Dechlorinator

[Claire121]

Hi

Can anyone explain how dechlorinator works and at what point it becames inactive ? Eg In minutes, hours, or immediately it comes into contact with the water ?

What I am wondering is if more dechlorinator is used than is calculated to be needed for X litres of water, if you can then safely top up a tank with normal tap water say 1 hour later or 1 day later or not at all...

I know what's safest but just wondering.

Thanks

 

[Bignose]

I would suspect it isn't viable after a few hours. Oxygen and light and warmth will cause its degradation, that's why the bottle is stored sealed and in a cool dark place.

That said, you can almost assuredly top off without needing any dechlorinator anyway. There are many people who don't use any dechlorinator at all for any water changes, and their tanks are just fine. The thread's in this section.

 

[Mikaila31]

Yep it depends a lot on whats in your tap, I would stick with dechlor if you have chloramines in your tank instead of regular chlorine. If you just have chlorine use some pool test strips to test your tap for chlorine concentration. Ask someone who has a pool for a few of the strips. Chlorine in tap water is pretty low. 4ppm is the max allowed but usually in the US its closer to 1ppm since chlorine reacts quickly with stuff in the pipes. If you do a 25% wc the tank has about 0.25ppm since it dilutes then will gas off or react quickly. Knowing what exactly is in your tap can tell you if you need dechlorinator or not and how much you need. For example the recommend dose for prime neutralizes 4ppm chlorine and 3ppm chloramines. Most people could easily use at least half the recommended dose or less and still neutralize all the stuff in their tap.

Dechlorinator works by binding chlorine or chloramines that are in the water. Chlorine is toxic and use to stop stuff from growing, same with chloramines. Chloramines are a chlorine ion and an ammonia ion bonded together. This stablizes the chlorine and stops it from evaporating or gassing off like free chlorine does. Dechlorinators contain a compound that actively binds to both of these and stops them from reacting with your fishes skin or gills and other things like filter bacteria.