fishlover78

last year when I brought home the old fish tank from the science lab @ school it came with a bunch of chemicals. the tank had been neglected for a long time and every time the water looked cloudy the teacher would put this in the tank its called "bright and clear" and is made by Mardel. my reaction was if you are doing water changes (they were never done, when the water was low she topped the tank off) and routine maintenance you should never need to use anything other than water conditioner and disease medications in the tank. am I right or wrong? Do any of you use this stuff? just wanted an opinion on it. thanks again!

isis

I've never heard of that. I've only been on the forum for a few months now, but what I've learnt is that the BEST way to keep your fish healthy and happy and the tank clean is to do weekly water changes. By being lazy and looking for shortcuts and quick fixes you are looking for trouble with the fish.

fishlover78

I have only used it once because the plecos poo more than they're worth. I just looked @ the bottle and the only active ingredient is "aluminum sulfate". what the heck is that?

isis

I got his off google:

Aluminium sulfate is a widely used industrial chemical. It is sometimes incorrectly referred to as alum, as it is closely related to this group of compounds. It occurs naturally as the mineral alunogenite. It is frequently used as a flocculating agent in the purification of drinking water and waste water treatment plants, and also in paper manufacturing.[citation needed]

Aluminium sulfate is rarely, if ever, encountered as the anhydrous salt. It forms a number of different hydrates, of which the hexadecahydrate is the most common.

It can also be very effective as a molluscicide, killing spanish slugs. [1]

fishlover78

well that's a weird chemical to be using in an aquarium!

isis

I hope that helped you... but now I'm confused LOL!!!

...any fish experts around... 2 fish helpers need some help - LOL

fishlover78

tell me about it! I'm really confused! any experts around?

isis

the only other description I can find is:

This freshwater conditioner removes excess phosphates and clears cloudiness in aquariums. It has a softening effect on the water, thus reducing calcium build-up on glass. It does not upset biological filtration balance too.

fishlover78

I am logging off for the night, I'll check on this thread in the morning. thanks Isis!

that's exactly what the bottle says! good night all.