water conditioner?

[nerfhearder69]

Hi All,

Since starting my first tank last year I've used a product called Stress coat to de-chlorinate my water before changes every week. The manager at my lfs recomended it and I've just stuck with it since (if it aint broke dont fix it) but today I was talking with my brother who keeps cold water fish and he told me he has been letting water sit overnight or longer to acheive the same effect. Is this kosher, I mean can I save myself the cost of this chemical muck just by letting tap water sit

 

[breezer40]

There are now two nasties in tap water, chlorine and chloromine. Your friend will get rid of the chlorine by letting the water stand overnight but this doesn't get rid of the chloromine Keep using the stress coat or the effects could be poorly fish and or your filters bacteria dying.

 

[yvez9]

breezer is right

your brother might nto notice anything now because koi are usually very hardy and can support effects of chlorine and chloramine for years before it affects them seriously

just be safe and use the conditionner...

 

[Dragonslair]

Stress Coat is fine for short term use. You need to go back to basics to know what stress coat does and how it affects the fish. So without boring you I will try and explain. All fish, have a protective mucus layer just under their scales, and this is there all the time. You may or may not have seen this, but you certainly will have experienced it when if you try to catch your fish by hand. The fish simply wriggles, and slips through your hands. This is the mucus layer at work. The fish secretes this as we secrete saliva in our mouth. They both do the same job, and that is to prtect our bodies from invading nasties(bacteria)
During times of stress, such as transporting the fish or cleaning their tank etc. Fish tend to lose some of their protection or if they swim into objects and damage their scales they may leave a wound open to infection. This is where stress coat comes into its own. Stress coat is an artificial mucus layer that coats the fishs' body protecting the the fish against invasion. Remember the water no matter how clean it looks contains more than 100 million bacteria in 3 cubic cm of water.
Stress coat has other properties to neutralise harmful chemicals in tapwater.
In my personal experience (26 years) I have used a product from Tetra. Tetra Water Safe and Tetra Easy Balance. No I don't have any affiliations with Tetra, it's just I've used many products and I have found these to work, for me.
the choice is yours at the end of the day.
What I would do if you are unsure, is do some research into the various products and then make up your own mind.

 

[nerfhearder69]

Thanks Guys,

I will pass your advice on to my brother as well, we both hate the thought of our fish suffering in silence.

 

[Slyspy]

"Stress Coat is fine for short term use."

Not really sure what you mean here. Stress Coat can be used as a water conditioner on a regular basis and short term or long term doesn't come into it.

 

[BobK]

Also, many water conditioners neutralize heavy metals in the water so there are other benefits besides removing chlorine/chloramine and adding slime coat. You can buy Stress Coat on line by the gallon and it is a whole lot cheaper than buying small bottles. I use Tetra Aqua-Safe but when I'm finished with what I have I'm gonna buy that gallon of Stress-Coat. It's cheaper and it adds the protective coating.