# Expired Stress Coat



## Guest (Mar 20, 2014)

I think I know why my nitrates were high and I could not get them down. Well I came home from doing errands yesterday and my filters were running but had no water coming out of them, so I filled my tank up, which was half full, so I just had to fill it half way to make it full. Well, I was going to put Stress Coat in as usual, checked the expiration date because I was curious as to when it actually expired. Saw that it expired Aug 2012. So I didn't put any in. I am going to give it a few days before I test my tank water for my levels, but I think that putting in expired Stress Coat in a tank is the reason why my nitrates were high. Hopefully now the nitrates will go down enough I can keep it stable when I can get more Stress Coat. I am keeping an eye on Baby Girl to make sure that she doesn't get sick.


----------



## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

not sure how expired stress coat would contribute to nitrates. Usually high nitrates indicates either overfeeding or not enough water changes or both. A dead dechlor should cause the chlorine to spike and kill your cycle and then you see ammonia. I wonder what is in stress coat that has a shelf life. Usually sodium thiosulfate and EDTA , etc. are very long lasting.


----------



## Guest (Mar 21, 2014)

Not sure emc7. But it contains aloe vera which promotes healing and regeneration of damaged fish tissue and forms a synthetic slime coat to help prevent electrolyte loss. Stress coat also removes chlorine, chloramines and ammonia, and detoxifies heavy metals in the tap water. 

That is what it says on the bottle. But I am keeping an eye on Baby Girl and making sure that she doesn't get sick. She looks cleaner than she did yesterday.


----------



## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

the only dechlorinating products i use are "Dechlor" by Weco and Chloram X...
if your fish are healthy they do not need any more of a slime coat..too much can kill them..and if i do less than a 40% water change i don't use anything other than keep the temps close..no dechlor.


----------



## Guest (Mar 21, 2014)

Ok. Thanks lohachata. I plan to buy some from you next month when I have the money. I looked around here and there isn't any around here. I will test my tank water in a few days and see what is going on. Then I will do a water change and wait another few days and test again. I will keep that up until next month.


----------



## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

IME old stress coat can make a slime on the water's surface. Remove with paper towel like you would food oil and/or add aeration and fresh carbon. 

I'm with loha on slime-coat products. They either slime your tank or they irritate the fish into making more of it's own. IMO, not a normal requirement. You might want in a QT or hospital, but go for basic chloramine removal in the main tank.


----------



## Guest (Mar 21, 2014)

There doesn't seem to be any slime on the water surface. I cannot get a QT/hospital tank. I only have the 55 gallon tank, but no money for a QT/hospital tank. I would have to get another 55 gallon because Baby Girl would not be very happy in a smaller tank. Yeah I don't think I will be using Stress Coat. I will be using a basic chloramine remover in my tank.


----------



## Elliott225 (Jan 9, 2014)

I've never understood the reasoning behind using Stress Coat. Aloe comes from a cactus type of plant. Where in the world would fish come in contact with aloe vera??

Before I learned about Stress Coat I was using it and found it fouled my water more than any benefit. That's when I found Prime and haven't had an issue with the water. 

I try to use the least amount of additives to the tanks as much as possible. The only things I use are de-chlorinators, aquarium salt, and occasionally a pH buffer. Also, charcoal in the filters. That's it. 

I think most of the problems with aquariums are caused by keepers polluting the tanks. Doing water changes eliminates most of the problems in an established tank. Just like in nature.


----------



## Guest (Mar 21, 2014)

Yeah I don't use any chemicals other than dechlorinater in my tank. I don't even use aquarium salt as I have heard that it doesn't benefit the fish at all. If and when my nitrates go down then I am thinking about stocking my tank with small fish, with Baby Girl as the center fish. I just have to be careful what fish I get because she is big enough to have live fish food and will kill new tank inhabitants.


----------



## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

why is that jwh ? i haven't had any problems so far...i never use RO water..no reason for me to use it.
maybe i just haven't kept enough fish..


----------



## Guest (Mar 21, 2014)

John, you are basically a fish expert. You are always learning and you have helped so many with their problems, including me.


----------



## Guest (Mar 21, 2014)

jwh0818: When I have used the stress coat, Baby Girl would look dirty, too dirty. She doesn't look as dirty as she did before since I haven't put the stress coat in. I don't have any ammonia in my tap water, but I am keeping an eye on Baby Girl for any changes in the water. She is a clown loach, so I will know if there are any changes in the water. I will be testing my tank water on Sunday and do a water change, then test again. I am trying to get my nitrates down because they are high. Once I get my nitrates down I am thinking about doing a community tank, but with small fish. I may even put a betta in the tank.


----------



## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

loha, have to agree with jwh here. If you live in a big city (like many of us do, due to how the world is set up) the water can be very unclean. I live in ottawa and the chlorine amount in the water increased about 5x in the last 6 years as we have sewage problems here. So I always make sure to use dechlorinator to get rid of chlorine and chloramine.


----------



## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

bettaguy...i have lived in cleveland ohio almost all of my life..we also have had serious increases in the amounts of chlorine and cloramines added to the waterout water comes from lake erie...for me weekly water changes have been 1500 or more gallons per week.
and like i said , when we do less then 40% water changes we don't use a dechlorinating agent...just straight tap water...and we have never lost a fish because of it...
i'm not telling folks to not use it , just to try to limit the amount of crap they put in their tanks...


