Using Dechlorinator - How Fast Does It Take To Work?

[PaulQ]

Basic question... After you put the dechlorinator/conditioner in the water, how long do you have to wait before you add the water to the tank?

Also, does it need to be stirred into the water?

Thanks!

 

[Mikaila31]

Its pretty instant. I know most treat the tank after you take 20-50% out, then just fill it up straight from the tap.

 

[PaulQ]

Its pretty instant. I know most treat the tank after you take 20-50% out, then just fill it up straight from the tap.

Oh? So you are saying to put the dechlor into the tank then pour the tap water into the tank? For example, if you are adding 10 gallons, add 10ml of the dechlor into the tank then add the tap water to the tank? As opposed to filling a bucket, treating the bucket water, then adding it?

Is that the case?

 

[SlyPolak]

as long as you filter is off you should be good, sometimes when I do like a 25% change I dont even use dechlor. but when I go 50% or more I just dose for the whole tank and put it straight in the tank then top it off.. ( FILTER OFF )

 

[Pl*co]

as long as you filter is off you should be good, sometimes when I do like a 25% change I dont even use dechlor. but when I go 50% or more I just dose for the whole tank and put it straight in the tank then top it off.. ( FILTER OFF )

Just curious, why does the filter need to be off? I never turn off my filter unless I'm going to remove too much water.

 

[OldMan47]

I add the dechlorinator while the bucket is filling. By the time the bucket is full, it is well mixed and ready to pour into the tank, but I usually siphon it into the tank.

 

[SlyPolak]

You don't want your filter on is because that is where ALL your "good" bacteria is. If you do what I do, and refill with either dechlor. straight in the tank or none at all you don't want your filter sucking up water with chlorine in it and killing some of that bacteria and risking problems such as a "mini-cycle." Happened to me once when I went CRAZY with cleaning and scrubbed the crap out of the filter/tank/ornamenst/rocks etc. etc.

 

[Tolak]

Dechlorinator works instantly as long as there is a bit of circulation in the bucket or tank, it doesn't take much.

The amount of chlorine added to tap water is enough to assure that any bacteria in the distribution system do not end up in the water at the end of the system, this being your faucet. These are a very small percentage per volume compared to an aquarium when you take a mature biological filtration system into account. This is the reason additional chlorine is added to swimming pools, if the amount of chlorine in tap water were able to neutralize an unlimited amount of bacteria this would not be needed. It would also mean you could use tap water to disinfect anything, making household disinfectants unnecessary.

This is not the case with tap water, if it were it would make it undrinkable. This is one of the reasons many people get away with doing water changes without treating the water; there is far more bacteria in the biological filter than the disinfectants in the replacement water are capable of neutralizing. It may knock back the bacteria an insignificant amount in a mature filter, in a newly cycled tank this could be quite a bit more significant.

As far as water changes without using dechlorinator, there is a very good topic on the subject here.

Most of my tanks are drilled with overflows for water changes, just hang a hose & add water, 5gpm. I add Prime afterward more for the removal of any metals, per that topic I've found that with smaller water changes and a mature filter it isn't really needed.