Accidental removal of "good" metals for plants?

T

trivial104

AC Members
Jul 6, 2006
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Minneapolis, MN
I am just getting my 20G ready to start cycling and I ran across some information stating that you shouldn't use dechlorinators that have "added benefits" such as metal removal, aloe-vera, and conditioners for water in planted aquariums, because it removes benificial metals that are useful to your plants.

I just purchased API's Stress Coat and it has everything in it that the article said I shouldn't use. Is the article correct, should I use a chlorine and chloramine remover only? Which product does just this? Most declorinators seem to do the "added benefits" and I hate to think that after spending money on nutrients to add to the water, that I will just be taking them out by using the wrong dechlorinator during water changes.

On a similar note I just bought a bio-wheel and don't want the activated carbon to remove the good metals from the water once I get everything set up. I didn't think about that when I bought it. Can I just pull the carbon out or should I get a different filter, like the Aqua Clear that lets me remove the carbon section?
 
Never heard that before about the conditioner. I have a heavily planted tank and have never had a problem. I use a conditioner the whole time.

The carbon does pulls nutrients out of the water. Just remove the carbon out of the pouch. I replaced the carbon with filter floss.
 
What conditioner do you use?

I read the info in a book by Peter Hiscock, Mini Encycloperia of Aquarium Plants. p 65.

I'll have to try what you suggest with my filter, thanks.
 
Aqua Plus by Nutrafin.

There is so much info that contradicts each other that it is hard to know what is good. The best way is to just try what you think is the best one. It all about research and trying to see the big picture with ALL the information. Research research research. Even the researching can get addictive. So much cool stuff out there.

Enjoy your tank.
 
FWIW water condioners and all that other "metal removing" ilk cannot remove heavy metals -- they can only "bind" them for an amount of time in the filter. It's marketing hype.

The metals will be released back into the water after a time.

The only way to really remove them is to use RO or DI water.

Roan
 
I asked the same thing about carbon a while back. I have decided to get rid of the whole packaged filter media, and just use a straight mechanical filter media. Looks kinda like thick felt. You can also just use a sponge, too. That way, the large particles are removed from your water, and the beneficial bacteria can just live on all the surfaces in the sponge.
 
Aquaplus isn't a horrible thing to add. I use it with my Cardinal tank when stress is a big issue. It really helps them stay calm and it's mostly just root extracts.

There is no need to triple the dosage to get the 'aggitation' effect as healthy fish create good enough slime on their own ...

For regular changes, however, i've started using Prime.
It's much cheaper and Roan insists it's better for them *shrug*
 
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