Chlorine/refilling Tank

[Zachary1941]

Hi,
When i bought my tank, and set it up.. Filling it was easy As per tank instructions i ran a hose from the tap into the tank and filled it in no time at all.. Added API Tap Water Conditioner when filled...Now while this fishless cycle is in progress,have been reading about doing the weekly water change... Am i right in that ..Tap Water Conditioner must be put into the water BEFORE the water is put into the tank.(Ruling out the hose method) ..I might be totally wrong here.. But if as a example i was to do a 10 or 15% water change and put the water conditioner in after i refilled that amount...I would kill the fish and Bacteria.. Also the water would not be at the approx correct temp ? Regards Zac

 

[Bobtastic]

I've also wondered about that... I think if you are doing low % changes (10-20%) you can add the correct ammount of conditioner to the tank whilest you re-fill it, but I'm not 100% sure...

I use buckets for water changes (one for dirty tank water and one for clear water) as the tap if too far from the tank and I don't have a hose.

 

[arobinson1984]

You can dose the tank first before putting the water in, then when the water goes into the tank the dechlorinator will work instantly.

Ideally, if you have mixer taps in your home, you can easily set your temp to roughly the same as your tank. You can use a product called a 'python' which makes it easy or I think there is a guide on here showing your how to make a 'DIY' version, search for python in the search box.

You do know that you shouldn't do any water changes when fishless cycling dont you? I wasnt sure whether you were thinking of doing weekly changes during the cycle or just reading up on it in preperation for when the tank finishes cycling.

Andy

 

[Zachary1941]

Hi Andy,
No was aware not to do any water changes while cycling.. Was preparing for after when i have cycled and fish in tank Thanks Zac

 

[arobinson1984]

Right fine, yes you can add dechlorinator immediately before adding water into your tank. You may want to add a little more than required to be on the safe side, you cant really overdose on dechlor unless your putting litres of the stuff in lol, but you obviously dont want to waste it for the fun of it

Andy

 

[Zachary1941]

Right fine, yes you can add dechlorinator immediately before adding water into your tank. You may want to add a little more than required to be on the safe side, you cant really overdose on dechlor unless your putting litres of the stuff in lol, but you obviously dont want to waste it for the fun of it

Andy

Sorry Andy Miss Understanding.. Wanted to know if doing small water changes 10 to 15% would it be safe to add Tap Water Conditioner AFTER the water is added.....Or would that be harmful to both fish and Bacteria.? Sorry for confusion Zac

 

[superjonboy]

When I do my weekly water change I use buckets that have a measure guide on the inside. I sypthon out approx 25% then use the other bucket to start adding water back in.
I usually do 4 buckets out 4 buckets in. I add tap safe to the first bucket I put back in and then the 3rd. The tap safe I use requires 1 inner capful for the amount of water I change so I add half to the first and then half to the third. This just safes me putting it all in at once.

I tend to sypthon the first couple of buckets back in too. This creates far less disturbance than pouring them straight in.

John.

 

[arobinson1984]

If you put it in immediately after then you should be fine, but like I said, you can take some water out of your tank, then put some dechlorinator into your tank, then fill back up with new water and the dechlor will work as soon as the new water goes into the tank because you've already treated the tank first.

Thats prob the best way to do it if you wish to use a hose, that way the fish wont be exposed to the chlorine at all because dechlo works instantly. If you put the water in first followed by dechlor, it should be ok but you've still got a 20-30 sec period where they would be exposed to the chlorine before you put the dechlor in.

Hope you understand what I'm saying lol

Andy

 

[craig855s]

how long does dechlor work for?


that is worded really badly so ill give an example.

If i take 38 litres of water out of my tank,then dose the tank with 5ml of aqua+ (which treats 38L of chlorine water) then i add 25 litres of new water...then say i am delayed for x amount of time before adding the other 14 litres of water...

how long can x amount of time be? infinite? minutes? hours?

another example,if i stick 50ml of aqua+ into a tank and then add 80L of water...could i later remove 10L and put 10L fresh in and not need dechlor at all as there should be some aqua+ in there left to react?

 

[ellena]

When I do my weekly water change I use buckets that have a measure guide on the inside. I sypthon out approx 25% then use the other bucket to start adding water back in.
I usually do 4 buckets out 4 buckets in. I add tap safe to the first bucket I put back in and then the 3rd. The tap safe I use requires 1 inner capful for the amount of water I change so I add half to the first and then half to the third. This just safes me putting it all in at once.

I tend to sypthon the first couple of buckets back in too. This creates far less disturbance than pouring them straight in.

John.

That is genius! I've only had to do a few water changes in my fishless cycle (pH crashes) and they've made a right mess of the sand. I'm going to do this from now on. I take it you just need the bucket to be higher than the tank?