top up with plain tap water?

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tyrel

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Sep 18, 2005
Messages
64
Location
nanaimo bc
Can you top up a very small amount of water with plain tap water? Will the small amount of clorine hurt the fish? I plan to top it up whenever i see the water level below the black rim.

( also, the water level shows first at the back of the tank. Is the sligtly lopsided water level dangerous to the tank?
 
A little tap wont hurt. I keep a bottle of dechlor on top of my tank and treat when I top off, just can't help myself don't want anything to go wrong. Your tank should be level, you don't want a nsaty surpise in the middle of the night.
 
as long as the the tank doesnt have a chance to flex ie a very sturdy stand and the floor is the problem not the stand or tank i dont see a problem? maybe some one can correct me if im wrong but my 29 is the same way, i dont see a problem yet so it'll stay that way for now... i personaly dont like just topping off the tank because if you have any high levels of anything your not helping bring them down. whenever i see it's time to add water i just do a PWC and make sure the water is topped off.. keeps my fishies happier..
 
An uneven tank can be a problem. (Knock on wood) I have never had a problem with a tank bursting and at my last place, the floor was not level.

I top off with tap water, if it ever gets that low; however, iIf you do the weekly PWC and add dechlor, there will be no problems--evaporation does not happen that fast.
 
Im planning to top up when needed (the heater needs a very high level of water.) And do a pwc once a week. The tank has an extremely sturdy cabinet as a stand. Our first family fish tank developed a small leak, whitch resulted in the death of all our fish, But this tanks two edges wern't even on the table.

any thoughts?
 
I've seen what you described with All-Glass Aquariums (which is what I have). It appears to the naked eye that the water level is higher at the back than the front. What I did to make sure I wasn't losing my mind was to take a regular level and see if the tank was level. The result was that the tank is level but the black strip wasn't.

I would suggest doing the same to make sure it is in fact level.
 
No problem...by the way...I usually sneak in a drop or two of dechlor when topping off. :) I just hate the idea of chloramines being in the tank to run free. My wife tries to keep a pitcher of water sitting around (after she waters her plants) for us to use.
 
I don't like the idea of the edges of the tank hanging off the sides of your table. I have always read that the edges are what need supported.
 
No that was the first tank in my house ever. This one is very well supported.

can you overdose on declor? For the amount of water I want to have for top ups, youd need less than a drop.
 
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