dechrolinating

[nitrous]

when i do water changes do i add the dechlorinator to the water im adding or to the whole tank, will it harm my fish/plants. also do i add enuf for just the readded water or the whole tank?

 

[TCTFish]

Dechlorinators are pretty much harmless. It is best to dechlorinate any new water before the fish are exposed (to lessen any amount of chlorine exposure), but it won't hurt your plants or fish to dose the entire tank.

The only thing to be careful of is using dechlorinators that are thick (usually those that protect against nitrite and nitrates) with small fish. Make sure the dechlorinator is well mixed so the thick liquid doesn't slime over small gills. Even though these liquids don't seem thick to us, to a small neon tetra getting caught in the dechlor stream when poured into the tank, it is.

 

[nitrous]

alright then ill dechlorinate the ammount in the bucket and then pour it in thanks and ill make sure to shake it up

 

[dskidmore]

That's actually a debated topic. You can read this other thread for a detailed discussion.

The most conservative and absolutely safe way to go, is to dechlorinate the water in a bucket or other container about 20 mins before you put the water into the aquarium.

You will find people on the forums here that go all the way from that extreme to not using dechlorinator at all.

 

[Zagz]

Since I use a python for water changes I add the declorinator as I am refilling the tank. I declorinate the amount that I have removed. I recently switched to Prime, it uses less to declorinate more, hence costing less in the end.

 

[Tiffi]

I always add it to the whole tank, just the amount of the changed water and you should be fine. Never had a problem myself.

 

[CompMage]

I put it in the bucket and let it sit for an hour or so. Was how I was tought to do it way back when. Since I got 2 large buckets I don't worry about it taking longer. I just perpare the water before I remove the old. Buckets are cheap.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Don't need to shake up the bucket. If you add the dechlor to a bucket of water, the pouring of the water into the tank is enough to keep it from doing any harm. It's only if you pour dechlor directly into the tank where it could affect the fish, even though I've never seen it affect fish in a bad way. If I add to the tank directly, I pour it slowly in the output of the filter where the current is strong enough to disperse it.

 

[aquarist15]

i have a question because i use prime. i put some about a drop in each of my one-gallon jugs yesterday and let them sit overnight. is it now safe to use?

 

[dskidmore]

Water that has sat overnight has no more free chlorine, even if you do not add prime. If your water department adds chlorimine, it may have ammonia left in it, but a well established tank should be able to absorb the ammonia that would come in a 10% water change. If you add prime it will detoxify that ammonia for an extra level of protection.

0.1 ml of Prime dechlorinates and detoxifies 1 gallon of water, in just a few minutes. I use a .5 ml oral syringe to measure mine, I'm guessing 0.1 ml is 5 drops or so?

If you want to be scientific about it, you can measure the ammonia level in the bucket to decide if you're adding enough prime. The side of the prime bottle says how much ammonia is detoxified by the standard dose. (Your kit will still detect it, but it will not harm your fish.)

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Prime works immediatly. The only reason I leave my 5 gallon bucket overnight is so the water is room temp before adding. That way it's only a few degrees off of what the tank is. If the water is at the same temp or close to your tank, you can add the water immediatly, no need to set overnight.

 

[dskidmore]

In the winter, my air is considerably colder than my aquarium. If I don't have anything going on in the QT, I use that for my replacement water, and put the fresh cold water in the heated QT to warm up.

If I do have something going on in the QT, then I have to add back a very small amount of water at a time.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Can also warm up the water with hot water coming from the sink.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Not sure if I'd even use water from another tank due to the possibility of cross-contamination. My preference is to just warm it with hot water from the sink. Then add Prime.