----------



## Guest (Mar 21, 2014)

Because adding a lot of crap to the tank can actually kill your cycle and you will have to start all over, which then can kill your fishies.


----------



## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I lost a lot of fish once when my water company switched to chloramine without warning. IMO, a good dechlor is cheap insurance. The idea of stress coat is to replace the fish's natural slime that has been knocked off by netting it. Its make a bit of sense for a new fish in QT, but not for everyday use. I will give you an argument if you say "no chemicals", but fully agree with "keep it simple" and use as few additives as possible and know what each one is supposed to do and any drawbacks (i.e. chloramine removers can reduce the oxygen in the water).


----------



## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

wow...i would love to see 2 ft. clowns..i have seen some big ones that were about 15" at an age of 25 years old..but never a 2 footer...that would be awesome..


----------



## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

i only have 8 small(4-5") clowns right now..they are in a 135.am planning to get about 20 more..also have plans on building a 30 x 40 x 96.....498 gallon plywood tank for them..after that they will get a swimming pool...lol


----------



## Guest (Mar 22, 2014)

jwh0818: learn your facts about clown loaches. In the wild they can reach 20", but in captivity they only reach 12". I had 5 clown loaches before. Two died, one with velvet ( didn't catch it in time), the other skinny disease. Then I was down to three. I lost the medium one when I did a deep clean of the tank, basically a huge water change. I lost my smallest to constipation. Baby Girl is 7" right now, and she is doing just fine on her own. Yes I know they need to be in groups but my clown loach is big enough she isn't going to get depressed from being alone. Clown loaches do not get 2 feet, they get 4 inches shy of 2 feet. I have done my research on clown loaches. Also they grow slow enough I have time to save up for a bigger tank if I so choose to get one.


----------



## Guest (Mar 22, 2014)

I am sorry you took my reply as rude, it wasn't meant to be. I have done my research on them as well. In captivity they only reach 12". If they aren't reaching full size, it isn't just proper space, it is also proper care. Clown loaches are sensitive fish and can succumb to a lot of diseases from poor water quality. Also everything that I have read says that they reach a max size of 20" in the wild. Also in captivity, the max size is 12" to 16".


----------



## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

I've seen a clown loach at the 20 inch mark at a pet store in germany before, and it wasn't an import (it came from an aquarium someone gave up cause the fish got to big, I asked the owner cause I was at awe with that beautiful fish). And also, what is everyone responding to? I don't see any other comments. 

And to what I said before, to which loha answered to not add crap to your tank and then someone chirped in that crap kills your cycle. This might be true, but dechlorinator is not crap. It is great stuff. I understand loha though as the cost would add up with his amount of water changes.


----------



## Guest (Mar 22, 2014)

BettaGuy: jwh0818 had posted on here and I and lohachata were responding to that person. Well that person is now off the forum as I don't see their posts anymore. I told TheOldSalt about them posting on every sub forum about their forum with a link to it. They are gone now.


----------



## Elliott225 (Jan 9, 2014)

jwh0818 and AquariumFINantic were nothing but trolls and doing nothing to add to the forum. I know I'm new here but I take it personally when someone acts stupid like they did. Not going to be missed.


----------



## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

i try not to be too mean to folks ; but sometimes kids come in and start a bunch of crap. i am not so tolerant as i used to be so i sent them and their remarks packing...
they can talk crap about me all they want ; but i won't have them abusing this site or it's members...


----------



## Elliott225 (Jan 9, 2014)

Thank you very much.


----------



## Ice (Sep 25, 2006)

lohachata said:


> i try not to be too mean to folks ; but sometimes kids come in and start a bunch of crap. i am not so tolerant as i used to be so i sent them and their remarks packing...
> they can talk crap about me all they want ; but i won't have them abusing this site or it's members...


I agree with you. I can't stand kids who think they know what they're talking about start shooting false information about fish. One of the reasons I hold back my comments to respond to idiotic remarks from these kids...


----------



## Guest (Mar 22, 2014)

Exactly Ice. Thank you very much lohachata. I sent TheOldSalt a PM about them. Might want to let him know that it has been taken care of.

Again, thanks lohachata.


----------



## Guest (Mar 25, 2014)

Update: did test my tank water and it is still high, more in between the 40ppm to 80ppm range. Going to change the water and spread the java moss around, make the tank look a bit better than it does right now. I would like to be able to add small fish to the tank and have a community tank with Baby Girl as the center fish.


----------



## Guest (Mar 25, 2014)

The fish I am thinking about are the following:

10 neon tetras
5 tiger barbs (in case Baby Girl needs to shoal with some friends)
2 angelfish
1 male betta (will be last fish in tank)
6 Cory cats

This should be good, but this is just an idea for now.


----------



## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

i would skip the tiger barbs as they will destroy every other fish in the tank except for maybe the clown.at some point the angels will eat(or attempt) the neons.
try a larger tetra like maybe a couple of congos , lemons , bleeding hearts etc.
for cories try some Sterbai....they will enjoy the warmer temps that the clown does.


----------



## Guest (Mar 25, 2014)

I will see what the pet stores have here. We are kinda limited on what we have here in Washington. But I will see what we have here. I know tiger barbs are a little aggressive. I have seen bleeding hearts, I think, have to check though.


----------

