Suggested water conditioner?

Question

Hi, I have 2 tanks: A large tank with mollies and molly fry, and a smaller tank with 1 male betta. What brands of water conditioners have worked well for you? Or, what water conditioners didn't work so well? Thank you! ♥

I have heard good things about AquaSafe... I have a small sample packet I am trying with my betta tomorrow.

Answer 1

Rather than looking at brands, you should make sure what you use is compatible with what your water company uses to treat your water supply. Chlorine was once used by all companies, but some are now going to chloramine, since this lasts longer in the water (why you shouldn't just let the water sit out for 24 hours - this will get rid of chlorine, but not chloramine).

Call your water company to find out what they use. Then look for a product that says it will neutralize or remove that chemical. Many products will only remove chlorine, so if what your water company uses is chloramine, these won't work. Also, don't get anything that says it "breaks the chloramine bond" if you have chloramine. Chloramine is a molecule that combines chlorine and ammonia, so when it breaks the bond, it releases chlorine and ammonia into your tank (and you go from one product that's toxic to fish to two!). Some will remove both, but you use a different dose, so you still need to find out which your company uses.

I also don't recommend anything that also neutralizes ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate in the water. While these may seem like a good idea at first, these only bind these chemicals, they don't remove them from the tank. This may give you a false sense of not having to change your water as often (and there are other reasons for doing regular water changes), plus, these will still show up on water tests, so you won't know if the neutralized chemicals or one that are harmful that are present in your tank.

I personally use Genesis, but this only works for chlorine (what I have) - I like the one drop per gallon dose because I don't have to do a lot of calculations to figure out how much I need.

Answer 2

Prime, is what I use it works great and treats water with a very small amount but 1 mL treats 10 gallons!! so you have to make a solution 1 mL prime 9 mL water and then take 1 mL of that to treat 1 gallon!! I have used AquaSafe and it is easy to use and works great, but I use prime since I have saltwater but you can use it for freshwater and lots of people suggest it to me! If you are really brave and buy prime try smelling it once, really get and then smell it I dare you!!

Answer 3

Aqua Safe is great, so is Stess Coat...
pretty much anything that removes chlorine, chloramines, heavy metals and promotes slime coating on fish is an A in my book!!

Answer 4

I have always used AquaSafe and it has worked for me, so I recommend that!

Answer 5

Prime by Seachem. It's expensive, but a bottle lasts a long long time.