Re: AmQuel

[Mike & Diane Wise <apistowise@bewellnet.com>]

John,

Thank you for correcting the info I had on AmQuel.
I had to go back and find
the message (part attached):

"AmQuel also uses Sodium Thiosulfate to break the
chlorine/ammonia bond in
chloramines. The ammonia is then bonded to a
colloid of some sort. At least
that's
what their reps have told me in the past."

Please note the last sentence. This is a prime
example of the GIGO principle
(Garbage in, garbage out). You see, 8 - 10 years
ago I was a sales
representative for Pendleton Enterprises, a
wholesale pet supply dealer here in
Denver and Salt Lake City. I had always been
curious why AmQuel-treated water
gave anomalously high readings on simple Nesslar
reagent ammonia tests as opposed
to more complex tests like Tetra's. So at an open
house with Kordon's reps
there, I asked them how it worked. They told me
that it used dechorinator
(which to me is Sodium Thiosulfate - I stand
corrected) to remove the chlorine
and a special ingredient that formed a colloid
with the freed ammonia that was
too big to cross the gill membranes, enter the
blood stream, and poison the
fish. The ammonia is still in the water in a
non-toxic form. This is why
Nesslar reagent tests, which don't discriminate
between free ammonia and amine
compounds will register high ammonia contents,
while other more complex ammonia
kits that read only free ammonia do not.

It seems that the problem here is Kordon's
training practices. If you can't
believe the manufacturer's reps who do you trust??
I have posted this message
with the Apisto Mailing List as you requested.
(See the bottom of this message
for info in the apisto list.)  I hope this helps.

BTW I use AmQuel whenever I set up a new tank with
100% raw tap water,
just to remove high concentrations of ammonia that
form once the water is
dechlorinated. I have part of a 1 gallon jug that
is well over 5 years old. Can
you tell me if AmQuel has an effective shelf life?
Also is there any need to
use a dechlorinator with AmQuel as Kordon
recommends, or is this a way to sell
more Novaqua?

Mike Wise

John Farrell Kuhns wrote:

> Mike:
>
>         I read a message threat on thekrib.com.  In one message in the
> thread you make the authoritative statement that there is sodium
> thiosulfate in AmQuel.  This is 100% incorrect!  There is no thiosulfate of
> any kind in AmQuel, Dry Buffered AmQuel, Pure Dry AmQuel or the other
> products covered by my patent (#4,666,610).  Instead, there is sodium
> hydroxymethanesulfonate, a unique compound that no ther manufacturer uses
> (legally) in aquarium water conditioners.  That compound reacts directly
> with chlorine (hypochlorites), chloramines and free ammonia.  With ammonia
> it combinds with the ammonia to form a stable amine compound that is not
> toxic to plants, invertebrates nor fishes.  It does not reacxt to form
> ammonium, NH4+, as some uninformed aquarists have suggested.
>         Your original message was posted on an _Apistogramma_ L-list on the
> internet.  How do I go about getting onto that list so I can correct this
> error?  Perhaps you can assist me in correcting this error; if so I would
> be grateful.
>         I am writing a new aquarium book, and such threads, and how they
> develop, will make a useful illustration in the book of how uninformed
> opinions get out of hand on the unedited internet.
>
> ==JFK==
>            "Fishman Jack"
>          John Farrell Kuhns
> bus. web site: http://AquaScienceResearch.com
> pers. web site: http://www.sound.net/~jfk

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