# Which addatives?



## idris (29 Jan 2011)

I was about to order some dechlorinator online but was confronted with a gazillion different brands all claiming slightly different things: removal of chlorine and chloramines (both of which I know are needed), "instantly detoxifies ammonia" (I don't think "detoxifies" is a real word, but never mind), "forms a synthetic slime coating" (I'm a little uneasy about this), "neutralizes heavy metals" (I suspect that's no bad thing, but is it neccessary especially in the context of plants) ... etc etc etc

Then there are the a gazzillion more addatives before you even get to ferts, and I suspect many of these are pretty pointless.

I get the impression pond dechlorinator is cheapest and does the job, but other than that and ferts, what is needed and what is just a waste of marketing?

(FWIW I'm probably going to put a water softener pilow in the filter)
http://www.aquajardin.co.uk/product/15599/api_water_softener_pillow_large


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## Tom (29 Jan 2011)

I know a few people on here (myself included) don't bother with dechlorinator any more. If you get one, you won't need it to "detoxify ammonia". All that does is bind it, not remove it, so it is still there. You shouldn't have any anyway, so it'll be a bit redundant. It may or may not be useful to neutralize heavy metals. Synthetic slime coating presumably helps a fish's immunity and protection from injury, and skin parasites like white spot. All you really need is to remove the Chlorine and Chloramine if you have it (Chlorine on it's own will "gas off" over a short period of time). Personally I haven't used any in a long time (and this is with a scale-less pufferfish) and have seen absolutely no ill-effects, although I'm not going to advise against using it. As you say, a pond dechlorinator is by far the best financially, as it's so concentrated. 

You won't need the water softener pillow.


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## foxfish (29 Jan 2011)

Straight from the tap for me too, at one time I used rain water only, then RO water but, for the last 5-6 years I use straight from the tap & my tank looks better than ever!
Of course this might not work for you?


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## idris (29 Jan 2011)

(Without wanting to get my own thread off topic straigght away ...)
I haven't tested the tap water recently (as I threw out all my od test solutions) and I can't remember what the stats were, but the water company quote our "Total Hardness" as 348 mg/l (300+ very hard).
There wil be bogwood leaaching tanins and some peat moss (under adakama) which I know will all help with hardness but I figured the softener pillow would help too.

Other than dechlorinator and ferts, are there normally any other additives of worth?


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## dw1305 (29 Jan 2011)

Hi all,
There are 2 different questions here and I'd agree with the other posters, the dechlorination question you've answered  





> pond dechlorinator is cheapest and does the job


, "Pond Prime" would be my choice. Chloramine is a problem for non-planted tank keepers because it is relatively stable and doesn't out gas (which why the water companies like it), but breaks down into chlorine and ammonia over a long time period. In a planted tank this problem is negated to a large degree, because the plants preferentially take up ammonia as their nitrogen source. The only time you are likely to get chloramine problems are if you have leaks in the water mains, where organic matter is getting into the water supply. In this case the Water Company will put a much larger dose of chloramine than normal into the supply to ensure they don't breach EU water quality guide-lines.

The hardness question is slightly different, if the ion exchange pillow exchanges calcium (Ca2+) ions for sodium (Na+) ions it is actively damaging to your plants (if you re-charge it with salt this is how it works), if it removes all the metal ions (like a de-ioniser unit) it will be rapidly inactivated by the large amount of calcium in your water so you would have to replace it really frequently. Your very hard water is a problem if you don't add CO2 and want to grow all the plants available or if you want to keep exclusively soft water fish, but not if you don't mind keeping fish and plants which originate from relatively hard waters.

cheers Darrel


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## idris (30 Jan 2011)

Thanks Darrel. A that's explained a couple of things I've never bothered to wonder about for years, but sheds some light on why the *very* limited planting I've had in the past didn't always thrive. A big help.


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## Angus (30 Jan 2011)

i use nutrafin aquaplus, its 16 quid for a 2 litre pump bottle, in london we have very high chlorine and chloramine levels in the tap water, i have noticed stress signs and red gills from fish if i dont use a conditioner that neutralizes chlorine and chloramines.


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## dw1305 (1 Feb 2011)

Hi all,


> i use nutrafin aquaplus


 Yes I don't think the the actual brand matters, you just want one which specifies "for Chloramines".
There was some discussion here:
http://www.ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=13142&p=137696&hilit=amquel#p137696

cheers Darrel


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