Good ol' chlorniated tap water...

[hisc1ay]

Wow...it's been a while since I've been here. Nice to be back.

I moved in june and just got around today to setting up the 30 gallon tank I had before (my critters were few enough to live in a 10 since then). I used a hose to fill it up. I live in the city, and our water has a lot of chlorine I think, but it tastes good so it's not an exorbitant amount.

While I was filling the tank, I put enough dechlor in for the whole tank according to the directions. I just checked it out and it smells like a pool. I did plan on letting the water and filter run for at least a few weeks to burn off any extra chlorine before I even start a cycle. Will this work? I'm very wary about my water here because the first time I brought fish over, they ALL died the next day. When I got that cleaned out, I let it cycle for a month before I brought the other fish to the new apartment, and they're all doing fine after a month. I want to get different fish for the 30, but I'm so nervous about the water.

I guess my questions boil down to these:
1) Will all of the chlorine evaporate eventually, and if so how long do you think it will take
2) I'm fairly certain I can't cycle while there's chlorine in the water because it will kill the bacteria, right?
3) Is it possible that the dechlor doesn't work when the volume being treated is so large?

I would have gotten bottled water, but I can't afford that much right now. For water changes I will do that because I'll only need a few at a time. How much are RO filters for the faucet? Also, does Britta filter out enough stuff to make the water better?

Thanks for the answers, y'all.

-j

 

[krap101]

hmm... chlorine does disapate in a couple days. you could try putyting dechlorinator in a bucket with the water and let it sit a couple days. i think a bubble stone makes it go faster. hth

 

[jsoong]

First you need to find out from your water co. if they use chlorine or chloramine --- most places use chloramine these days.

If it is straight chlorine, it will be out of the water after a couple of days. You can hurry this up with an airstone or surface aggitation.

If it is chloramine, you need to use a dechlorinator that can break the chloramine bond (read label ... should say something about treating for chloramine). My dechlorinator also says how much cholramine it will treat, and if you know how much chloramine the water co adds (mine post daily levels on their website), you can calculate the exact amount you need. (The water co sometimes use extra chloramines - during spring runoff here for example - & you need to use more dechlor than the x drops/gal the bottle says).

Chloramine will disappear in strong sunlight in a week or so (or so I read from pond sources) - so if you have a hugh amount of water to treat (like a pond) you can save on dechlorinator.

 

[cheezysquirrelz]

the chlor will kill the bacteria so it wont cycle.

 

[hisc1ay]

The dechlor I have says it treats for chloramines also, and I checked my city's 2003 report and they were at 3.6ppm. I guess I'll just let it run (the pump is on, but the media is still in the established tank until I'm fairly conviced that the chlorine is gone).

Thanks for the answers!

-j

 

[hashbaz]

I think the britta filters remove chlorine and maybe choramine - it will probably say on the packaging. I am a big fan of the RO system. You can get them on ebay for around $100 (or as low as $60 from Aqua-Safe if you are a very patient bidder).

 

[Voodoo Chilli]

Chlorine will usually evaporate in about 24 hours so I'd say you're smelling chloramine in the water.

 

[loganj]

Another thing to remember is that, once the chloramine bond is broken and the chlorine dissipates, ammonia is left behind. I would check for ammonia as well as pH before adding any fish. You might also want to look into fishless cycling.

 

[hisc1ay]

Yes, I am going to be diong a fishless cycle. I've been conditioning the biowheel in my established tank since I set it up knowing that it would be a while before I got the 30 up. I didn't know ammonia would be left after chlorine...that's kinda handy. I figure at least a month before I can add any fish. It will probably take me that long to figure out what to put in it.

-j

 

[hisc1ay]

Well, the chlorine smell is gone...now it's some kinda foul smell. There's nothing dead in it...is this normal?

-j

 

[Cherry Barb]

I've never known the water to turn to a foul smell unless something was really wrong. Was your tank cleaned and sanitized before you filled it up? And are you running a filter or airstone to keep the water oxygenated and agitated? That's all I can think of right yet.

 

[hisc1ay]

I wonder if the rocks weren't cleaned well enough. It's kind of dissipated though since I made the post. I'm not using an airstone, but I have my filter on the highest flow. I'm using an emperor 280 (I think it's a 280) on a 30 gallon tank, and there's a pretty strong current at the top. The cloudiness is gone as well. One thing I haven't done that I may just do is change the filter. I'll have to check on that when I get home. I used the same filter before I tore it down to move.

Man, you'd think I've never set up a tank before. I have been out of this for too long.

-j

 

[Cafe Jeff]

Does chloramine dissipate itself from water in the same way chlorine does. And if so, how long does it take. They are using chloramine in the water supply here in Toronto. Jeff

 

[TankGirl]

hisc1ay - I know recently I have been smelling more of a chlorine smell in the water than normal, too, but I have had no ill-effects from it. I would simply use your dechlor and proceed as normal. I recently ran a fishless cycle with the same water and everything went according to plan.