Tapwater directly to tank bad?

[pitt420dude]

In a freshwater tank, Can I put city water right into the tank? IS it bad for the fish? The water is that fromthe city water system of pittsburgh. I have an assortment of Gouramis, Tetras, Angels, red tail shark, zuchini pleco.
- pizza

 

[cJw]

It depends on your tap water, but odds are, yes.

Most 'city tap water' contains chlorine, which will kill your fish. You must first use some type of water treatment to DEchlorinate the water.

Your lfs should be able to help you out on that.

 

[Bearfan]

Python hoses do just that, then people add dechlor.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

If you aren't adding dechlorinator to the water after adding it to the tank, then yes, tapwater ONLY is bad.

 

[malkore]

You can add tap water to the tank ,but you have to add enough dechlorinator to treat the entire tank. If you used buckets, you'd only have to use enough dechlor for the new tap water, wait 5 mins, then dump it in the tank.

chlorine/chloramine does not instantly kill fish or plants...but it will over time.

 

[cJw]

chlorine/chloramine does not instantly kill fish or plants...but it will over time.

Thanks for the clarification, Malkore.

 

[skydvr]

You can add tap water to the tank ,but you have to add enough dechlorinator to treat the entire tank. If you used buckets, you'd only have to use enough dechlor for the new tap water, wait 5 mins, then dump it in the tank.

I've heard this before - I don't get it. When adding directly from the tap, why do you have to add enough for the whole tank when "most" of the tank is treated? Is it due to not giving the chemical any time to react with just the "new" water?

Thanks...

 

[Menagerie]

I only add enough for the water I replaced. Never had any problems (expect when I forgot the dechlor once ).

 

[Biznatch]

I wouldn't be so sure about the water no instantly killing the fish. Before I knew I had to treat the water, I filled my gf's tank back up with like 6 gallons of untreated water. Within a minute or 2 all but 2 fish were floating upside down and died.

 

[Guest]

The bottom line is this: it depends on the size of the tank and how much you are adding. Putting two gallons of tap water into a 75 gallon tank, for example, will not harm anything as it becomes very dilute. My recommendation is if you are replacing more than 10% of your tank's capacity more than once every 48 hours, you should condition the water.

Using a smidge of tap water is not always a bad thing. The chlorinated properties does wonders for treating bacterial gill disease, for example.

 

[Mazdaman]

When you use smaller buckets then yes you only need to treat the amount thats in the bucket, but when you add directly to the tank, the reason you must treat the whole tank is that the water added will mix very quickly with the tank water and become dispersed throughout the tank very quickly. It would kind of be like dumping a small glass of colored water into the tank and then trying to retrive just the colored water. Impossible because the tank water will mix/dilute the colored water or tap water for that matter.

 

[Guest]

when you add directly to the tank, the reason you must treat the whole tank is that the water added will mix very quickly with the tank water and become dispersed throughout the tank very quickly.

That is bad advice. NEVER treat for the whole tank amount. Only treat for the amount added.

Your "colored water" analogy is flawed, and anyone who has studied chemistry will likely know why. Let me try to present a correct analogy:

You have a Water Color Remover. 1 teaspoon removes one gallon of color. You have one gallon of colored water, so normally you would add 1 teaspoon of the remover to that gallon. But wait, you put the gallon of colored water into your 55 gallon tank already! Would you now add 55 teaspoons of Remover into the tank? Of course not, because the tank only contains the one gallon of colored water. It may be dispersed, but that does not matter. Your tank did not magically synthesize 54 other gallons of colored water from just the one.

 

[Guest]

For people who have not studied chemistry and have no idea what I am on about: chlorine or chloramine is what is called the "limiting reagent." Whether you have (for example purposes only) one cup of chlorine in 5 gallons of water, or one cup of chlorine in 500 gallons of water... in either case you still only have one cup of chlorine, and therefore you should only be treating for the one cup.

Hope this makes sense. This is why I am not a chemistry professor

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Yes BUT, if you add 50 gal of water to a 150 and you add enough dechlor for 50 gal, the dechlor won't necessarily reach the bottom of the tank before it gets "disolved" into the top section of water.

 

[Guest]

Dissolved where? What is it reacting with to be "dissolved?"

Do we understand how chemical reactions work? Diffusion has no effect. If there is no chlorine to react with, the dechlor remains in its state. It does not disappear or "dissolve."

 

[Fishyfanatic]

The dechlorinator that I use Disolves in water. It is crystals that disolve as you add it to the water. THAT'S what I mean by Disolves.

 

[skydvr]

Yes, but I would think that it is still "active" in the water until it "finds" the chlorine to react with.... Until it actually reacts with the chlorine, it's just suspended in (dechlorinated) water...

That's why I didn't understand the "add enough for the whole tank" instruction, but I *have* seen it mentioned multiple times....

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Thank you for clarifying skydvr.

 

[skydvr]

No problem, but don't put any weight behind anything *I* say. I'm still trying to figure this whole thing out myself... Get clarification from someone who knows of what they speak.

 

[Guest]

Skydvr is absolutely correct. That's what I was trying to get at.