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Re: Water Conditioners and Their Effect on Heavily Planted Tanks
Hello to everyone on this list. Whoa, I just read in a back issue that
someone said that it was NOT desirable to use water conditioners that remove
heavy metals from tap water when you have a heavily planted tank. Is this
true? This is the first time that I have ever heard of this, can someone
explain to me whether or not this is true or not? I thought that it was
beneficial to use water conditioners even in a heavily planted tank to remove
heavy metals from the tap water when you are doing your regular water changes
and that you are SUPPOSED to use a tap water conditioner in order to make
your tap water safer for the fish and to remove chlorine, chloramines, and
toxic heavy metals from the water. Is this method correct, or am I wrong
about this? I have been using Kordon's Novaqua every single week in my
heavily planted 29-gallon tank when I do my regular water changes in order to
make the water safer and more comfortable for the fish. Am I doing something
wrong? Should I not use a water conditioner like Novaqua that claims to
remove heavy metals from the water and should I just stop and discontinue its
use altogether? Do the plants use the heavy metals that are in the tap water
when I do my regular weekly water changes as nutrients in order to help them
to grow or does it not matter whether or not I use a water conditioner that
removes heavy metals from the water? Should I use a different water
conditioner when I do my regular weekly water changes or am I fine with the
one that I am using now, (Novaqua)? Is there a brand of water conditioner
that you guys can recommend for heavily planted tanks with a lot of fish in
them or should I just stop using water conditioners altogether and just use
regular tap water when I do my water changes? I am relatively new to planted
aquariums and I know that a lot of you here have much more experience than I,
so any advice that you could give me would be helpful. Which water
conditioner do you guys think is the best one to use in a heavily planted
tank with lots of fish? Or have you guys stopped using tap water
conditioners altogether in your heavily planted tanks? And also, if I use a
water conditioner like Kordon's Novaqua which claims to remove heavy metals
from the water, will that neutralize or make ineffective liquid fertilizers
such as Seachem's Flourish which contain trace amounts of iron and other
types of metals? And if so, then should I just stop using water conditioners
which remove heavy metals from the water altogether? Any advice that you
guys could give me would be greatly appreciated as I am still new to this
stuff and I am still trying to find out more about keeping heavily planted
tanks. I am still confused as to which water conditioner is the "best" water
conditioner for a heavily planted tank with a lot of fish in it as there are
so many brands out there currently on the market most of which claiming to do
the same things that there are a bewildering amount of choices out there for
the beginner and it is hard to tell which is the best one to buy. Do you
guys know of a good one that you can recommend to me? Or should I just stop
using water conditioner in heavily planted tanks altogether? And also, on a
side note, I have heard that you should not use activated carbon in heavily
planted tanks either, as it will take out and remove all of the trace
elements in the water that the plant needs to grow. Is this true? And if it
is, then what type of media are you supposed to use in your tanks for
chemical filtration? Thanks for taking the time to read my post and thanks
to all who contribute to this discussion for all of your help and input on
this subject.
Respectfully yours,
Leroy