Tap water may be safe for humans, but in almost all localities it is not safe for fishes and aquatic invertebrates. Tap water needs to be modified by using NovAqua Plus when setting up aquariums and ponds, when making water changes, and when preparing salt water for marine aquariums.

NovAqua Plus is the new generation of NovAquas, it is the latest stage of technological development in water conditioners for aquariums and ponds. NovAqua Plus is the most effective of the tap water conditioners for benefiting aquatic life. But it goes far beyond that. NovAqua Plus provides, in a single product, everything necessary to handle all of the needs when treating tap water for aquatic life. NovAqua Plus is recommended to be used with AmQuel Plus, with which it is fully compatible.

The NovAqua products for conditioning aquarium and pond water were first introduced decades ago and have been used world wide ever since, becoming a leader in water conditioners for fish and other aquatic life, both fresh and salt water. The NovAqua products have been continually expanded and improved in performance as advances in the technology have been made and as public water conditions have changed over time. NovAqua Plus is the latest in technology and is appreciably more advanced than the original NovAqua product, being completely reformulated.

ADVANTAGES :

NovAqua Plus provides multiple protective colloid coatings on the fish's body to replace or reinforce the natural slime coating that is essential to counteract injury, infection, and adverse environmental exposure.
These organic polymers effectively shield wounds on fish, prevent the loss of internal fluids and electrolytes, and protect fish from external toxins and pathogens.

The skin of fishes and many aquatic invertebrates is naturally fragile. It is covered by a protective slime coating that helps keep harmful bacteria and viruses away and aids the animals in their swimming ability by reducing surface friction. Any lessening of the slime coating, such as by abrasion and wounds can allow harmful pathogens to enter the skin. Fishes and invertebrates can sense when their slime coating is lessened or missing, and this can be very stressful to them. Fish being introduced to aquariums or ponds, or being transported, are particularly prone to losing natural slime and needing slime replacement.

NovAqua Plus neutralizes chlorine and the full toxic effect of chloramines
* Chlorine is used in just about all municipal water supplies, for which the US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency recommends up to 4 ppm chlorine.

* Chloramines in municipal water supplies are a very serious problem for aquarists and pond keepers. Chloramines are a combination of chlorine and ammonia that together make a chemical compound that is much more stable and highly toxic to viruses and bacteria than either is alone. Chloramines are also very toxic to fishes and aquatic invertebrates.

* Over 50% of all municipalities in the U.S. now have chloramines added to the water supply, and the number rises every month. The American Water Works Association now strongly recommends that municipal water suppliers add chloramines to their water supply, because of increasing amounts of pathogens in water sources due to water pollution. Chloramines are lethal to all water-breathng aquatic animals. It is becoming essential that aquarists and pond keepers use a chloramine remover in all water that they take from the tap for their fishes and aquatic invertebrates.

* NovAqua Plus breaks the chloramines apart, exposing the chlorine. In whatever form, NovAqua Plus neutralizes up to 6.0 ppm of chlorine (free and combined as chloramines), over twice the amount that regular NovAqua removes. What NovAqua Plus does not do is take out the ammonia that comes in the chloramines. This should be done by using Kordon's AmQuel Plus (or original AmQuel) with NovAqua Plus.

* EPA Guidelines set a maximum allowed level of chlorine of 4 ppm in public water supplies. Most water suppliers target 2-3 ppm chlorine. Note that 4 ppm of chlorine is actually about 5.8 ppm chloramine. (The chlorine is 69% of the chloramine molecule, ammonia is the other 31%). So, with a possible 5.8 ppm chloramine, there is 4 ppm chlorine, and 1.8 ppm ammonia. At the extreme 4 ppm level of chlorine in chloramine, a 1.5 standard dose of NovAqua Plus is recommended. Check with your local public water utility for the level of chlorine that they are adding to tap water.

NovAqua Plus buffers tap water When tap water is used, it comes out of the tap greatly reduced in oxygen. When tap water that is low or devoid of oxygen comes in contact with the air, its pH fluctuates rapidly while it is picking up oxygen and carbon dioxide. If tap water is added directly to the aquarium in which fishes and aquatic invertebrates are living, the fluctuations in pH can be very stressful, and may be lethal. NovAqua Plus contains a high capacity buffering system that stops pH fluctuations in the water, stabilizes acidity/alkalinity to avoid pH shock, and allows fish to adapt safely to new environments. When the pH is balanced by NovAqua Plus, the water will be at its natural pH level, whatever that is. when the pH needs to be balanced, such as a pH of 7.0 for fresh water (neutral pH), or 8.2-8.3 for salt water, the use of Kordon pH Protector products are recommended.

NovAqua Plus detoxifies heavy metals that can be toxic to many aquatic organisms. NovAqua Plus detoxifies heavy metals that can be toxic to many aquatic organisms. Toxic metal ions in water can come from various sources, including public water utilities, home and commercial plumbing, medications, decorations and metal objects placed in the aquarium or pond, well water, etc. It is essential to detoxify heavy metals in the water supply for the fish to survive. The detoxifying capability of NovAqua Plus precipitates the metal ions into harmless compounds, rather than chelating them. NovAqua Plus forms a unique insoluble, polymeric salt with heavy metals that is stable under conditions of both high and low pH. This is a notable advantage over other products that rely strictly upon the chelation process. Such chelates are unstable, pH dependent, and can exchange their "bound" metal ion for another, releasing toxic ions into the water.

While tap water is acceptable to us and to pet animals (such as mammals -- dogs cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, etc. -- and birds) as well as to farm animals, tap water varying in extent from source to source is toxic to fishes and other aquatic life. This is particularly true for the heavy metals that it contains from the metal and plastic pipes that it goes through before it reaches you. One of the important functions of NovAqua Plus is to eliminate -- or at least greatly reduce -- heavy metals in the water.

