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Question: Water conditioner

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I swater conditioner thesame as dechlorinator? I have been using water conditioner, but since I'm about to cycle my tank and i read chlorine and chloramine would kill good bacteria+ ammonia, I wanted to be really sure. :confused:
 

LSuzuki

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Usually, they are used interchangeably, but I would say there are some nuances to pay attention to when buying.

A dechlorinator gets rid of chlorine and will break the bond between chlorine and ammonia in chloramine and neutralize the chlorine (but not the ammonia). Plain dechlorinators (sodium thiosulfate) were much more commonly sold in the past - now they are rare (at least here in the US).

An aquarium water conditioner typically has a dechlorinator and other stuff to make it "superior" to plain dechlorinator. Read the bottle to see what makes it "superior". Modern ones commonly neutralize ammonia (for a while, anyhow - read the fine print) and sometimes nitrite, and neutralize heavy metals. Some of them contain "stress coat", but it is best to avoid ones containing aloe, since some axies are sensitive to it. It is best to stick with a known-to-be-axolotl-safe product like Prime rather than going with something generic, since axolotls are sensitive to some things.
 

LSuzuki

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"Quick start" and similar products get mixed reviews. The main issues is, many people report they didn't work, making them a waste of money. (Some people report success, however.) In the past, some people have expressed concerns about products like that because a) you don't know what is in them, so you can't check to see if they will harm an axolotl, b) they give a false sense of security to new keepers who don't realize they still need to check the tank parameters.

I don't recall anyone posting that quick start has hurt their axolotl, but I recommend searching this forum.
 

AxolotlChris

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'Dechlorinator' and 'Conditioner' are largely the same thing, but you will always need to read the bottle to establish exactly what each product does.

Some products will only 'dechlorninate' which is removing chlorine, chloramine, and metal toxins. Then some products will dechlorinate and 'condition' the water. Conditioning is where the product you are using will provide other benefits such as: 'replenish protective slime coat', 'contains aloe vera' or 'contains a binder which renders ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate non-toxic.'

You may as well buy a product that is a dechlorinator and conditioner in one, rather than two separate products which give the same results.

There are good brands of dechlorinators/conditioners which will do both, such as Seachem. Prime OR AquaSafe Aquarium Dechlorinator Conditioner | Tetra Aquarium

You can see that Prime and Tetra AquaSafe both dechlorinate, but 'condition' in their own way.

Prime not only removes chlorine, chloramine, and metal toxins, but also provides: 'production and regeneration of the natural slime coat', and 'contains a binder which renders ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate non-toxic (for up to 48 hours)'.

Tetra AquaSafe not only remove chlorine, chloramine, and metal toxins, but also provides:
'stress-reducing vitamins, and compounds that inhibit bacteria and fungi', and 'Contains colloids that coat the fish, protecting them against infection'.

So you always want to read each bottle and check whether the features/benefits of that product are what you are looking for. Some users have reported that Aloe Vera has caused skin problems for their Axolotls, so you could avoid any dechlorinator/conditioner that provides that.

I have used Tetra AquaSafe, and Seachem Prime with no issue, as have a lot of users on the forum.
 

AxolotlChris

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Bottled bacteria such as the 'Quick Start' are usually unlikely to help start your cycle since the bacteria in the bottles will have a 'shelf life', meaning that if the bottles are really old and have been kept in a variation of temperatures then the bacteria inside will have most likely perished. I tried using 'Fluval Bilogical Enhancer' and it did not work for me.

Its easier to cycle naturally and allow the beneficial bacteria to colonize your tank without using any 'enhancing' products.
 
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