Do I need water conditioner/dechlorinator?

[Anna94]

Do I really need to use water conditioner/dechlorinator when using tap water to do water changes and top off? This guy told me that he has never used water conditioner and has never lost any fish.

 

[cgthebeast]

Yes, just to be safe, I have a ro di filter and don't use dechlorinator but only cause it removes everything out of the water, if you don't have that then I don't recommend it

 

[coralbandit]

Do I really need to use water conditioner/dechlorinator when using tap water to do water changes and top off? This guy told me that he has never used water conditioner and has never lost any fish.

"This guy" might have a well and fish that are used to his water.
Maybe he is just lucky.
Most water conditioners also remove heavy metals along with doing other things like detoxifying ammonia or nitrites....
For the cost I would not fill a tank without my safe[seachems dry version of prime]...

 

[Andy Sager]

"This guy" might have a well and fish that are used to his water.
Maybe he is just lucky.
Most water conditioners also remove heavy metals along with doing other things like detoxifying ammonia or nitrites....
For the cost I would not fill a tank without my safe[seachems dry version of prime]...

Ditto to this. There are a lot of missing keys that may be why he hasn't had any problems and only one of them is a well. Water all over the world is not the same everywhere. I currently am in Central FL on a well and I do things very differently from when I lived in South FL and was on city water.

If you want to not use dechlorinator, you will need to contact your local water company and ask them what they put into the water that may hurt your fish. Some places still use Chlorine only while others use Chloramine and that has a big difference in what YOU need to do to make the water safe for the fish. Not all dechlorinators are the same as well so you need to know what you are dealing with so you know what you need to do.

 

[GuppyGuy333]

YES!!!!
the odds are you do not have water that is safe to use without dechlorinator.
if the guy you spoke to is telling the truth, he is the exception not the rule.

Though I have heard that keeping a bucket of water that you plan on using to add to your tank out in the open for 1-2 days will evaporate a lot of the chlorine I don't think this would take care of a lot of other possible chemicals/metals found in tap water.

I personally use dechlorinator and I think it is can be as essential as food for fish.

 

[nirbhao]

I guess my question would by why wouldn't you use it? There are so many less risky places to cut corners.

 

[jarrod0987]

I used to think it was an unnecessary scam. I bought a Hanna Chlorine Checker as well as the Chlorine Strips and did a lot of testing. I now recommend it highly. All of them work fine with Chlorine but I like Prime because it works with ammonia too and is a better deal when you consider how concentrated it is.

If anyone wants to see some of the research I did it is here:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/some-chlorine-experiments-i-ran-338785.html
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/dangerous-to-livestock-product-warning-346932.html
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/making-chloramines-on-purpose-oh-yes-he-did-347156.html