Stress Coat Poll:

I have 2 tessellated darters that are very active and interesting. After my first water change, they hid and seemed rather lethargic. I added some stress coat 2 days later and within minutes they immediately changed their behavior. They were back out poking around and looked better.

I have never used much of anything else. Someone recomended it to me once and I stuck with it. It has not killed my fish anyway. I am no scientist and I do water changes a little different than probably most on this site so there you have it. I go for sturgeon to I guess. There were not enough answers to choose from for me.

I think these polls are a great way to maybe squeeze a good opinion out of someone, I vote sturgeon, and want to know more about the different way you change water

.

Was that one vote for speechless????

That was a bump...

Well, it appears to be about 50-50 so far!

...and sturgeon pulls ahead.

I use Prime. I take a small bottle with me whenever I go out. I use it mainly for it's De-chlorinating abilities. Also, I like that it de-toxifies the water too.



PRIME - THE DECHLORINATOR!!!!!
should be the new logo I think.

If it contains dechlor - and your water actually has enough residule chlorine to warrent dechlor, that part is legit. The stress coat part I feel is pure bunk and in fact any additional chemicals or change in water chemistry is more likely to add stress and reduce imunity.
As I have said here many times, I do not add any chemicals, salt, medicine or snake oils to my tanks and have not for three decades of successful keeping and breeding of a vast arry of species, freshwater and salt, tropical and native. I prefer to focus on stress free husbandry and healthy diverse diet. This is a personal choice and I don't say it to reflect poorly on those that use such products.
Having said that, after ten years in the retail pet trade I have observed a direct relationship between amount of chemicals used and amount of health problems in users' tanks. I see it as a vicious circle of problems leading to chemicals and chemicals leading to problems.
I also noticed certain knowledgable but cynical mercenary shop owners recognize that and push chemicals mercilessly. One shop I worked at taught new employees they MUST sell salt and water conditioners with all new setups regardless of type of setup, water parameters, species intended or experince level of customer. I promise you it was not because they believed in their kind hearts in the efficacy of said products.

Edited by mikez, 10 December 2008 - 02:28 PM.

If it contains dechlor - and your water actually has enough residule chlorine to warrent dechlor, that part is legit. The stress coat part I feel is pure bunk and in fact any additional chemicals or change in water chemistry is more likely to add stress and reduce imunity.
As I have said here many times, I do not add any chemicals, salt, medicine or snake oils to my tanks and have not for three decades of successful keeping and breeding of a vast arry of species, freshwater and salt, tropical and native. I prefer to focus on stress free husbandry and healthy diverse diet. This is a personal choice and I don't say it to reflect poorly on those that use such products.
Having said that, after ten years in the retail pet trade I have observed a direct relationship between amount of chemicals used and amount of health problems in users' tanks. I see it as a vicious circle of problems leading to chemicals and chemicals leading to problems.
I also noticed certain knowledgable but cynical mercenary shop owners recognize that and push chemicals mercilessly. One shop I worked at taught new employees they MUST sell salt and water conditioners with all new setups regardless of type of setup, water parameters, species intended or experince level of customer. I promise you it was not because they believed in their kind hearts in the efficacy of said products.

In rereading this I find it comes off sounding arrogent and possibly insulting to many who do not share my stuburn opinions. I know it's like the 10th time I've spouted it here in some form.
Sorry.
I promise not to preach this sermon here anymore.

I think Stress Coat is a marketing gimmick. The whole "aloe" thing is just silly. People simply think "Oh, aloe works well for people, it must be the same for fish!" ...No. I use Prime, personally.

I'm a huge fan of Prime, but why would you take tap water with you collecting? I always thought it was advised to slowly acclimate a fish to a new set of water parameters (temperature and pH, maybe hardness). Why would you not just grab a bucket of water from the collection site?

I'm a huge fan of Prime, but why would you take tap water with you collecting? I always thought it was advised to slowly acclimate a fish to a new set of water parameters (temperature and pH, maybe hardness). Why would you not just grab a bucket of water from the collection site?

If this was in reference to my post. I do NOT take tap water collecting. I use Prime to dechlor tap water, but I take it with me collecting to detox the stream water while in transport. Better safe than sorry.

I use prime from seachem as well.... however, we cant keep stress coat on the shelves at the store...... even though we never suggest people use it...... we are all firm believers in prime

Does anybody know the science behind the extrodinary claims made by Prime?
My profession is water treatment and I am unaware of any chemicals which can achieve the numerous and varied results they claim. A quick Google only provides their marketing material. I haven't had time to dig deeper yet.

Does anybody know the science behind the extrodinary claims made by Prime?

Son they have got the marketing down to a science. Is that what you mean?