish]

It needs to remove amonia becuase when it removes the cloramines, it actually turns it into amonia and clorine, then removes both of those.

EDIT: well water has no need to be treated.

[Rbishop]

Provided it is a private well and not well water that is treated ro supply an isolated community.

[Needeles]

Hello, it is a private well. There nearest neighbor is about 1/4 miles away. I am going to test my tap though and post the results here tomarrow as I was told to let it sit for about 24 hours. I will go from there then. Thanks again for the help. This place is great for a newbie like myself.