Adding Water To The Aquarium After A Partial Change

[okiebelle]

Okay, I'm really not new, but I've had this question forever. How do you add water to the tank after a partial water change? I use the hose that hooks directly to the sink and add the dechlorinator a little at a time. I worry that the water can harm the fish before the dechlorinator begins to work. Does anyone else do it differently? Do you think this is a problem?

 

[Mikaila31]

dechlor works instantly. You can just add how ever much you need and fill it up in one go. I don't have and sinks I can connect a hose too, so I fill using a 5 gal bucket. I drain the tank with a hose though, and water the grass out side. Your way sounds much easier...

 

[fishnoob88]

I use a python, connected directly to the sink. I don't use any dechlor's or what not. I have WELL WATER and it's not needed.

 

[waterdrop]

Hi okiebelle, In my opinion you are worrying needlessly. The way people refill tanks with fresh tap/source water is "all over the place" and rarely do we hear of anyone having bad problems. As Mikaila said, dechlor works instantly and its effect spreads throughout a volume of water very rapidly.

There are members that dechlor the tap water in a bucket before it goes into the tank. There are members who dose the tank itself with dechlor simultaneously with the tap water going in to it. There are members with mature biofilters who are perhaps not making huge percentage changes who don't even use dechlor at all.

My personal opinion is that the three behaviours listed in the previous paragraph are ranked in order of risk from least to most in the order I put the sentences in. In mature tanks with hardy and common fish, the risk is apparently pretty low overall. Personally I use the second method, splashing half my dechlor in as my Python begins filling and splashing the other partial capful in near the end of the filling. I dose the declor as if I were filling the entire tank even though I'm filling only half.

A couple of smaller details about the subject of dechlor are: Water authorities often vary the amount of chlorine/chloramine unpredictably. They will "dump in extra" without warning. This is the main reason that using dechlor, or using it at 1.5x or 2x dosing is recommended especially during the earlier stages of fishless cycling, as the possiblility of a fledgling bacterial population being hit by any overdose of chlorine/chloramine exists.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Tolak]

Waterdrop is on the money with that info. Another vote here for add water then dechlor, at double the rate. Most of my tanks ared drilled with overflows for water changes, but the sponge filters in the tanks have been running for years

. I run tap water in, guesstimating the gallons per minute. When the overflow is done draining a few minutes later I add dechlor. I've got a pretty good idea as to what my water supplier does when, often in the summer I can get by with a regular dose of dechlor.