Aquasafe/Dechlorinating chemicals warning!

[Beerleader]

I was talking to a friend of mine that owns a LFS, he had a warning posted about possible Aquasafe and other chemicals could be bad for fish. I asked what that sign was, and he said well due to long trips of shipping in such high temperatures lately, that aquasafe and other dechlorinating chemicals are breaking down chemically and changing forms. He noticed a phenomenon of ppl in one or two weeks all coming back saying ALL their fish died even the ones that had been in the tanks for a long time. At first they all assumed it was sick fish, although he has a very reputible store. And he also realized that a couple of those ppl bought fish that had been in the store for quite some time and were fine in his store. Then he called around to a few stores to ask some friends their opinions, they were all experiencing this phenonmenon. They realized the only thing the customers had in common is they all did a water change right before the fish died. So finally they asked another LFS owner/marine biologist, and they came to conclude that aquasafe and another specific chemical(can't think of the name), were breaking down chemically in the extreme heat of the shipping trucks, and were literally like formaldehyde. So just in case beware! Not sure how prevalent this is, but wanted you to know if there was a possibility of something bad that could happen, although its a small percentage more than likely.

[Osiris]

Interesting has been hotter then usual summer this really sucks..

[Mr Aquarium]

Shipping in the heat like that prolly wasn't a smart thing to do without ice packs in the first place.

Just my 2 cents worth.

[fishfreaks]

wow,thanks for the fair warning! we use aquasafe on our 55 & 29

[Osiris]

i just go to petsmart get big bottle of stress coat for $5-6

[shev]

I dont use any dechlorinator

[euRasian32]

i get stress coat by the gallon. 24$ at bigals

[Osiris]

You use all RO water Shev?

[Beerleader]

Yeah I am thankful I use RO water but I do use aquasafe at times for my betta so when I read that sign I was shocked and worried. And it may just be the shipments that came to this area, not sure! But just freaked out seeing that and wanted to let ppl know just in case. Probably no worries but would hate for anyone to lose an entire stock of fish for something so senseless.

[shev]

Well water, no chlorine or chloramine.

[BlackArchFish]

Oh emm gee...... Maybe that's what killed my gourami's. I live in Florida....

[Beerleader]

Originally Posted by BlackArchFish

Oh emm gee...... Maybe that's what killed my gourami's. I live in Florida....

Yeah I'm not sure if this was widespread or just around here as far as those shipments went. It was aquasafe and one other brand, can't think of the name, not anything anyone has said so far. But he said if it wasn't for the string of deaths all in the same week and that it was their entire tanks and all right after a water change, they might not have ever figured out what it was. But he said even at another LFS they used some due to the RO system being down and their entire tank died shortly after it was put in, so if your fish had no probs at all til you did a water change maybe it was..not sure. ButI used some yesterday before I went by there and visited and my betta is still ok. So hopefully it was a one time deal as far as that big shipment went. Hopefully that won't be happening again.

[neon7]

try filtering water through fresh carbon and store for water changes I haven't trusted those "dechloinator" chemicals for years. natural is always the best!!

[shev]

Adding an airstone will help the chlorine evaporate. I dont think chloramine does though, its more stable.

[mlefev]

Originally Posted by neon7

try filtering water through fresh carbon and store for water changes I haven't trusted those "dechloinator" chemicals for years. natural is always the best!!

I would agree, but I know that I (and probably a lot of other people on here) don't have the space to keep that set up/stored. (Don't get me wrong I think it's a great idea). I've had luck with aquaplus for dechlorinating water. I think most of the products are generally reliable, but obviously they need to rethink their shipping methods in the warmer seasons. Hopefully they'll get it together. I'd hate to see people losing their fish just because of a water change.

[(RC)]

I would talk to a compnay rep about this before I assumed this was the real cause. I've been using amquel and nova aqua for years without any problems.


RC

[Fishfirst]

especially when its word of mouth from pet stores. could just be a lame excuse for bad stock.

[steve]

I have never had trouble with Aquasafe but I bought this Tetra Water Clarifier that instantly makes the water super cloudy. It literally looked like a chemical reaction in the water, I thought the little tetras were going to die but it didn't seem to affect them to much. I put it in to help clear the water after I rubbed the algee off of the live plants because the filter doesn't seem to catch it. It works well after 5 or so hours but I will not use it again.