Hi NinjaPurgs! Kudos to you for using bottled water - I use the tapwater due to priceNinjaPurgs wrote:I personally don't use any water conditioner that has that slime/shine coat additive in it because crabs don't need that, and I'm not sure it's safe for them. I've been using this one for years. I also buy bottled water for my crabs though, and add this as a precaution. I never give them tap water. https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostor ... onditioner
. I treat my tapwater with Prime, and feel that it takes care of pretty much everything, so personally I am okay with that. Sounds like bottled water is working for you, and that's great! I had a few thoughts for you. You may already have considered these things, but if not, thought I'd better throw them out there. Different types of bottled water (spring, distilled, etc.) have different residual solids and trace chemicals/minerals. This even varies widely between manufacturers for the same type of water. As long as you know what exactly the bottled water has in it besides water and treat for those substances, then that sounds good to me. Also, be aware that manufacturers can change what is in the water besides the actual water frequently with no notification of the consumer, so you might want to check with the manufacturer periodically to determine exactly what is in the specific brand and type of water you are purchasing. If they won't give you this information, I'd buy another brand of water. Also, there is the assumption that the manufacturer is telling the truth. I'd like to hope they would...
Please note, I still have the concern I listed earlier about the API Tap Water Conditioner product - it treats chlorine, chloramine, and heavy metals, but doesn't treat for the ammonia that is released upon treating the chloramine. So if you have any chlorine or chloramine at all in the bottled water, you will end up with free ammonia in your crabs' water. I'd recommend a product, or combination of products, that addresses all four concerns based on what is actually in your bottled water - chlorine, chloramine, heavy metals and ammonia. There are products out there that only treat for heavy metals, for example.
Other crabbers know more about this than I do, but I believe the general consensus of opinion on slime coat use based on several years of experimentation is that it doesn't help, but also does not appear to be harmful. There's info on this site somewhere if you want more details on how this was determined, or you could do a post about that question if you can't find details using the search feature. Kudos to you for being cautious!
