Is Stress Coat or Aqua-Plus

[Faith_at_Large]

Is Stress Coat the same basic product type as Aqua-Plus water conditioner? Can they be used interchangebly. I have Aqua-Plus at home and a small bottle of Stress Coat at work. I treated my water in my new work tank with Stress Coat, although I originally set up with Aqua-Plus.:confused:

[Chrona]

Same thing. Whatever is cheaper is fine. Though I prefer Seachem Prime because it's concentrated and costs less per dose.

[Lady Hobbs]

I always make sure I grab whatever removes chlorinate and chloramines (metals). Many of the products sold do both but some do not so you want to check. If you have well water, you don't need a de-chlorinator but may still want a product that at least removes the chloramines.

[Faith_at_Large]

I have municipal water and I do need a dechlorinator. I like Aqua-Plus, but some seem to prefer Stress Coat but I was not sure what they were using it for. If both are basically the same thing then I will just keep the Stress Coat at work and leave the Aqua-Plus at home.

[cocoa_pleco]

I just use the nutrafin stuff or amquel. amquel is better since it has anti-virus protection

[Chrona]

I just use the nutrafin stuff or amquel. amquel is better since it has anti-virus protection

I'd like to see where you got this "anti-virus" information from :P

It's all the same stuff. Neutralizes chlorine, chloramine, heavy metals, adds protective coating. Some of them neutralize ammonia/nitrite/nitrate too.

[Rue]

There are 3 toxins in city water you need to worry about:

1. Chlorine - still the most commonly used 'anti-bacterial'...but unstable, which is why it will dissipate from water when you age it...roughly 24 hours...although aeration will speed up that process.

2. Chloramine - used more and more often as the antibacterial because it is more stable (breaks down into chlorine and ammonia) - but it will not dissipate on it's own...therefore you need to neutralize it.

3. Heavy metals - depends on the water source. Heavy metals need to be chelated (precipitated) out of solution, otherwise they'll eventually poison your fish. Heavy metals tend to accumulate.

A good water conditioner will treat your water for all 3...but read the label carefully...just in case that particular product does not.

[cocoa_pleco]

I'd like to see where you got this "anti-virus" information from :P




Its probably just some stuff like melafix in the conditioner

[Drumachine09]

I just use the nutrafin stuff or amquel. amquel is better since it has anti-virus protection


Are you sure? Sounds like computer software to me.

[cocoa_pleco]

dunno how fish can get a virus like the flu, but whatever, at least now theyre safe

[RobbieG]

I don't trust any of that stuff - I use spring water for all my water changes - but I'm a lunatic

[Chrona]

I don't trust any of that stuff - I use spring water for all my water changes - but I'm a lunatic

!

I can see that getting expensive very quickly, lol. Spring water is not as clean as you would think either, hehe

[gm72]

I use stress coat, but only because I have a huge 1 gallon jug of the stuff.

[Lady Hobbs]

I prefer stress coat myself. It probably does no more than any of the others but I have it in my mind it gives a better slime coat so try to get it but don't turn my nose up at any of the others, either.

I wish I had a gallon of anything! I seem to always to out of dechlorinator and am constantly buying more.

[RobbieG]

!

I can see that getting expensive very quickly, lol. Spring water is not as clean as you would think either, hehe

Between all the tanks it costs me about 40 bucks a week - but the brown sludge this city calls water isn't good for anything but stripping paint off of old cars!

[Chrona]

Between all the tanks it costs me about 40 bucks a week - but the brown sludge this city calls water isn't good for anything but stripping paint off of old cars!

Perhaps time to invest in an RO/DI filter? The cartridges are like 80 bucks each, but you'll make back that money in two weeks.

[RobbieG]

Do those really work - I've seen them at one of the stores I go to but they really looked kinda fakey

[cocoa_pleco]

They apparently are pretty good

[Chrona]

It depends on what model you get. The cheaper ones aren't as effective, but the top of the line ones run about 400 bucks (but remove 99.9% of impurities). Ask around your LFS and see what they say. If the water is REALLY bad, it might clog the membrane too quickly for it to be cost effective.

[xoolooxunny]

I have one, but its for drinking water and only has a 3 gallon holding tank. It gets filtered twice before the holding tank, and then again after it leaves the holding tank, my dad was a plumber so he takes care of it all. But the difference in water quality is crazy!! it puts out perfectly neutral water and tastes amazingly clean!

[RobbieG]

Thanks for the input - the expense is bad enough but carrying 70 gallons of water up 3 flights of stairs every week is worse

[Chrona]

Thanks for the input - the expense is bad enough but carrying 70 gallons of water up 3 flights of stairs every week is worse

lol, I would imagine so.

[SkarloeysMom]

I just use the nutrafin stuff or amquel. amquel is better since it has anti-virus protection

I second the use of Amquel. I use it to because it gets rid of ammonia. Our city's tap water has ammonia in it. I always wondered why I'd get an ammonia reading after doing a water change when I used Aqua Plus until I tested our tap water and got the .5 ppm reading.

We have an 3 stage RO filter tap for drinking water that we got from Home Depot for less that $200 bucks. Like xoolooxunny's, ours too puts out Ph neutral water that tastes great but I don't use it in the fish tanks. One reason is it takes a long time to get the water to do a change even with my small tanks. Seems like if you had a lot of big tanks it would take forever to get enough water out of the system to do a water change.

[Chrona]

It depends on how much money you spend. Cheaper units put out less per day.

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

or

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[Chrona]

Windex Window Cleaner works great:19:

.......huh? :confused:

[cocoa_pleco]

.........awkward.............

[gm72]

Will someone PLEASE ban Canadian or at least issue another warning? This is ridiculous. Seriously.

[cocoa_pleco]

yeah, this is kinda getting bad

[Drumachine09]

Seriously. This IS getting ridiculous. If he is going to be an ass, kick him out on the curb.

[gm72]

MODERATORS, please address this. It is an insult to this forum. He has already been warned once. Enough.

[Chrona]

Guys, just leave it to pm's. No point in bumping this thread up. (Yes, I realize this is ironic)

[gm72]

Ah, I wasn't even thinking about the PMs since I'm new to that idea. My bad, good idea.

[jeffs99dime]

what does windex have to do with a tank? you know very well that would kill all the life in the aquarium. CanadianFiero--this is your second warning from me!! one more and you will be banned--moderator

i'm sorry to everyone here. unfortunately, i must close this thread.--jeff

[Lady Hobbs]

The problem poster has been banned. Three threads were closed due to him in 3 days and for me, that's more than enough warnings. We're not here to babysit but answer questions.

Jeff, I will return this thread as you left it but if you see fit, you may want to re-open.