[AquaticLife] chemicals that came with tank

December 19, 2008 @ 5:15 pm · Filed under Philippines Internet Koi Society

Wow… whoever had the tank before you really falls for advertising. Tell them I have some beautiful water front swampland down here that I’m selling.
The Aqua Plus is OK to finish using as a dechlor product. Once you run out, get a simple dechlor product like API or Top Fin… without all the added herbal extracts, aloe, stress-this or slime-that type junk in them. Since you need a dechlor, use it ASAP, since you are not sure if you have chlorine or chloramine in your water.
The various test kits are a good thing… and sound like the API brand or maybe they have Aquarium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. on them. You don’t actually add those chemicals to the tank but rather to the test tubes that should have come with the test kits. They only last about a year after they’ve been opened so they may or may not be accurate any longer. The API Master Test Kit or the Tetratest-Laborette Master Test Kit are both available through WalMart.com (did WalMart take over Canada yet? ) for under $20.00 for either kit. They both have their pros and cons but either are good.. just not complete so you would need to buy a separate GH/KH kit for the API or a separate Nitrate kit for the T-L. If they are the API brand, then get the T-L kit since you would already have the nitrate kit which would give you a full array of test kits. I have a long blog article on Master Test Kits for more details.
Run all the tests and give us your numbers on your tank. Also do the 48 hour baseline testing on your tap water and give us those numbers. See my blog for more details.. “Find your tap water baseline parameters”.
DO NOT use any pH altering chemicals unless or until you know more about your water chemistry and only after an experienced person (meaning not the pet store employees) has specifically advised it. Most of us do not advise it since it’s better to keep fish that like your available water than to try and alter the chemistry which will have to be done for ever and ever with every PWC that is done on the tank.
DO NOT use the waste control or Cycle. They simply do not work as advertised and Cycle seems to cause more cycling problems rather than less… when I tested it several years ago. I think Harry or Ray did a more in-depth review of what’s in Cycle and why it doesn’t work. You could search the message archives for a post in the past several months. Basically, it has the wrong bacteria in it for cycling a tank. As I explained earlier, 95% of the bottle-bacteria products are not the correct bacteria. The only one I recommend right now is Dr. Tim’s One And Only which does have the right bacteria.
Methylene Blue is a viable medicinal treatment when prescribed. It might even be something you can use on your current potential fungal issue.. once you are certain it’s fungal. http://www.novalek.com/kordon/methylene_blue/index.htm
You’re starting to see my golden rule… 95% of the stuff they sell is not needed 95% of the time.
Lenny Vasbinder Fish Blog - http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com (Links to any articles referenced in above reply are listed on the right side, alphabetically under Labels and also under Archives by Year, Month)