How Long Does It Take Dechlorinator To Work?

[kuraiza]

I'm not exactly a newbie, and when I do water changes I always leave my buckets of water overnight. However, sometimes when I do a big water change I don't have enough buckets of water ready.

So my question is, how long does it take a conditioning dechlorinator to do its intended job (ie. remove chlorine)?

I've read countless labels on water conditioners, but none of them say a minimum time to leave the treated water before adding it to the tank.

I thought this might be of interest to newbies as well.

 

[rED O]

i use a 20 gallon bucket and i let it sit for 10 muints and its fine. it also depends on what type of decolranater, prime is the best

 

[funkyhoney]

As far as I know (and I could very well be wrong) dechlorinator works pretty much instantly as soon as it mixes/dilutes into the water. On my own tanks and the much larger ones at my work I usually fill them up with fresh water and add x amount of dechlorinator afterwards.

Never had any problems with that...

 

[Tolak]

As long as there is circulation it takes about as long as it took you to read this post.

 

[k.o.d]

As above, if you have add dechloinator to bucket first and add water on top, the agitation will mean it bonds virtually instantly.

 

[kuraiza]

Wow, fast eh?

Thanks

 

[Luketendo]

I add it after the water and stir it.

 

[Tobigara]

i add it as the bucket is filling up.

 

[Rooster]

Yep... declo' half a kettle of boiled water, topped off with a hose off the cold tap... carry to aquaria - DUMP !

 

[Will91]

I add my drops of Tetra AquaSafe to my 4 gallon bucket and then add the tap water to fill the bucket. That way it circulates while the bucket is filling. You can get the temp of the tap water pretty close to that of the tank water once your hands are "calibrated". I know lots of folks here don't like to use any hot water in the mix but our water here is very good.

 

[Tommy Gun]

If it helps, I also strongly believe that the dechlor effects occur instantly, or very close to it --- In fact, I skip the whole bucket thing and simply use my python/gravel vac to remove the water I need to for a water change, and because it is attached to my sink, I add enough dechlor conditioner simply reverse the water flow in order to fill the tank back up...and have been doing so without any noticable repercussion for a few years now. Oh, I also dose enough dechlor to treat the tank's entire water volume rather than adding enough to only treat the volume of water I am replacing....basically just for good measure.

As far as the various brands of dechlor conditioners, I have also heard a lot of good reviews on Prime, but might also add a small warning as to the Stress Coat product because, IME and based upon the few accounts I have read/heard, the aloe may be problematic for fish --- so, this might be one example of where adding too much of a dechlor conditioner (like I do) is a bad thing.

 

[TigerLotus]

I do mine exactly like tommy gun, same declorinator and everything. One thing I will do is after I remove the water with my python and put the prime in. I let the water run with out filling it up for a couple of minutes to let things mix up. Then I add the water.

I did a test with Prime by putting tap water in a test tube and tested with ammoina. After it register I added 1 drop of Prime and with in 3 min. the color had left meaning the ammoina had been remove. Prime to me is one of the best products out there.

TigerLotus : )

 

[shang hi]

as long as yo have no excesave ammounts of heavy metals in you water then stir it and let it stand for 5 mins then in it goes.

 

[mobeyone]

I usually do 20% and 40% water changes now weekly and will pour declorinator into the tank and then use a hose and fill making sure that the hose is directed at where the declorinator has been put in.

I also add at least two kettles full of hot water as I slowly add water - works for me and my stats are now perfect.

 

[Tommy Gun]

I do mine exactly like tommy gun, same declorinator and everything. One thing I will do is after I remove the water with my python and put the prime in. I let the water run with out filling it up for a couple of minutes to let things mix up. Then I add the water.

I did a test with Prime by putting tap water in a test tube and tested with ammoina. After it register I added 1 drop of Prime and with in 3 min. the color had left meaning the ammoina had been remove. Prime to me is one of the best products out there.

This brings up a good point though....the manner in which the ammonia is 'removed' is slightly misleading....it is really just 'transformed' into ammonium, which is less toxic than ammonia, but can still be a problem in large enough amounts. Additionally, I believe that if the pH is a larger number than 7.0, that ammonium may become ammonia after some period of time. The good news though is that ammonium is just as good as ammonia for your benificial bacteria.