Which Dechlorinator, And Shelf Life

[yozzington]

Hi everyone
I am trying to get everything i need for freshwater aquarium, before starting to set up my tank.
Can i ask the experts which is the recommended dechlorinator to use, and does it have a shelf life, and also does the Api master test kit have a shelf live?, sorry for the newbie questions, but i don't want to buy either item if they are out of date before i get any fish.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[markandhisfish]

hi. welcome to TFF . when it comes to dechlorinator you caant beat seachem prime imo. gos soooo far lasts ages . just checked my bottle for an expiry date and cant find 1 but im dure its got a pretty long shelf life .

http/www.warehouse...submit=+Search+

 

[loraxchick]

The API test kit has a really decent shelf life. i cannot vouch for an actual time-line but been using mine for about a year and gives consistent accurate results (and if you test every waterchange you will use up the bottles in about 6-8 months time).
as for dechlor, get yourself some pond dechlor. it is super concentrated and lasts for AGES!!! best value for your money.
all the best
cheers

 

[ZoddyZod]

+1 Seachem Prime

0.6ml to treat 10 litres.....bargain.

 

[yozzington]

Thanks for the replies everyone, this has set my mind at ease (i am probably a good two to three months off getting fish yet).

 

[saz326]

Hi everyone

Hi Back to you. Welcome to the hobby!

Another thing to consider before buying either of these things is what are you going to need to test, and how much water are you going to need to change.

When I first started up I bought Tetra pond water conditioner/dechlorinator as I knew I was going to get through a lot of water during the tank cycle, where I was replacing tank water at a vast rate of knotts. Pond dechlorinator is more concentrated than aquarium stuff and sold in larger bottles - generally you get more for your money although I had concern that I wasnt using it all fast enough as it did seem to pong after a while. I decided to move onto a dry crystal form of dechlorinator which lasts just, and as long as it is dry the formulation talkes longer to destabilise.

For test kits, have a look at single units rather than kits before buying. Some of the kits include things like C02 indication, Low pH, High pH (where you probably want just mid-range), and things like water hardness etc.

My suggestion is that you buy only the NitrIte, NitrAte, Ammonia and mid range pH, and if you need any other tests to be performed then you can take a sample of tankwater to your local store where they will happily test for a small fee. It works out far cheaper. Ofcourse if you can get a good test kit for a good price (check out any practical fishkeeping subscription offers etc) then go for it.

I dont have a favourite dechlorinator but if you are starting a new tank then go for one that has the benefit of additional water treatment such as heavy metal coagulator such as Tetra "Aquasafe". Some also have added stuff that is supposed to protect fish's skin/mucus layer but I dont know whether these work or not.

Good luck and let us all see a photo of your tank when its all up and running.

Sarah

 

[waterdrop]

Plus another for Seachem Prime.. I highly recommend it especially for beginners. The main reason is the fact that it's highly concentrated, in a similar manner to the pond dechlor products, giving you a lot of value for the dose.. but I also feel it has a superior record for the incidental features of temporarily neutralizing ammonia and nitrite and binding heavy metals. I feel it's a really good product for beginners to use out through the first couple years (and reasonable sized bottles will take you these kind of distances because it's so concentrated.) After the tank is a few years mature I suppose one might take some scrap paper to the LFS and gather some concentration comparison data from the pond products and see how much money could be saved (especially with big tanks) but even the pond dechors vary a lot, so you have to do your homework if you want to actually save money.

The expiry dates vary by individual test in master kits. Some reagents last quite a bit longer than others (by their very nature of course we are dealing with reagents that are expected to react quickly to substances naturally found in the environment, so its a tricky thing to invent chemical combos that are both long lasting and also react sensitively.) The details of understanding the expiry stampings on the bottles have been detailed in threads on TFF (API for sure, and I believe others) so hopefully you can find one of those if you need it - also their help line will tell you.)

~~waterdrop~~

 

[BIG BAD BARRY]

Has anybody used Easy Neo?
I have been using it on a small tank quite happily.
Seachem Prime has been recommended to me as well so i am in the process of deciding which to use for a new tank.
If i am correct, Seachem Prime contains stuff to help the slime coat which some people think is unecessary. I did read a good article for comparisons between such products. Will post link if i can find it again!

Anyway, looks shirley aquatics have offer for Easy Neo.
http/www.shirleyaquatics.co.uk/product-detail.cfm?theProdID=F82B1F57-F432-60F2-AC465FE98290C427

yozzington - Ebay item number 260669737422. This was the best priced API Freshwater test kit i found from a to rated seller. They actually refer to the product shelf life.

 

[yozzington]

Thanks everyone for the replies, i have managed to find a good price on the API freshwater master kit, a smidge over £20 on ebay inc. postage.
As for the de-chlorinator, i have seen a 2 litre bottle of Nutrafin Aqua plus tap safe, for a little over £20, is this stuff any good?, or would it be false economy, what with chrimbo just around the corner i don't want to buy it if it's only so-so.
Also can anyone recommend a good low noise pump (my tank is in my bedroom so low noise would be an advantage), for a 170 litre tank.

 

[yozzington]

Sorry for the bump, but the Nutrafin Aqua Safe de-chlorinator ends pretty soon, and was just wanting an experts opinion before jumping in the deep end.

 

[Skins]

Sorry for the bump, but the Nutrafin Aqua Safe de-chlorinator ends pretty soon, and was just wanting an experts opinion before jumping in the deep end.

I used that dechlorinater when i setup my tank then i switched to Tetra aquasafe and now today i have been convinced in using Seachem prime.
At the end of the day they do as there intended BUT reading up on this seachem prime you benefit from more than removing chlorine/chloramine.

As for the pump i use the APS tetra's, mine are tooked out the way so it never really bothers me.

Skins.

 

[raptorrex]

Sorry for the bump, but the Nutrafin Aqua Safe de-chlorinator ends pretty soon, and was just wanting an experts opinion before jumping in the deep end.

you will do no better than PRIME. and its ultra low cost, makes it a steal.
I believe the truth is, all are very much the same. some have things in that others don't. but, on the whole, that's irrelevant. as long as the stuff controls heavy metals as well as chlorine, the only other considderation is, as i said, is cost.

 

[waterdrop]

Agree with raptor, the function to neutralize chorine and chloramines is a easy chemical process to get right and nearly all conditioner products get it right, so there's no problem using almost any of them and having that go just fine and that's by far the main function. All we're talking about here are the subtleties of long term cost saving and extra backup safety functions for beginners with biofilter problems and of course the true power of fixing those is to understand proper water changing.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[yozzington]

I have gone with the trend here and purchased a 1/2 litre bottle of Seachem prime, had never heard of that one until you guys mentioned it, so thanks very much.
Thanks also to Skins for the recommendation of the Tetra pumps, will have a look at them online when i eventually get home from work, (feels like my very own groundhog day).
I do already have a Resun pump which came with the tank, but it's only 1.8 litre a minute, which in my very inexperienced opinion seems way under for the size tank i have, besides which the little blighters a noisy so and so.

 

[BIG BAD BARRY]

<br />I have gone with the trend here and purchased a 1/2 litre bottle of Seachem prime, had never heard of that one until you guys mentioned it, so thanks very much.<br />Thanks also to Skins for the recommendation of the Tetra pumps, will have a look at them online when i eventually get home from work, (feels like my very own groundhog day).<br />I do already have a Resun pump which came with the tank, but it's only 1.8 litre a minute, which in my very inexperienced opinion seems way under for the size tank i have, besides which the little blighters a noisy so and so.<br />

<br /><br /><br />

This is the article i read:
http/www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/rev-cond.htm