Stress coat

[ImACoolguy]

I've been having a long debate on Instagram about the exact purpose of stress coat in the home aquarium. So far out of about 10 people I have gotten no actual evidence. I've gotten assumptions on fin repair and and reducing stress when introduced to a new home. Other than that nothing.

I did a little digging and came up with the case study that supposedly "proves" the usefulness for this product. Yet reading it leaves tons of questions and looks so inconclusive it's useless.

Take a look: http://www.apifishcare.com/pdf/Stress_Coat_Wound_Healing_Study_8.1.08.pdf

The problems I see:
1. Why use a 10g tank for a goldfish? They dont even state the size of the fish.

2. Why heat the tank to 75 degrees? It's a cold water fish.

3. Water changes were never mentioned, in fact, it doesn't even say they tested for nitrates. Water quality results are not even shown.

4. (I just reread the study) they put 15 goldfish into EACH aquarium. WHAT?! Someone correct me but that sure sounds like what I just read.


If anyone has any logical defense for this product please show.


Caleb

 

[azmodan]

Sorry, just having a hard time with the relevancy of your questions. The link just looks like an abridged version of a study (or just API public relations) on the effectiveness of stresscoat, not the proper keeping of goldfish.

 

[ImACoolguy]

Sorry, just having a hard time with the relevancy of your questions. The link just looks like an abridged version of a study (or just API public relations) on the effectiveness of stresscoat, not the proper keeping of goldfish.

It's not about goldfish. It's about the validity and effectiveness of stress coat and what sets it apart from just being a water conditioner with gimmicks slapped on it.


Caleb

 

[azmodan]

Ah ok, I'm just confused as to why you were asking the questions about tank size/temp/goldfish stuff.

 

[ImACoolguy]

Ah ok, I'm just confused as to why you were asking the questions about tank size/temp/goldfish stuff.

I felt the case study that supposedly "proves" its effectiveness is incomplete and invalid for the reasons listed above.


Caleb

 

[PassengerTN]

I felt the case study that supposedly "proves" its effectiveness is incomplete and invalid for the reasons listed above.


Caleb

Heat, limited space and over stoking may have been done intentionally to increase stress levels of the fish to test effectiveness of the fish. You can't test how well it works (or doesn't) on a fish that's total relaxed. Ive not read the article, but just a thought


Jesse

 

[PerfectDepth]

It's just a dechlorinator with aloe vera, cleverly marketed as an essential "stress reducer" instead of just another water conditioner, which is actually its main purpose. There are so many dechlorinators on the market, so it's just their clever way of making Stress Coat stand out from all the others.

Statistical analysis of the rating data from seven university faculty members, performed by a biostatistician, showed a significant difference etween the treated fish and untreated controls. The STRESS COAT treated fish showed more advanced tissue healing than untreated fish tissue. Examiners found that STRESS COAT with Aloe vera helped heal the wounds and reduce the wound size compared to untreated fish tissue.

These results are definitely not surprising, as these properties of aloe vera are well-known. I really don't see any problem with how the study was conducted. As mentioned above, it really makes sense if the idea was to purposefully stress the fish a bit in order to more closely simulate shipping conditions.

Since the aloe is really only helpful for wounded or stressed fish, adding aloe every time you do a water change is unnecessary, but it doesn't hurt anything, either.

 

[Delapool]

On a side topic, I've always wondered what seachem mean with this statement. Or rather how is it doing it.


http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Prime.html

'Prime® also promotes the production and regeneration of the natural slime coat.'

Main reason I stopped using stress coat was that it doesn't seem to detoxify ammonia.

 

[PerfectDepth]

On a side topic, I've always wondered what seachem mean with this statement. Or rather how is it doing it.


Seachem. Prime

'Prime® also promotes the production and regeneration of the natural slime coat.'

Main reason I stopped using stress coat was that it doesn't seem to detoxify ammonia.

With the way the whole page reads, I'm fairly sure it's just referring to the benefit of the ammonia binder. Reduction of chloramine produces ammonia, and the presence of toxic ammonia will disturb the natural slime coating. Thus, it says: "Prime® promotes the natural production and restoration of the slime coat rather than relying on artificial or non-native slime compounds." ..which to me suggests that there are no additional ingredients, it's just a natural benefit of water that is free from toxic ammonia.

 

[Delapool]

Sneaky! Perhaps I should put that label on my water change buckets.

Ps thanks for the info.

 

[dragon14]

I use stress coat as our regular water conditioner.