How long for chlorine to evaporate

[lorus]

Hi,

How long would it take for chlorine to evaporate from 75 gallons of tap water?

Thanks,

Lorus...

 

[joannde]

Why not just use a water conditioner like Prime ?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

It takes 24 hours. If you are wanting it to do water changes, just use a dechlorinator.

 

[7Enigma]

Get a dechlorinator such as Prime as mentioned above. Using tap water you run the risk of having chloramine in the water as well as chlorine. While chlorine will evaporate out of the tank in 12-24hours, chloramine does not evaporate and will stay in the water until it can react with something (your fish). Prime is cheap, lasts almost forever, and a good guarantee that your water is good for the fish.

If this is the first tank setup, I like your idea. When I first bought my tank I cleaned it with tap water and a paper towel to get any debris off, and then filled it with tap water. I hooked up all my equipment (filter, heater, decorations and substrate) and let it cycle for a day or two. This way I was sure that if any unwanted bacteria/fungus/algae was present in the tank, it was now dead. Obviously don't hook up the filter if your using seeded material until after you've treated the water!

HTH,

justin

 

[malkore]

as 7enigma says, chlorine isn't a huge deal...but few water companies use it...they use chloramine, because it lasts longer and doesn't just outgas like chlorine.

Prime is the best dechlorinator IMO.

 

[rkilling1]

just to add to the prime discussion. when a dechlorinator converts the chlorine into chloride, it will leave NH3 behind if your water has chloramine in it. thats whats nice about prime (and many others) it also converts NH3 to a non-toxic form.

 

[malkore]

rkilling is right, it converts it to ammonium, rather than raw ammonia. ammonium has a neutral charge, so it doesn't want to bind to anything, and that's how ammonia does its damage to fish gills.

 

[TomK2]

In an open container, it takes 24 to 48 hours? If you aerate the water with an airstone, this is sped up greatly. This is what I do. I have a 30 gal plastic garbage can as a holding tank. I dropped an old heater in it, and run two airstones. I just fill it up, a day later it is heated and dechlorinated. No chloramines in my water.

 

[Elmware2000]

Chlorine does not completely evaporate unless you aerate it for a couple days according to Paul's Aquarium FAQ's.

http://www.paulsaquarium.com/faqs.htm#clorine remover

Can I sit water out overnight instead of using a water conditioner or chlorine remover?

No! Not at least in our area. Our city water is loaded with chlorine and the water would have to be aerated for a couple of days before using. Even then you should do a chlorine test first or better yet add chlorine remover, or use a tank water purifier by aquarium pharmaceuticals for pure de-ionized water.

 

[lorus]

How long does it take for the water conditioner to kick in if I would add it to the tap water, minutes, hours, days? Do I still have to let the water stand overnight or with the conditioner it can be added to the aquarium sooner?

Lorus...

 

[rkilling1]

it's almost instant. you can add the conditioner to the tank and then add the water (Python) or add it to your water and then add the water to your tank right afterwards.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

It's instant.

 

[Johnny Cakes]

Don't use too much Prime though directly in the tank if you are using it to take care of water that has livestock in it. Prime is not toxic, but it can and will bind O2 making it just as inert (i.e. unusable) as it does ammonia and nitrites.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Unused Prime "evaporates" from the water after 24 hours. I dose for the entire volume of the tank even when changing only 25% of the water. It's never been a problem.

 

[Johnny Cakes]

Above post is correct, you have to massively overdose for this to be a problem.

 

[7Enigma]

I prefer to dose in the water to be adding to the tank (and mix it for a minute or so prior to adding). This is only applicable when using buckets obviously. If using a python or other syphon system, best to add to the tank right beforehand IMO.