[juarez_cichlids]

Hello new guy here. I have had my 10 gallon tank for 7 months, purchased a 40 gallon tank and ran it for 8 weeks. I added 4 kuhli loaches and my orange pleco at 3rd week of cycling. It is now 10th week and I'm in NOOOO hurry to transfer my cichlids. Can anyone help me understand or educate me on water conditioners???? I've been using the yellow tetra+ bottle. PRIME and NOVAQUA are the two I'm wanting to get feedback on. Would any of the two conditioners be allright for EB Jacks and Severnums?? I purchased a bottle of NutraFin African Cichlid water conditioner. Not so sure thats its suitable for my New age american cichlids.

 

[AAUSbob]

go for it, shoulds like you know what ur doing enough. just keep an eye on them the first week

 

[mlancaster]

Hi juarez_cichlids,

The "yellow tetra+ bottle" (aka AquaSafe) is a good conditioner and works well. The benefit of using prime over other standard water conditioners is it temporarily locks up ammonia (toxic to fish) in a non-toxic form. Therefore if you killed some beneficial bacteria during a water change/filter cleaning or if you tap water has high amounts of ammonia in it, prime will make the ammonia non-toxic to your fish until your beneficial bacteria can catch up.

I personally use Prime for large water changes and AquaSafe if I am just replacing water from evaporation.

As for the Nutrafin African cichlid water conditioner, it is highly unlikely that you will have any benefit from it. In my opinion with most tank raised fish, it is more important to keep your PH and GH stable than attempt to match their natural habitat.

The differences between water conditioners such as prime and AquaSafe and the Nutrafin African cichlid water conditioner are: Prime/AquaSafe is used to remove chlorine, chloramines, and other heavy metals from your tap water, making you tap water non-toxic to fish; Nutrafin African cichlid water conditioner is a â€Å"bufferâ€Â

 

[thefiremouthscientist]

Dude you've run it for 8 weeks! And you put a couple starters in there, I say go for it man. You're cichlids are gonna love you

Just do what I never do and double check that it looks like you wont want to rearrange everything in a week lol. Use the time youve given yourself to make it look graceful and beautiful. Good luck man!

 

[DIYhunter]

PRIME and NOVAQUA are the two I'm wanting to get feedback on. Would any of the two conditioners be allright for EB Jacks and Severnums?? I purchased a bottle of NutraFin African Cichlid water conditioner. Not so sure thats its suitable for my New age american cichlids.

The Prime is the better choice if you're comparing it to NovaAqua because it doesn't remove chloramines as well (not very good). I used Prime for seven years & SeaChem means it when they say "instantly" treats water. But I recently switched from the Prime to the AquaSafe+ & it works just as good.

When it comes to water conditioners it really comes down to what you want to spend, just be sure it removes both chlorine & chloramines. Best bang for the buck IMO is the Prime. I just don't like the smell.

As for the NutraFin African Cichlid water conditioner, you can use is with your mentioned fish; but it absolutely isn't necessary. It's just adding minerals to your water that you'll give your fish anyway, from a well balanced diet.

 

[MonteSS]

Test test test

0 amonia
0 nitrites
5-20 nitrates

And you are cycled, safe, and ready to add fish.

....Bill

 

[juarez_cichlids]

Allright!! Thanks for your knowledge and help guys. I will let you all know how it goes.