Adding Dechlorinator

[Mola Mola]

I've got a couple of questions that I am hoping somebody can help me with.

1) Can you add too much dechlorinator?
2) Do you need to make sure that the dechlorinator is well mixed before the water is added to the tank, or could you add it to, say, an 80% full tank, and then top up the other 20% from the tap?

I would think that too much dechlorinator is OK, but I would think that you need to make sure that the dechlorinator and new water are mixed (e.g. in a bucket).

I have a 12 litre bucket to use for water changes, and it would be tricky to get the right amount of dechlorinator for those 12 lites, which is why I ask about putting in too much dechlorinator.

Of course, if I could just whack the right amount of dechlorinator into the tank and then add a couple of buckets of unchlorinated tap water, that would be easier than having to prepare individual buckets.

However, I'm not sure, so any advice would be appreciated.

 

[L_Plates]

I think you have to go completely over the top with it before it will cause any problems to the fish.

I don't mix it with the water in a bucket as i fill my tank with a hosepipe so i just use a syringe and add it to the water as i go.

How big is your tank again Mola ?

LP

 

[hanny93]

i used to dechlorinate with stress coat, and after many times of getting sticky fingers i just poured it in for the whole of the volume of water i was going to be putting in, in one bucket,

 

[Mola Mola]

How big is your tank again Mola ?

Hi LP.

It is an 80 litre - Boyu MT-50

 

[L_Plates]

What dechlor do you use ?

Should of asked before.

LP

 

[fluttermoth]

The easiest way, and the way most of us with bigger tanks that we use hoses on, is to add enough dechlorinator for the whole tank and then refill.

The reason you add enough dechlor for the whole volume of the tank is that some of it gets 'bound up' by organic compounds that are present in a tank situation and not in tap.

Just make sure your filter/s are switched off so there's no risk of any raw water coming into contact with your bacteria. I've been doing it that way for about a year now and have not had any problmes.

 

[L_Plates]

What flutter said is good advice. Just add it all to the first bucket with everything turned of until fully filled.

 

[Mola Mola]

Just make sure your filter/s are switched off so there's no risk of any raw water coming into contact with your bacteria. I've been doing it that way for about a year now and have not had any problmes.

Ah, right, I hadn't considered the fact that the water wouldn't actually come into contact with the filter media, because the pump would be of. Thanks, that's very useful.

I do have one question though. In my tank, along with the main filter area, there is also a separate compartment, that just contains a small sponge (about the size of a kitchen scouring pad), made of the same material as the larger filter chunks. There is a grille that separate that compartment from the tank, so water can pass from the main tank into that area.

I don't fully understand what the purpose of that small sponge, but I suppose that it holds bacteria too. Is that at risk from "raw" (i.e. not dechlorinated) tap water being added to the tank?

Also, to answer LP's question, the dechlorinator is NitraFin - AquaPlus - Water Conditioner.

 

[Tizer]

Just make sure your filter/s are switched off so there's no risk of any raw water coming into contact with your bacteria. I've been doing it that way for about a year now and have not had any problmes.

I don't fully understand what the purpose of that small sponge, but I suppose that it holds bacteria too. Is that at risk from "raw" (i.e. not dechlorinated) tap water being added to the tank?

Only if you are a divvy and pour it onto it.

 

[Mola Mola]

I don't fully understand what the purpose of that small sponge, but I suppose that it holds bacteria too. Is that at risk from "raw" (i.e. not dechlorinated) tap water being added to the tank?

Only if you are a divvy and pour it onto it.

I just wondered because it seems that water from the tank can just pass through the grille (regardless of whether the pump is on or not). Whereas, with the main filter compartment, water from the tank has to be pumped into there.

Is the reason that it is OK, simply because very little "raw" tap water will actually pass through the grille?

 

[fluttermoth]

Is the reason that it is OK, simply because very little "raw" tap water will actually pass through the grille?

Yes; the dechlor works more or less instantly; that's why you add it to the tank before you start refilling

 

[StandbySetting]

Works instantly, but the risk of any significant knock in numbers due to chlorineated water coming into contact with bacteria is very low indeed. The quantities of Chlorine in tap water are there to deal with colonies that are many orders of magnitude smaller than that of those in our filters. More of a threat is posed to fish but even then the dilution generally compensates, free chlorine becomes toxic at about 0.005Mg/L, the average Chlorine concentration in my area is 0.030Mg/L, so a 50% water change brings that to about 0.015Mg/L, by the time you've added it most of the chlorine will have been bound by the thiosulphate ions anyway in the dechlorinater anyway, so small quantities that will be bound in the next few minutes are no real risk.

 

[Fishy friend2]

i use a one gallon bucket then put the right amount of dechlorinator then put it in my tank

 

[fluttermoth]

i use a one gallon bucket then put the right amount of dechlorinator then put it in my tank

You wait til you get yout 50 and 56g mate; you'll be straight down the garden centre buying hose!