Basically, stress coats are just what they sound like.  It is a liquid that you put in the water, that adds to the fish's slime coating that they already have. (confused???)  Most fish have a slime coating on them that helps protect them from disease and bacteria while they are in the water.  When fish stress, this slime coating starts to deteriorate on their scales.  If the slime coating deteriorates enough, your fish will start to get diseases.

"What stresses a fish" you ask?  All sorts of things:  temperature changes, changes in the water itself, bumping the tank, new environments, water changes, adding new water, etc.  All of these things can cause a fish to stress.

 That is why some type of stress coat is always good to have around.  You will want to have it when you do water changes (which will be discussed in maintenance later on).  Plus, most stress coats come with some type of ammonia remover already in them, which is something that is needed when adding new water to your tank.

    The only time that you ever really need to use stress coat is when you first set up your tank and when you do water changes.  It is not something you will be adding once a week.  Doing so will cause a depletion in oxygen levels as well as cloud the water.

    Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures of stress coat at this time.  You can ask you local pet store for the types that they carry.

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