Water Conditioners & Dechlorinators - Value For Money Comparison

[daizeUK]

I was getting confused by the wide range of water conditioners available for sale so I decided to clear it up in my head what they all do and how cost effective they are.

I've tried to find the dosage of each dechlorinator and work out how much mileage you get out of each bottle. I've then found typical example prices for a 500ml bottle of each product (not necessarily the cheapest, there are always bargains and special deals out there) to give some idea of value for money for each product.

* There are 2x250ml bottles of the aquarium version of KB Safe Guard on Amazon for £13.68, which works out as 328.9 L/£.

Disclaimers!

• I'm not 100% sure about some of the dosages, which might affect the results
• Prices are for the UK and may be totally different for other countries!
• Some products are available in larger bottles which may work out as better value
• Some products offer special features e.g. bacteria boosts, stress additives or fluorine removal, which may be more desirable depending on circumstance
• Supporting your local LFS/pet store may be more important than getting best value for money!
• I've included some conditioners intended for pond treatment, as far as I know they do the same thing.
• No doubt I've missed some brands off the list!

My personal conclusions:

If you have chloramines and fish then you want a product that also detoxifies ammonia, which means Prime is the best value for money (I think everybody already knew that!

)

However if you don't have chloramines or are doing a fishless cycle then the no-frills API Tap Water Conditioner may work out as best value, although bear in mind it doesn't contain any de-stressing additives for your fish, should you want them.

Finally, the appropriate product also depends on the size of your tank, it might be quite hard to measure doses for Prime or API for a smaller tank. There are also super-diluted products out there specially designed for small goldfish bowls.

Personally I like to dechlorinate in the bucket 10L at a time which might make King British a better choice than Seachem Prime for me (I need to figure out if their Pond and Aquarium products are really any different!)


I was hoping that other people might find this useful or interesting, but I may have made mistakes or omissions so please do correct me if I've got something wrong. I hope that I haven't broken any rules by including prices and retailers.

 

[DrRob]

No, no rules broken. It's always useful to have the occasional shop around price check.

Only thing you did miss that I can see is plain old sodium thiosulphate crystals. Tends to work better if you're doing a lot as you generally have to buy a largish container to start with.

 

[techen]

Prime has always been best value for money unless theres something new out threre. O:

 

[daizeUK]

I guess my point is that Prime isn't necessarily the best value for money for everyone. It's easy for a newbie like me to hear everyone say 'use Prime' and follow the crowd without really understanding what the options are.

If you don't have Chloramines, then API is better value.

If you're doing a fishless cycle then Prime is not a good choice because you don't want to remove the ammonia you're putting in.

If you have a small tank or buckets then Prime might be a bit too strong to measure correctly.


By the way, if anybody knows any other water conditioners that detoxify ammonia then please let me know, I could only find the two!

 

[balajake]

Because of primes ability to detoxify ammonia and nitrite it wins hands down for me. Means you don't have to purchase additional expensive products like ammonia lock or nitrite remover should you find yourself in a sudden pickle (when used with water changes of course)

 

[daizeUK]

I didn't know that Prime also removes nitrites and nitrates. If Prime does that and KB Safe Guard doesn't, then that is a great reason to go with Prime.

I'm still a bit concerned about adding so little as 1/4 ml per bucket (okay so I'd probably double dose, so that's 1/2 ml), but the advantages would outweigh the fiddliness of it.

I still don't want to use Prime while I'm fishless cycling though, as I've heard it can stall cycles and I've had more than enough of that! So I am also looking for a small, cheap bottle that removes chloramines but doesn't mess with ammonia while I finish my cycle.

 

[balajake]

5ml per 200l is all you need, it is that strong. Obviously if you want to avoid it during a cycle then that's fine but it is the best in terms of what it does and how long it lasts. It saves you lots of money and hassle.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

I buy huge containers of Nutrafin on Amazon for £20, saves me a fortune.... my water is full of all sorts of terrible stuff apparently.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I didn't know that Prime also removes nitrites and nitrates. If Prime does that and KB Safe Guard doesn't, then that is a great reason to go with Prime.

I'm still a bit concerned about adding so little as 1/4 ml per bucket (okay so I'd probably double dose, so that's 1/2 ml), but the advantages would outweigh the fiddliness of it.

I still don't want to use Prime while I'm fishless cycling though, as I've heard it can stall cycles and I've had more than enough of that! So I am also looking for a small, cheap bottle that removes chloramines but doesn't mess with ammonia while I finish my cycle.

It doesn't remove nitrates at all. It also doesn't remove nitrite, it merely detoxifies it for a period. It's a good option when you find yourself with a surprise ammonia/nitrite spike, until you can determine the cause. A quick water change with Prime, and then a slight overdose and the fish are safe for about 24-48 hours... Meanwhile you monitor your levels until things correct themselves.

It is VERY concentrated, which is why you use so little. Ultimately you don't really want to overdose too much, but 1.5-2.0x recommended dosage should be fine.

No, no rules broken. It's always useful to have the occasional shop around price check.

Only thing you did miss that I can see is plain old sodium thiosulphate crystals. Tends to work better if you're doing a lot as you generally have to buy a largish container to start with.

Do you know the dosage for sodium thiosulphate crystals? I have a huge tank at school/work, and my chemistry department can order whatever I ask for. I just don't know the proper dosage, also what chemical is the active ingredient to deal with heavy metals?

 

[DrRob]

I've had a couple of answers given to that question. The 2 most practical sounding were 7.4mg treats 1mg of chlorine, which is great if you know the levels involved and treating tap water requires 0.1 to 0.3 grams of the pentahydrated per 10 litres.

Worth noting that it'll release the ammonia from chloramines at the same time though.

 

[MBOU]

If you have trouble dosing Prime, you can easily get hold of 1ml syringes Just ask at your local chemist/pharmacy. I think they have to actually provide them! Failing that... you can just buy them online.

Chemists etc have syringes for sale but behind the counter for people who use them for drugs... better they have access to clean ones! I didn't realise this was the case when I asked for 1ml syringes!! I got the worst looks ever LOL I did realise eventually and panicked!! Had to explain I was syringe feeding a litter of baby hamsters as the female wasnt producing enough milk they were much kinder to me after that

 

[daizeUK]

LOL mbou!

I've checked my cupboards and I actually have a lot of 1ml and 5ml plastic syringes left over from various baby and cat medications, so I should be fine.

I'm planning to buy 250ml of Prime and 30ml of API Tap Water Conditioner from Seapets today. I can even get some more bird food at the same time

 

[DrRob]

If you have trouble dosing Prime, you can easily get hold of 1ml syringes

Just ask at your local chemist/pharmacy. I think they have to actually provide them! Failing that... you can just buy them online.

Chemists etc have syringes for sale but behind the counter for people who use them for drugs... better they have access to clean ones! I didn't realise this was the case when I asked for 1ml syringes!! I got the worst looks ever LOL I did realise eventually and panicked!! Had to explain I was syringe feeding a litter of baby hamsters as the female wasnt producing enough milk

they were much kinder to me after that

Nobody asks anything when I ask for syringes, apart from how many thousand I want. Which also makes buying a handful somewhat embarrassing.

 

[MBOU]

LOL rob, they didnt have to say anything!! It was the raised eyebrows and shared looks between staff! LOL

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I've had a couple of answers given to that question. The 2 most practical sounding were 7.4mg treats 1mg of chlorine, which is great if you know the levels involved and treating tap water requires 0.1 to 0.3 grams of the pentahydrated per 10 litres.

Worth noting that it'll release the ammonia from chloramines at the same time though.

Yes, I am aware of that. Thanks.