FishProfiles.com Message Forums

From the first time I saw Amquel Plus advertised to remove ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, I couldn't help wondering how a healthy bacterial colony could survive.

I would like opinions on this stuff.

If anything, I could see using it in fry tanks and hospital tanks, but I have a tough time believing it has a place in a well established, normally stocked aquarium.

Here is a thread that may shed light on it. Does anyone feel that the tank may be attempting to cycle with rises in toxins in between water changes? Could this have caused the problems?

http://www.fishprofiles.com/interactive/forums/thread.asp?id=24385

i'm always very skeptical about additives. sure the product might do what it claims to do, but what if there is some other side effect to it that does more harm than good?

as far as adding it to an established tank, why fix it if it ain't broken?

The only additive I'm willing to use is Cycle. And I've only used it when starting up a new tank or between larger than normal water changes. I recall someone saying that Amquel Plus is good for petstore aquariums - where they need a problem fixed fast and don't have time for a water change. But really, it would keep your tank in a continuous cycle, and you'd have to keep hoards of it in order to keep your tank from spiking after you starve the bacteria to death. Unless of course, the bacteria have an alternative food source as well. I haven't read anything about that yet, so my best bet is that you're going to be starving your bacteria. You could do an experiment measuring the bacterial colonies prior to the addition of Amquel and after the addition to see if you end up killing your colonies.

I am currently using Amquel plus in the water for my betta bowls as they get a 100% change every week. So far, it does not seem to have caused any problems. Our city is one of those that uses ammonia along with chlorine in the water. The bettas seems to be happy building little bubble nest, but I treat the water the day before in clean bowls and let it sit a day before moving the fish to the clean bowls.
Frankly, I don't trust trying it in my ten or twenty nine gallon tanks and am still using bottled water for those. I tried AmmoLock for the ammonia in the ten and twenty-nine gallon tanks, and after about three weeks had an ammonia spike in both tanks. It only bonds to the ammonia and does not really remove it, so after a few changes using it, it can begin to build up. I don't know if the Amquel plus, would cause the same problems but don't want to chance it.
I hope it will be OK for the bettas. I have four -- two males and two females.

Cory...I started a thread about Amquel + a few weeks ago, after we started getting it at work.

It is useful at work for 'emergencies'...I haven't seen any harmful effects as of yet...although there was one tank in which we used it where the PH then plummeted. This was an isolated case, and I'm not sure there is any connection.

I am very suspicious, and bought out the last of our stock of the original Amquel to use in my personal tanks. When that runs out, I am not sure what I will use, as the original Amquel was by far the best for the water we have. Perhaps I will be more comfortable with the Amquel + by then...I have 3 large bottles of the old stuff!

I suppose the problems with the 75 gallon Chiclid tank you noted could have been cause by this, but like I said, as of yet, we haven't had any problems in the shop.

I'll be following this thread to see what people have to say.

Slainte

Christine

As I understand it, the way Amquel works is to chemically bond to the ammonia, effectively rendering it non-toxic.

The beauty is that the nitrifying bacteria can actually consume the nitrogenous residues as if it were still regular ammonia.

But I still wouldn't touch anything like Amquel with a 10 foot pole. Anything that bonds to nitrogenous residues can potentially interfere with protein to protein interactions. It might not necessarily make your fish/plants/bacteria sick..... but if you have a properly cycled tank, it isn't going to help either.

Has anyone noticed that Amquel Plus smells bad? I didn't know it and I ended up returning the product to the store and I picked up a new one and it smells bad too. Anyone noticed this?

I used to use Amquel for water changes (due to the recommendation of a pet shop that i have long since stopped going to). That was when I knew nothing and was at the mercy of the shop. Now i soley use cycle and stresscoat in my tank. I keep some meds just incase, but i like the natural approach to dealing with my tanks issues.

The beauty is that the nitrifying bacteria can actually consume the nitrogenous residues as if it were still regular ammonia.

That was my understanding of it. I just use "Tap Water Conditioner" at home. It doesn't say anything about ammonia.

So the list of bad water conditioners is:

Amquel
Amquel Plus
Aquasafe

In a heavily planted tank, I worry about water conditioners. Plants need nitrate to some degree so I don't want something removing the nitrate or turning it into something the plants can't readily use. Same goes for " heavy metals". I add trace fertilizers, many containing trace amounts of iron, copper, and many other " metals", in a chealted form. I wonder if those " neutralizes heavy metals" conditioners are interfering with that at all. Any time I've written the companies I've gotten back a " perfectly safe for all aquatic life" email response back, but being "perfectly safe" tells me nothing as to if it stifles the growth of my plants at all due interfering with the uptake of trace ferts... I have received no " Will not interfere with trace fertilizers nor the uptake of the plants of them" responses, even when asking the direct question. Just the general " safe for all aquatic life" line.

I decided to use regular Amquel for planted tanks since all it does is remove ammonia, chloramines, and chlorine...but no slime coat stuff or neutralizing of heavy metals, nitrates, or nitrites. I'll use aqua plus for non planted tanks, removes chlorine and chloramine, neutralizes heavy metals, slime coating.


Anyone know of a good product that removes chlorine, chloramine, ammonia, has slime coat additive, but doesn't neutralize heavy metals? Or maybe i'm just being silly. :%)

I have been using Amquel+ with success in my planted tanks. According to the manufacturer, it bonds with ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate making it too large to pass into the fishes' gills. However, bacteria and plants are still able to consume the chemicals. I add about .5 ml per gallon at water changes, and don't notice ammonia spikes after more than a week without a water change, so it seems not to interfere with biological filtration. But, yes, it smells bad and lingers on my hands for a couple hours after handling it. Soap helps, and I try not to eat or touch my face until the smell disappears. Despite the smell, I recommend it.

i use amquel plus and it works for me it lowers the levels just like it says it does . i tested the water levels before and after and sure enough it lowered the levels.i havent seen any side effects as yet.

Has anyone noticed that Amquel Plus smells bad? I didn't know it and I ended up returning the product to the store and I picked up a new one and it smells bad too. Anyone noticed this?

It's supposed to... It even says so right on the bottle.

"Amquel Plus has a non-toxic odor that quickly disappears in water"

But the smell of Amquel Plus is nothing compared to that of Prime...

[span class="edited"][Edited by Cory Addict 2004-07-04 00:01][/span]

---

I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.