Water Conditioner

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

eduguy

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Aug 14, 2012
Messages
975
My water conditioner says it "helps neutralize ammonia". Does it actually do that and i'm also in the middle of a fish in cycle so could that be bad.
 
It doesn't remove ammonia it just transforms it in ammonium, that's not as harmful to fish and your bacteria can still eat it. But if its really high, you should be doing a big wc.
 
It's not meant as a replacement for water changes but is helpful when doing a fish in cycle to help be sure your fish are dealing with the least amount of stress. You should remember that it's only effective for about 24-48 hours as well so again, not a solution to a spike during a cycle but it's a helpful tool.

It's really helpful for people that have ammonia in their tap water because by the time it wears off the BB have converted the ammonia.
 
It's not meant as a replacement for water changes but is helpful when doing a fish in cycle to help be sure your fish are dealing with the least amount of stress. You should remember that it's only effective for about 24-48 hours as well so again, not a solution to a spike during a cycle but it's a helpful tool.

It's really helpful for people that have ammonia in their tap water because by the time it wears off the BB have converted the ammonia.
Thanks
 
does water conditioner work instantly?

yes. It is important to remember though that unless you are adding it directly to the water you are replacing before it enters the tank then you need to dose for your whole tank.

So say you are removing 5 gallons from a 20 gal tank. You can add enough conditioner for the 5 gallons right to the bucket before adding it to the tank. If you are putting the water right into the tank(with say a water changer or you don't have an easy way to measure your water) than you need to dose conditioner right into the tank for the whole volume(20 gals) and add the water after. This ensures that even with the dispersal of water throughout the tank that all of the new water will be sure to get conditioned.
 
Could i put some of it into my aquarium just to convert ammonia to ammonium
 
Another question. My water conditioner says it neautralizes ammonia but it actaully converts it to ammonium which biological filter can't process which starves off you good bacteria so your tank needs to recycle. Should i keep using it? I'm in the middle of a fish in cycle right now.
 
eduguy said:
Another question. My water conditioner says it neautralizes ammonia but it actaully converts it to ammonium which biological filter can't process which starves off you good bacteria so your tank needs to recycle. Should i keep using it? I'm in the middle of a fish in cycle right now.

Answered in the first response.

boadams87 said:
It doesn't remove ammonia it just transforms it in ammonium, that's not as harmful to fish and your bacteria can still eat it. But if its really high, you should be doing a big wc.
 
Back
Top Bottom