One of the most toxic of heavy metals to fishes is copper, a common ingredient in tap water. NovAqua Plus is capable per dose of precipitating up to 1.17 ppm free copper ions (Cu++) from solution. When copper is present in the tap water or when copper medications are used, the copper ions can combine with glass, plastic, rock, gravel, and other objects and remain indefinitely in this state. Variations in pH (acidity/alkalinity) may cause the copper to come back into solution and be toxic to fishes and invertebrates. NovAqua Plus permanently detoxifies copper and can be used to eliminate copper ion medications after their use as a treatment is completed.

NovAqua Plus increases available electrolytes. Certain kinds and levels of electrolytes are necessary in the water for fishes and aquatic invertebrates to breathe through their gills. NovAqua Plus contains these elements (cations and anions) in the amounts that fishes and aquatic invertebrates require.

* Marine fishes and invertebrates obtain their required ions by "drinking seawater". However, freshwater fishes and invertebrates do not have this capability. Freshwater fishes selectively remove required ions from water via the gills. The need for certain ions is increased during times of stress. NovAqua Plus provides the electrolytes needed during periods of damage and shock in freshwater fishes. Also, NovAqua Plus allows the use of bottled drinking water for aquarium use, that otherwise would be too deficient in ionic mineral content for the fishes and aquatic invertebrates to survive satisfactorily. NovAqua Plus should be used when using RO (Reverse Osmosis) water, because efficient RO systems take out too much of the mineral/electrolyte content of the water for fish and invertebrates to remain healthy.

* NovAqua Plus should be used when using well water or other natural water source, because they can vary greatly in quality, which is brought into proper balance for fishes and invertebrates by NovAqua Plus.

NovAqua Plus provides beneficial organic herbals and vitamins. A unique new function of NovAqua Plus is in its use of herbals and vitamins. More and more is becoming known in scientific aquaculture about the value of specific soluble herbals and vitamins for improving the health and immunity of fishes and invertebrates. Kordon is now applying this knowledge in aquarium and pond keeping.

NovAqua Plus contains herbals and vitamins that are soluble in water and absorbed by fishes and invertebrates; these have been recently accepted to be effective for their health and immunity. For examples, the vitamins used in NovAqua Plus are capable of boosting disease-resisting immune functions, healing open wounds and sores, slowing the spread of infection, and promoting cellular regeneration such as in the formation of blood cells, etc. Echinaceas are in NovAqua Plus for improving phagocytosis and as immune stimulators to help the fishes and invertebrates rid themselves of microbial infections ­ both viral and bacteria, as well as tumors.

NovAqua Plus enhances biofiltration in new aquariums and ponds. It does this by coating the filter media with a slime coat that aids nitrifying bacteria in forming colonies, and in being more effective in carrying out biological filtration.

NovAqua Plus reduces toxicity of nitrite. NovAqua Plus's special electrolytes help reduce the toxic effects of nitrite in the water by blocking the uptake of nitrite by the animal. For extensive removal of toxic nitrites in the water, use Kordon's AmQuel Plus.

NovAqua Plus removes iodine. When using iodine as a treatment, its effect can be reduced or eliminated by using NovAqua Plus.

NovAqua Plus works with all filters, aerators, and protein skimmers . There is no interference between NovAqua Plus and all types of filters, protein skimmers, and aerators.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN NOVAQUA AND NovAqua Plus?

• NovAqua Plus is based on the latest technology for water conditioners, which have been under the NovAqua label with successive product improvements for over 30 years..
• NovAqua Plus is formulated differently from its predecessors from the bottom up, having many new improvements, such as:
• New polymer colloids for fish protection
• Increased ability to remove chlorine
• New electrolytes for stress reduction
• New remover of heavy metals, including increased ability to remove toxic zinc, iron, aluminum, copper, arsenic, etc.
• New herbal ingredients for immune health aids and viral and protozoan infection inhibition
• New vitamin ingredients for health aids
• New product stabilizers for long-lasting storage, etc.

PUBLIC COMMENTS ABOUT NovAqua Plus

Early on, a company in aquarium products warned that NovAqua suffocated the gills of fish. There was no evidence presented for this claim and it was totally not true. The polymer colloids that the NovAquas use in no way interfere with the fish's or any other aquatic animal's breathing or its gills.

Fortunately, the merits of the NovAquas are currently better understood and receive extensive praise for their help in water conditioning for fishes and other aquatic organisms.

While NovAqua Plus is now the latest version of the NovAqua products, through a series of improvements over the years, we are queried about the use of NovAqua, which is still available. There are some traditionalist users still with NovAqua, but the far superior NovAqua Plus is what is recommended.

There are companies that have copied the concepts that were developed for Kordon's NovAquas, and make claims that their products are manufactured by the same company that supplies Kordon. This is not true. The Kordon products are unique to Kordon.

NOTE ABOUT COMBINATION PRODUCTS
To answer the question "why not have all needs for a water conditioner in one bottle," the answer is that it is not practical. If combined, some things would have to be left out. It is best that they are in two or more products, such as is done with NovAqua Plus and Kordon's AmQuel®+, which together cover the full range of components needed in water conditioning of tap water, as well as in treatment of water aging over time in aquariums and ponds..

There are products on the market that combine into one product the ammonia removal with other treatments for new water added to aquariums and ponds. But they have to keep the effectiveness of these products much more limited than is provided by the NovAqua Plus/AmQuel Plus combination of products. Otherwise they interfere with each other. Kordon recommends that the two products be kept separate, such as is done with NovAqua Plus and Kordon's AmQuel Plus, in order to maintain long-term product stability and highest effectivity, as well as to provide useful ingredients that are not compatible when stored together in the same container.