chlorine and bacteria

[ripvanrina]

does chlorine in tap water kill off beneficial bacteria? I added too much ammonia during my fishless cycle (i got impatient..) and didn't dechlorinate the water when i did a pwc yesterday to dilute it. Today i have less nitrites, but is that just because i disturbed the set-up or does the chlorine have that effect on bacteria?

 

[Guest]

chlorine does kill bacteria, that is one of the reasons they add it to municipal water supplies, but if you add dechlorinater it should be fine.

 

[TomK2]

yes. But if you did only a small water change in the tank, probably no effect. If you rinsed the filter media in the chlorinated tap water, possibly a large effect. Chlorine irritates the fish gills too, so it is best to use dechlorinators.