On Nov 17, 11:22 am, "Bill Stock" wrote:
I recently had a bad experience with the cycle on a quarantine tank, so I
thought it would be useful to have some Ammonia detoxifier on hand. I
currently have some of the crystals, but this is not always convenient
depending on the filter being used. Some of the products claim to remove
Nitrites as well as Nitrates, while others claim to help grow the Nitrifying
bacteria. Most claim not to harm the bio-filter or affect the PH. Some
products also claim that their competitors use formaldehyde. The products
I've seen are Amquel Plus, Amguard, Ammo Lock, Ammonia Detox, etc. Since I
have planted tanks, it would be nice to know how much the Nitrates are
really effected.

Can anyone explain how the various products work or how they comapre in cost
per use. I looked for an online summary but id not find anything.

As an aside I also purchased a few of the Mardel Ammonia monitors for my
tanks when I started the quarrantine tank. The one I put in my large planted
tank started to turn green after a few days. This did not really make sense,
since the fish are fine and there is no reason for the cycle to be having
problems. But I did a water change anyway and the tester was even more green
the next day. So I added some Ammonia detox to the filter and it had no
impact on the monitor's reading. So I did another water change. But then I
thought that I should get out the Ammonia test kit (OK so I was a bit slow)
and it tested 0 Ammonia. So either the Ammonia monitor was always wrong or
the Ammonia detox did its job and is now throwing the monitor off. Although
I suspect one of the fertilizers in the tank is affecting the Ammonia
monitor. Time to switch back to the Seachem monitor, they never had any
issues and they last longer.

There is definitely a lot of confusion as to water conditioners and
how they work.
The only two that I have found that really meet the claims are Prime
by SeaChem or Amquel Plus by Kordon. These two really do de-toxify
ammonia and nitrites while leaving them bio available for nitrifying
bacteria.

This article has information comparing these as well as others:
http://aquarium-answers.blogspot.com...ditioners.html

I also recommend reading this article:
http://www.americanaquariumproducts....gen_Cycle.html

And as Marco stated, good old fashioned water changes are helpful
too .

Carl