Do I need Stress Coat and Ammo Lock?>>>>
spsware
it after water changes too? I am almost ready to start my aquarium but I
need help understanding these two products and what they are used for. TIA
Emi
Oleg
Java Fern. I believe, I've lost about $0.50 on this trade, though it worth
it!
"spsware" <sps...@home.com> wrote in message
news:xNt25.224$O4....@news1.rdc1.ne.home.com...
SienaRot
spsware wrote:
> Do I need Stress Coat and Ammo Lock when adding fish to my aquarium?Do I add
> it after water changes too? I am almost ready to start my aquarium but I
> need help understanding these two products and what they are used for. TIA
> Emi
Stress Coat is used to help calm down your stressful fishes by helping them
rebuild their slime coat they have. Also, if it is the Stress Coat from
Aquarium Pharmacuticals (sp?), it should also help get rid of the choline in
your water after you do water changes.
I'm not sure what Ammo Lock doesn, but I would assume that it is to help
neutralize ammonia content in your water. If I'm wrong, someone will correct
me...
Derrick
--
******************************************************************
Betta Message Board: http://www.InsideTheWeb.com/mbs.cgi/mb1038393
ravinwulf
> Do I need Stress Coat and Ammo Lock when adding fish to my aquarium?Do I add
> it after water changes too? I am almost ready to start my aquarium but I
> need help understanding these two products and what they are used for.
You don't need either of those products per se. You *do* need some sort of
dechlorinator, probably one that also neutralizes chloramine depending on where
you get your tap water and how it's treated. I like/use one called A.C.E. that
takes care of chlorine and chloramine both. Call your local water company; they
can tell you if they add chloramine or not. Use it when you first add water to
the tank and when you make partial water changes to neutralize chemicals in the
tap water you're adding. Stress Coat has a mixed reputation: some people swear
by it, some think it causes problems. I've never used it myself, considering the
controversy and the fact that there are other alternatives available. Ammo Lock
is used to neutralize ammonia. You only need to add it if ammonia becomes a
problem (new tank syndrome or die off of the biobugs for some reason), and even
then you're probably better off making a large partial water change instead to
dilute the ammonia rather than adding additional chemicals to the tank, unless
the problem is really acute. Also, be aware that if you do use Ammo Lock, it
will affect the accuracy of certain types of ammonia test kits.
Regards,
ravinwulf
spsware
Emi
add
> it after water changes too? I am almost ready to start my aquarium but I
> need help understanding these two products and what they are used for.
> Emi
>
>
Katmann98
prefilters. A much better choice, IMHO, is PRIME by Sea-Chem. I
have used Prime for years with great results. I still have half
of my first and last bottle of Stress-coat. You are welcome to
have it!!
Got questions? Get answers over the phone at Keen.com.
Up to 100 minutes free!
http://www.keen.com
Tumster
situation only. It doesn't remove ammonia, rather it binds the ammonia
molecules to make them less toxic. After you add Ammo Lock to the water, it
actually works like a sponge. It soaks up ammonia when the water is dirty
and it releases ammonia when the water is clean (similar to charcoal filter
elements is they are saturated with toxins). I stopped using charcoal in my
filters for that exact reason as well; I do have to do water change more
frequently than others. In a desperate situation, when your fish are dying
by the minute from ammonia poisoning, Ammo Lock type of chemicals does come
in handy.
According to the label, Stress Coat appears to be your all purpose miracle
aquarium chemical. I have not used it for a number of years and have no
apparent problem with doing weekly or semi-weekly water changes. Can't say
if it is useful or not. Most of the hobbyists I know do not use the stuff.
Lubo Antonov
remove ammonia fom the water. It is primarilly used to treat tap water
before adding it to the aquarium. It is also the best way to neutralize
ammonia in a tank that is still cycling, or one that has water problems.
There are similar chemical made by other companies that do the same
thing, but one supposed advantage of Ammo Lock, is that if you use it to
remove ammonia, it will keep it in a form that the filter can still
break down, but it will not be toxic to the fish.
Stress Coat seems to be more of a gimmick - it's supposed to restore the
slime coating of the fish and thus reduce their stress, but who knows.
It also can be used on tap water to remove chlorine and chloramine just
like Ammo Lock, but it's not its primary function.
