Aquarium Pharmaceuticals' Stress Coat

[d_golem]

From what I've gather being in the forum, people tend to regard Stress Coat as harmful to fish because of the aloe contained in it. Most people tend to see Stress Coat just as a special case conditioner e.g. after handling/netting the fish, loss of scale, etc. I think this is a bit of unfair to the product.

This is taken from Stress Coat's FAQ page from Aquarium Pharmaceutical's website:

Why does Stress Coat contain Aloe?

The patented Stress Coat formula contains Aloe gel, taken from the inside of the Aloe plants leaves. Stress Coat has been independently proven to promote the healing of damaged fish tissue.

Someone told me Aloe will kill fish. Is this true?

No. The Aloe gel in Stress Coat is real Aloe, not a synthetic, Aloe skin, or "derived" aloe (which has none of the properties of real Aloe). Stress Coat with Aloe is not harmful to fish.

and this one from the Tech Sheet:

The effectiveness of Stress Coat with Aloe Vera has been proven by independent studies conducted at the University of Georgia, School of Veterinary Medicine. Researchers found that Stress Coat helped heal wounds and speed tissue regrowth. Dr John Gratzek summarizes the results: "Personally, I am satisfied with the results since my initial thoughts were skeptical to say the least. These definite statements can be made without equivocation: Stress Coat in no way harms aquarium fish, alters pH, or affects the biological filter. No ammonia or nitrite was detected in the test aquariums. The results indicated that the Stress Coat formula reduced the wound size compared to untreated fish tissue." Aloe Vera is high in mucopolysaccharides, an essential component of many tissues and believed to help in the healing process. The glycoproteins Aloctin A and Aloctin B are also present and identified as the probable tissue-healers.

I've used Stress Coat for a number of months and my fish has never ever got any problem of any kind, including none of the gill-related problems stress coat supposedly causing to the fish. In my opinion Stress Coat is one of the better water conditioners out there that works just as well as any plus with the added protection & benefits real aloe has to offer.

Cheers

[Bak2it]

First off, if there is any kind of problem with using Stress Coat I don't think Aquarium Pharmaceuticals would publish it on THEIR web page.

And secondly, based upon the information provided... If a fish doesn't have damaged tissue, how does the fish benefit from adding Stress Coat to the water in their aquarium?

Unless I'm treating a injury, disease, or parasites I don't believe in adding anything to an aquarium except plain old good clean water.

[d_golem]

http://thetropicaltank.co.uk/rev-cond.htm

a review of water conditioners

seems that there are contradicting theories about aloe vera.

things that i notice & concerned about stress coat is the added bio-load and not completely remove chloramine.... <_< dang it! should i change to plain old water conditioner? how will my fish react to the different brand then? dang it

[froggydella]

Of course they are going to hyped up their own product, That is marketing for ya!!

[LaurieP]

I don't think it is a bad product by any means, but I wouldn't use it as my regular conditioner either. Once in a while is ok, but I am more comfortable using Prime for everything. Paul had done a lot of research a while back and his recommendation was Prime all the way.

When I switched from what I was using to Prime there was no problem with anything.

I think you are safe to just switch.

[d_golem]

After thorough consideration, I've decided that after I use up almost all my supply of Stress Coat, I'll change to Prime & use Stress Coat only once in a while. The prob is that Prime is much more expensive than Stress Coat, but i'm also aware that I only need a smaller amount of Prime compared to Stress Coat to dechlorinate the same amount of water. Will using Prime cost me lesser or more than Stress Coat?

[coyote ugly]

I just started using prime a couple of weeks ago but I think it lasts more than any other conditioner I have used.You only need a small amount(1 cc per 40 liters)as it is very concentrated. so all in all,I think the cost will be less

[LaurieP]

I have found that it lasts longer as well. Money well spent in my opinion. I have a 46 gallon and a 29 gal tank and with my water changes I have only used 2 bottles in one year.

[tinker]

I've often wondered if there is an experation date for this kind of thing?

[Gold Ryu]

Bump, i'm curious about this too.

[puggirl]

um i bought abottle of this stress coat and was gonna use it but after reading from kokos i decided not to, i have always used tri start as a water conditioner, and just plain aquarium salt with every water change, i also add about 1 tspoons of sea salt and and 1 tspoon of baking soda to each water change this is for my big tankand nothing else.

[Guest insomniac_dragon]

i was using stresscoat, i thought it was good, but i guess it's just good advertisments... my fish started to breath on the top level of the water and rinses their mouths a lot, and started to get sick... i was told to use Prime and after 2 months of Prime, all those symptoms are gone...

[vmlola]

I did not know this about Stress Coat until a couple of months ago, and so I switched to Prime and my fish had no reaction to the switch and I like Prime better!

I did find also that with having 5 tanks and keeping a tight routine with water changes, it is much more cost effective.

[br553]

I have never used Stress Coat because of the negative effects I've read about. Up until recently, I used Tetra Aquasafe. I now use Amquel for water conditioning, for the usual dechlorination and also to control nitrates. My tap water measures about 30-40ppm nitrates.

[Comet]

The owner of the local LFS that just opened recommended Stress Coat, and he seemed to knwo what he was talking about. He told me that goldfish should have their water temperatures matched, iodine free salt is the best way to go for a general tonic, and that overall, and that tap water should always be treated, because in my area chlorine levels are high.

Well, my lionhead has had a pimple-fleshy growth that has been sticking out of its side for a couple months now. I've added salt, and prime, but results were not that great. I added Stress Coat and 2 days later, the fleshy bump was partially healed; the bump was gone, but the area was still red.

[froggydella]

This thread is pretty old I noticed- It's great that you had a positive exprience with the Stress Coat though. To each is own though. We all like and use diffren't product's-As will every LPS recommend dif. treatmnt's, meds, etc. Just a matter of personal prefrence and expeirnce with one or the other.

[JenW]

Well, my lionhead has had a pimple-fleshy growth that has been sticking out of its side for a couple months now. I've added salt, and prime, but results were not that great. I added Stress Coat and 2 days later, the fleshy bump was partially healed; the bump was gone, but the area was still red.

515570[/snapback]

I think other factors may have been at play here also. I have never known stress coat to have medicinal properties - nor does it claim to

I used stress coat way back when and my fish spent a lot of time at the top of the tank also so I changed to Prime. It really is the best produce IMHO

[nick11380]

I started out using "Start Right" to condtion my water until most pet stores stopped carrying it. I've been using "Stress coat" for at least 10 years now and never had any problems with my fish.

About a month ago I looked at the prime because so many people have been talking about it. The one thing that made me decide not to try it is because you measure it using the cap. I hate that! Stress coat changed to that stupid cap measuring but I already know how many teaspoons of stress coat to use for 5 & 10 gallons of water.