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Question re: Water Conditioners and Water Changes

3K views 9 replies 7 participants last post by  LisaC144 
#1 ·
When you treat the water during a water change, do you treat the amount of water you are changing, or the total amount in the tank? I.e., you're changing 10g of water in a 50g aquarium - do you dose for 10g or 50g?

I've been dosing just for the changed water, thinking that the water in the tank has already been treated. So, for each 3g bucket I fill, I treat 3g. But, I always seem to have some ammonia in my water (and do test + for ammonia out of the tap as well). In researching Water Conditioners, I came across this blurb;

DOSAGE WITH LIQUID AMQUEL+ PRODUCTS
... When treating the water, the total volume of water should be treated per dose, not just the amount of water added.
http://www.novalek.com/kordon/amquel+/index.htm

I haven't seen any equivalent instructions on the other Tap Water Conditioners I've seen or used (API Tap Water Conditioner, API StressCoat+, SeaChem Prime).

So, how do you guys go about treating your water? If you dose for the whole tank, do you put the entire dose in the first bucket, split it up evenly between buckets, or add it to the tank directly (i.e., using a Python)?
 
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#4 ·
Yes, I have tested the tap water for ammonia, and it does show positive. That's one of the reasons I was looking around at some of the different water conditioners available. Amquel+ claims to specifically remove chlorimines and ammonia, whiile some others only mention the chlorimines, and was digging deeper into the info about it when I came across that tidbit above.
 
#3 ·
I usually treat for the whole tank when using the python or somtimes I simply add enough dechlorinator for ten more gal than what I have removed. Can't say I have ever noticed a problem either way.
 
#5 ·
In that case, you will still get a reading for ammonia...always. However, the Amquel+ turns the harmful ammonia into harmless ammonium. The tests cannot distinguish the two, but as long as you're treating with a conditioner that detoxifies it, you're good to go. I use Prime, but many people around here use Amquel+ and it is highly receommended.
 
#6 ·
+1 for prime, I switched from Stress Coat/Zyme a while back and it's great!

I treat for an entire tank when I do my pwc. better to over dose then underdose!
 
#8 ·
I dose for the entire tank volume when using my Python. On my smaller tanks (3 gallons and 10 gallons) I still use a gravel vac and a 5 gallon bucket and I just dose for the amount of refill water I have in the bucket.
 
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