Lubo
Tumster
a) If I recall correctly, Aquarium Pharmaceutical added dechlorinator to
Ammo Lock in their Ammo Lock 2 formulation, the original Ammo Lock did not
have dechlorinator. I consider it a marketing gimmick. If a person wants
to dechlorinate tap water, he should use a chlorine remover like AP's Tap
Water Conditioner, not Ammo Lock. A plain declorinator is significantly
cheaper to use than Ammo Lock; and the cheapest and best way to remove
chlorine is to let the water sit and age for a few days before adding to the
aquarium. Free as long as you have the room to store the water.
b) If you look at AP's claim, all they claim that Ammo Lock 2 can do is
"Locks up ammonia in a non-toxic form."; basic chemistry dictates that
unless a chemical reaction takes place and the chemical is converted to
another one, it remains in the water. When clean water is added and free
ammonia molecules are less concentrated in the water, basic chemistry also
dictates that some of the "locked up" ammonia is released back into the
water.
c) Filters don't break down ammonia, nitrosomonas bacteria do. I am a
microbiologist by university education, I admit that I have never analyzed
the Ammo Lock 2 formula to see how the chemical locks up free ammonia, but I
know that nitrosomonas bacteria like their ammonia free. Ammo Lock 2 has to
release the ammonia eventually to let the nitrosomonas do their job.
Base on the above, I would advise that:
a) If you are using Ammo Lock as a dechlorinator, you may want to try
another cheaper and more effective method.
b) If you have a healthy and properly cycled tank, Ammo Lock should be
completely unnecessary.
My humble opinions only.
Lubo Antonov <nospam_...@concentric.net> wrote in message
news:394EC074...@concentric.net...
Alec Dale
Tumster wrote:
> Just a few points to add:
>
> a) If I recall correctly, Aquarium Pharmaceutical added dechlorinator to
> Ammo Lock in their Ammo Lock 2 formulation, the original Ammo Lock did not
> have dechlorinator. I consider it a marketing gimmick. If a person wants
> to dechlorinate tap water, he should use a chlorine remover like AP's Tap
> Water Conditioner, not Ammo Lock. A plain declorinator is significantly
> cheaper to use than Ammo Lock; and the cheapest and best way to remove
> chlorine is to let the water sit and age for a few days before adding to the
> aquarium. Free as long as you have the room to store the water.
I think the reason they did that was so that you could use it with chloramine.
Normal dechlorinators will break the chlorine and ammonia bonds and then
you have ammonia in your tank. The Ammo Lock will take care of that ammonia.
You can't just use a normal dechlorinator with chloramine, but otherwise I tend
to agree with you.
NaturalDTP
writes:
>a) If you are using Ammo Lock as a dechlorinator, you may want to try
>another cheaper and more effective method.
>
>b) If you have a healthy and properly cycled tank, Ammo Lock should be
>completely unnecessary.
>
>My humble opinions only.
I agree completely - well reasoned previous post
Alan W
Tumster
> I think the reason they did that was so that you could use it with
chloramine.
> Normal dechlorinators will break the chlorine and ammonia bonds and then
> you have ammonia in your tank. The Ammo Lock will take care of that
ammonia.
> You can't just use a normal dechlorinator with chloramine, but otherwise I
tend
> to agree with you.
>
determine if his/her water supplier add chloramine to its water supply; mine
does. If the water company does not add chloramine to water, he should
concentrate on the chlorine. Call the local water company to determine
which chemicals they use and at what concentration, the water company
generally has chemists on staff who can answer those questions. My water
company actually post the annual averages on its website and I sent them an
email to confirm the figures. Generally, chloramine should not exceed 2 ppm
if the water is intented for human consumption. I still use a dechlorator
like sodium thiosulfate to neutralize the chlorine portion of chloramine. I
believe that when the chlorine is removed, the chloramine is no longer toxic
to the nitrosomonas and they can take care of the ammonia. At 1 ppm (my
local water stats), diluted by existing tank water, I believe that
nitrosomonas should be able to handle the additional ammonia load. I also
increased aeration to my tanks to assist the nitrosomonas with their tasks.
I do not believe that additional chemicals are required.
Alec Dale
lost fish with chloramine and only using ST. But, I'm not trying to argue,
I either don't use anything or use only ST on my chlorine. I don't use
any of the gimmick products either. I see no reason to use something
like stress coat anyway. The whole pseudo theory behind the "slime coat"
producing properties of these products drives me crazy.