I am using Aquasafe and it seems to do a great job but it almost twice as much as Amquel? Anyone have a preference?

They are two different products. What are you wishing to accomplish with them? Water conditioner or ammonia remover or both or metals containment or ??????

There are cheaper alternatives to Aquasafe when it comes to water conditioners, but as you'd expect the price tends to directly relate to the effectiveness of the product. I like Aquasafe because it not only deals with chlorine, chloramine and metal ions, but it also works differently to traditional water conditioners. Originally when the chlorine was neutralised (using a chemical called sodium thiosulphate) it created sodium ions as a by-product, creating various water quality problems. Aquasafe (and several other new generation dechlorinators) works differently using colloidal ingredients which don't jeopardise water quality. This is why there is such a varied range in prices within the dechlorinator bracket: they all work in different ways.

What water quality problems are you referring to that are caused by sodium? I use ST based dechlor (actually used straight ST for awhile) and also use BS to buffer some tanks (which also releases sodium) and I haven't had any problems at all.

Unless I'm in need of an ammonia detoxifier (fish transport, uncycled tank, etc.), I use ST based tap water conditioner. It takes care of chlorine/chloramines/heavy metals, and it's cheap as dirt. Any small amount of ammonia in your tap water or produced by chloramine removal should be quickly taken care of by the biofilter in cycled tanks, and is not worth worrying about IMO.

I use Aquasafe and it works great but I thought I might give Amquel a try.

I was under the impression that you had to use both Amquel and Novaqua together for them to be effective toward conditioning tap water. Is that true or no? I switched to Aqua Plus because I was sick of paying for both bottles. Also our store didnt carry Novaqua so I didnt get my discount on it. Is it not doing as good of a job? I thought that all water conditioners were pretty much the same–get rid of chlorine and chloramines and neutralize heavy metals.

To be honest Happy Goldfish, I don't really know. That was a piece of advice given to me by a friend who has kept trops for eons, and I respected his opinion enough not to really bother going into detail! Perhaps it is only related to tropicals then? I am not sure. I think it is something to do with excess sodium ions. I am not sure. Either way, i plumped for the Aquasafe as it covered all eventualities.

I use both AmQuel and NovAqua simultaneously. My water is treated with chloramines and NovAqua cannot handle that, alone. I had been advised to use only NovAqua, if at all possible, and to avoid the use of AmQuel - then my municipal water supply advised me of the chloramines.

Alternatively, I have considered Prime. Rick (Goldfish Connection) raves about this product - yet, my closest friend in Goldfish (she imports them from China) does not share Rick's endorsement.

What's a poor boy to do?

I, too, will follow this dialogue with interest.

I think you should assess exactly what you need your water conditioner to do. It sounds like you definitely need something that will take care of the chloramine (which NovAqua will not), so the question is then, why are you using the NovAqua? Do you need a pH buffer? A metal detoxifier?

I know others who love Prime as well. Personally I'm not comfortable using something that claims to remove nitrates.

I guess I am a little late on this one. I use prime and love it. It says it detoxifies nitrates but I still wonder what that means. I can tell you that it does not result in a reduction of nitrates. That is accomplished by either water changes, reduced feeding, or a large amount of nitrate loving plants that will actually survive in a goldfish environment (much harder too do with large goldies). I am skeptical and would probably not use any product that actually reduced nitrates by the use of chemicals since I am trying too make as natural of an environment for my fish that I can.
With that being said the only chemical I like too use is your average dechlor. Any type of chlorine can be very detrimental too fish health. It can also last in your water source for a longer time than most people think. Even if you let your water sit out for a day it still can contain high levels of chlorine unless it is highly agitated. Since everyone has different water qualities too contend with I think a product like prime would take care of most tap water problems unless you are pumping from a well and have too deal with metals and low O2 levels. It is also dirt cheap and lasts for a long long time.