Matak said:
Scotto, agian, thanks. I saw a thread on this topic a few months ago and couldn't find it. Good timing too, I'm just about out. 1 question though. If either of the two chemicals you listed don't help protect the fishes slime coat, will that be a problem?
I assume that you are talking about the whole Aloe thing.
We have been using the thiosulfate at the store since we opened. No ill effects at all.
Same thing for me at home. If a fish has a scrape or cut that is small I leave it. If it seems like it may cause problems later I use the mercurochrome and vasoline method. Which has worked like a charm for me for years.
As far as I am concerned the aloe in any water conditioner is a gimmick. Thats it.
It seems that one company started it as a push then the others like lemmings followed. I have seen no proof that it even has any affect at all.
When I pressured our AP rep about the aloe thing she was evasive it say the least. After some bagering from the other employees. The answer she gave us seemed to cement my belief on the matter.
In a nutshell. The aloe makes up anywhere from 1 to 3 % of the liquid in the bottle depending on the brand.
Now considering that you have to use a capful per 10 gallons of water how much aloe can there be in the tank? Next to nothing. It would be like putting a cup of aloe in a pool to heal your cut. It won't. Aloe works best on cuts when it is pure and place directly onto the cut. Not when it is diluted.
The only thing that aloe seems to do is affect most protein skimmers in saltwater tanks. Makes them over skim.
Heres an exerpt from one article I read:
Question: Do I need a slime coat protector in my water conditioner?
This is an area which has been the subject of some controversy on the net and elswhere, and note that the conditioners detailed above do not all contain the same type of slime coat protector, so the issues raised may or may not apply to specific conditioners. The main questions raised are:
- can they be harmful?
- do they actually work?
- even if they do, do I need them?
One of the main reasons for the first question above is the concept that anything which sticks to the body tissues of fishes might also stick to the gill tissue and inhibit the function of the gills, or even suffocate the fish. I do not know of any definitive evidence to support this claim, and some claim the complete opposite - that substances like aloe vera do not adhere to fishes in water in any case, and therefore do nothing.
Another controversial question originates from the suggestion by some manufacturers that their product stimulates the fish to increase its own slime coat, rather than providing an artificial one. This might be taken to mean that the mechanism is to cause irritation to the fish, like a parasite might for instance, hence stimulating the fish to produce more of its natural slime coat. These claims are vigorously supported or denied, depending on who's opinion you are hearing.
Widespread use of the products would suggest that they cannot be harmful in any obvious way, and some manufacturers claim to have data to demonstrate that these products work (but no references or links to papers published in peer-reviewed journals unfortunately). So if we assume the products are harmless and can protect a damaged area and/or promote healing, should we be adding them at every water change? If you have a tank full of healthy fish, this is certainly debatable.
The whole basis of these additives is that fish are protected by a slime coat, which a healthy fish can produce without assistance! If you have faith that they help when fish are injured or 'stressed' (a vague term often mis-used by manufacturers), then by all means use them when that situation arises. If no problem is evident, then many people take the approach that you should not add any unnecessary chemical or other substance to your aquarium, which there is not a clear need for (an approach I certainly agree with).
One of the important reasons for this approach is that it is difficult to assess the interaction of different elements within a dynamic system like an aquarium. But if adding them "won't cause any harm", then isn't it "better" to just add them in any case? Are there any disadvantages?
Note Kent's comments above with respect to PVP vs Aloe Vera. There is some truth to those statements, in that substances like aloe vera are certainly adding to the organic waste load in a tank (note API's comment that protein skimmers should be turned off for at least an hour after adding Stress Coat, to prevent excessive foaming). Given that protein skimmers, activated carbon and water changes are all means employed to reduce organic load in the aquarium, there is certainly an argument for not adding more, unless it is strictly necessary.
