water conditioner

Question
Hi Chris-

Could you recommend a "good" water conditioner?  I am using AP stress coat and think the fish might be having a reaction to it.  When I change the water Leopolde swings his head, darts around, and is "yawning" more than normal.  NH3 & NO2 are zero and NO3=20, pH is 7.8-8.0.  He is a Common goldfish 8" in a 100 gallon tank.  The tank has been set up for over 4 months.  I have been changing 10 gal per day to decrease the nitrates, otherwise I change about 10 gal per week.  I am thinking that the extra slime coating is unnecessary & could be clogging his gills?  I have read some bad things about that product and would appreciate any opinion you have of the extra slime coating in the dechlorinators.  I am thinking of switching to AP Tap Water Conditioner, it doesnt have the slime coating in it.  I have a bottle of it but haven't tried it yet.  I am hesitant to mix anything w/ that Stress Coat because of a past experience I had with it.

Thanks,
Kathy

Answer
Hi Kathy;

I have never had any trouble whatsoever with Stress Coat. If you think it may be causing him trouble anyway, switch to a different one. It isn't going to react with stress coat to change to the other or mix them together. In my opinion and in my personal experience, they are both harmless even in very strong doses.

I have used SC a couple of times to save the lives of fish that were very stressed after transport or injured by other fish and appeared to be dying. I squirted massive doses of the stuff into a container of water with the stressed fish and added bubbles with an airstone to revive them. They stayed in it for several hours and recovered just fine.

Watch for other symptoms in case your fish has a gill disease or something. If you can get a peek under the gill plate when he yawns, be sure the gills themselves are a uniform cherry red color. Look for pale spots, stringy gunk and perhaps even little parasites. I hope he is okay....

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins