Changing without Bucket

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Gryph said:
I just keep gallon bottles of water around. I add dechlor when I fill them, shake them up, then stow them and let them evaporate the nasties for a day or three. Then, when I do a PWC, I use the bottles to top up.

This doesn't make any sense to me. I understand that chlorine will dissappear when water is left out, but I doubt that's the case with much else. By definition, pretty much the only thing that "evaporates" is water, so when you leave containers out the only thing that's happening is that the "nasties" are getting more concentrated, because water is evaporating from them. If you're adding dechlor from the beginning, then there's really no reason to leave them out at all, that I can think of. I think the only factor here may be some psychological consideration that insists that water is safer after being left out(which I have felt myself, at times). I think it might stem from the traditional practice of leaving water out to get rid of chlorine. If the fish have the same psychological issue, then maybe it's worth it to keep doing so. :)

If anyone knows why I'm wrong, please post.
 
Well, it's also for my convenience. If I don't have aged water, it's not as if I tell the fish just to flop a bit til the stuff gets old. :lol:

By keeping the bottles filled, they're there and they're ready, and all I have to do is nab one and pour. Then I can refill at my leisure. But our tap water tastes kind of like swimming pool water, so I don't figure that letting the chlorine evaporate a bit is a bad thing.
 
Snuffleupagus said:
This doesn't make any sense to me. I understand that chlorine will dissappear when water is left out, but I doubt that's the case with much else. ... If you're adding dechlor from the beginning, then there's really no reason to leave them out at all, that I can think of.

If anyone knows why I'm wrong, please post.
In theory, if you had hard water, then as the chlorine gas leaves the water, it would be replaced by CO2 and O2 and N2 coming out of the air, that could interact with the minerals in the water. It may take time for this to come to a new state of chemical balance.

The saltwater enthusiasts swear by this, since they're purposely adding a whole bunch of minerals to their water, they can notice a difference between fresh and day old water chemistry. They even areate the water to ensure enough CO2 gets into the water in that 24 hours.
 
The dechlorinator makes water safe instantly. It removes the chlorine and in some cases chloramines (if you have a dechlor that does that). Chlorine will be removed from the water naturally as it ages, but if you use dechlorinator, it doesn't need to age. Chloramines do not "evaporate" out of the water like chlorine does. The only thing that removes chloramines is dechlorinator. When we first got into fish keeping we used to age the water over night because thats what the lfs told us. We would line up all of our 5 gal buckets and add the dechlorinator, then sit them in the bathroom overnight. But after finding AA and being introduced to the Python, I could not imagine doing that again. Especially not with the tanks that we have. We would need like 15 buckets. 8O It is 100% safe to pour tap water of the same temp directly into the tank, and then add dechlorinator. Of course this is as long as your tap is safe to drink and is not contaminated. And this is given that you're not changing 90% of the water. But a 25% water change, perfectly safe to syphon non-aged water directly into the tank then add dechlor.
 
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