Amquel Plus

stripeythingy · Post by **stripeythingy** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 2:49 pm

I am thinking of using Amquel Plus instead of King British to condition my tap water, has anybody had any experience of this product.

Plastic Mac · Post by **Plastic Mac** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 4:35 pm

No idea on Amquel. Don't blame you for not using King British though...never rated any of their stuff.

Alistair · Post by **Alistair** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 5:41 pm

I would check the levels of the dechlorinating agent first (sodium hydroxymethanesulfonate in Amquels case though usually Sodium Thiosulphate) and check the volume of tap water that they treat before chosing a brand.

Amquel plus removes ammonia and chlorine. Looking at their web site(very interesting) it is recomended for locking up ammonia in tap water and aquaria. I would expect trace to nil levels of NH3 in tap water to start off with, have you checked them

any ammonia in you water from fish waste or un-eaten food should be broken down by the bugs in your filter media.

There are many different dechlorinators out there all based on the same chemicals claiming to do all sorts, so you could just be paying for a brand name

I prefer Haloex or stresscoat don't know why probably just the packaging

stripeythingy · Post by **stripeythingy** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 7:24 pm

Alistair wrote:I would check the levels of the dechlorinating agent first (sodium hydroxymethanesulfonate in Amquels case though usually Sodium Thiosulphate) and check the volume of tap water that they treat before chosing a brand.

Amquel plus removes ammonia and chlorine. Looking at their web site(very interesting) it is recomended for locking up ammonia in tap water and aquaria. I would expect trace to nil levels of NH3 in tap water to start off with, have you checked them any ammonia in you water from fish waste or un-eaten food should be broken down by the bugs in your filter media.

There are many different dechlorinators out there all based on the same chemicals claiming to do all sorts, so you could just be paying for a brand name I prefer Haloex or stresscoat don't know why probably just the packaging

The interesting thing about Amquel Plus is that it claims to eliminate nitrate
aswell as Ammonia, Nitrite, Chlorine & Chloramines.

jerms55555 · Post by **jerms55555** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 7:40 pm

I personally use Amquel Plus along with NovAqua Plus! They have worked for me to condition my water!

Raul-7 · Post by **Raul-7** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 4:43 am

I use Seachem Prime and highly recommend it. Prime removes chlorine, chloramine and ammonia; and detoxifies both nitrite and nitrates. It will also detoxify any heavy metals in your tap water. Not to mention it lasts a long time; 500mL treats 5000G.

For extra info: http://www.seachem.com/products/product ... Prime.html

Alistair · Post by **Alistair** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 9:12 am

If your filter is working properly then you shouldn't have any nitrite, if you carry out regular water changes then you should dilute the nitrate (some thing you should do any way), where do the 'neutralised heavy metals' go, they can't just disapear

If they end up as a precipitate in the filter they could easily leach back in to the water system. Check for heavy metals in the water, I know of people that have problems with Zn and Cu from old water systems. If your water is that bad to start of with why not invest in an RO unit and be done with it, thats what they did as it was more cost effective.

Raul-7 · Post by **Raul-7** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 9:52 am

Alistair wrote:If your filter is working properly then you shouldn't have any nitrite, if you carry out regular water changes then you should dilute the nitrate (some thing you should do any way), where do the 'neutralised heavy metals' go, they can't just disapear If they end up as a precipitate in the filter they could easily leach back in to the water system. Check for heavy metals in the water, I know of people that have problems with Zn and Cu from old water systems. If your water is that bad to start of with why not invest in an RO unit and be done with it, thats what they did as it was more cost effective.

But Prime is used for emergency situations as well as for dechlorinating tap water. Of course NH3 and NO2 shouldn't be a problem in cycled tank, but sometimes things can get out of hand such as when dosing antibiotics or if you clean your filter with tap water instead of tank water. It's a safegaurd against potential disasters. Nitrates aren't problem for me infact I dose KNO3 weekly to keep my NO3 at 10ppm to avoid algae problems - I also happen to dose PO4 at 2ppm as well. No algae whatsoever and the plants are growing. But some people can't seem to control them even with weekly water changes.

The way Prime neutralizes heavy metals is that it itself is a long complex molecule that binds to Zn, Pb, etc. It does end up as a percipitate as you said, but it;s better than nothing. Furthermore, RO isn't as cost effective as you think - 1 gallon of RO water wastes between 3-5 gallons of water. Think of how much waste water it will take to fill a 30G tank? Not only is it going to hurt your water bill, but wasting water isn't such a good thing either. Why use RO when tap water is right there? Of course it may not always be the best choice, but some people are blessed with perfect tap water parameters. RO isn't always the best option.

Alistair · Post by **Alistair** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 10:57 am

Granted about emergency situations to remove nitirtes/ammonia, still don't like the idea of the neutralising off the heavy metals, if it chelates that strongly won't it remove benefical metals as well (eg EDTA can even bind sodium!)

Alistair · Post by **Alistair** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 11:14 am

Sorry to drag this thread on, just prefer the old adage 'keep it simple stupid' rather than trying to be a chemist and analyst by dosing with all sorts of chemicals. I do enough of that at work and don't want to carry it on at home.

Zeebz · Post by **Zeebz** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 5:24 am

Very interesting. My tap water contains ammonia and I use AmQuel+ for that. It was just the first product recommended to me that did what I needed it to do. Maybe I should be using something else?

I will comment that I have had issues with oxygen deprivation right after a water change due to my overdosing with AmQuel+. An added bubbler seems to have solved it or at least makes me feel safer about it.

Donna

Andyt. · Post by **Andyt.** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 9:44 pm

Alistair said:

I would check the levels of the dechlorinating agent first (sodium hydroxymethanesulfonate in Amquels case though usually Sodium Thiosulphate)

AmQuel original is sodium hydroxymethanesulfonate. AmQuel + is a different sulfur compound as is Prime.

Zeebs said:

I will comment that I have had issues with oxygen deprivation right after a water change due to my overdosing with AmQuel+. An added bubbler seems to have solved it or at least makes me feel safer about it.

Be careful using any reducing agents (i.e. sodium thiosulfate, sodium hydroxymethansulfonate, the mystery compounds in Prime and AmQuel +). All of these reducing agents are oxygen scavengers. In the absence of chlorine/mine and ammonia they go looking for compounds to reduce. If you measure the ORP or DO after dosing you will see a reduction. Be careful to follow the label dosage to avoid dropping Oxygen to lethal levels - an especial concern for Zebras.

Post by **Barbie** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 11:08 pm

Not to mention that when you open the bottle of Prime you have to fight the urge to look around and see if something just poo'd on the floor near you or something!

I just use Tap Water Conditioner, but I don't have chloramine or ammonia in my tap water, thank goodness.

Barbie

Amquel Plus

Amquel Plus

A couple of notes...