Recommendations For Conditioners And Testing Kits.

[Jim3k]

Hi all,
I’ve had my tank set-up for a few months and I’ve been using King British safewater weekly and when I added fish. I’ve also used Haloex Dechlorinator. I’ve heard a few people recommend switching to API Stress Coat and Stress Zyme. Does anyone else use or recommend these, or are there any alternatives which are better?
Also can any recommend a good testing kit? A friend gave me a 5in1 King British kit to get me going, but I’ve heard some of the other kits (with test tubes and liquids) are better value for money in the long run and more accurate.
Thanks for your help.
Jamie

 

[phantomlink]

Conditioner: Seachem Prime
Testing Kit: API liquid kit

 

[techen]

Get the API masters kit, everyone uses them. Also I suggest you look into prime. Well worth the money and is strong stuff - use less.

 

[Essjay]

I use API tapwater conditioner. This removes chlorine and heavy metals but does not detoxify the ammonia made from splitting chloramine. As my tapwater has chlorine rather than chloramine, it works fine.
I'm another user of the API liquid test kit.

 

[phoenixgsd]

another vote for seachem prime and the API master test kit here

 

[balajake]

Seachem prime
Api test kit

A 5ml capful of seachem prime treats 200l of water. It binds ammonia and nitrite. No other product will ever go in my tank unless I run out and I'm forced to

 

[Jim3k]

Thanks for the recommendations guys, it's much appreciated. You can tell I'm a newbie as I hadn't heard of Prime

Do any of you use products to boost bacteria? I just checked the seachem website and they have a product called 'Stability', I'm guessing that's the equivalent of the Safewater I'm using. I've heard mixed reviews about using these products long term, with them being used more in the first few months of setting the tank up.

Thanks again!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Not many. I tried SafeStart during my fishless cycle - noticed no appreciable difference except the cost. Save the money to buy special food for the fish, more driftwood, better substrate, etc. The bacteria in a bottle is a waste of money, imho. Cycling doesn't need help... you learn a lot more during a fishless cycle and basically forces you to do a lot of research about the fish you can keep together and in your tank,,, Honestly, I think far too many people just take the plunge without any significant forethought. Looking back, as impatient as I was regarding my fishless cycle, it was the best thing that I could have done. I learned far more than I thought there was to learn (which is an indictment on me, honestly).

A fishtank has far more going on than the stuff we can actually measure for as well, so the extra time of adding ammonia to the tank helps to mature the tank itself. We constantly talk about sensitive fish, and not adding certain fish until the tank is 6 months old. The reason is that less mature tanks just aren't able to take proper care of those fish. Adding natural elements like live plants, I believe, greatly accelerates that process though.


+1 Prime and API master test kit.

 

[the_lock_man]

+1 to Prime.

I use Salifert test kits. The API ammonia kit is VERY difficult to distinguish between 0ppm and 0.25ppm. The API nitrate kit needs the beejayziz shaken out of it to get any sort of reading at all. The API nitrite kit is good though!