Huge Water Bucket!

Tizer · Jun 26, 2011

Dechlorinator isnt "instant", but it is very quick, it's like bleeding into a bucket and the water turning red, thats about the best example i can give :>

KkAaNnEe · Jun 26, 2011

I do the same as Mikaila, simply attach hose to my shower, will never go back to buckets...

Proxo · Jun 26, 2011

Tizer said:
Dechlorinator isnt "instant", but it is very quick, it's like bleeding into a bucket and the water turning red, thats about the best example i can give :>

What size is the cut and what speed is the blood coming out? LOL.

I think any tank over 150L i'd dechlor the tank as you're talking heavier/more buckets and
sometimes larger water changes & making a mess, i know i used too.

Anything smaller a find a bucket quicker though.

Rorie · Jun 27, 2011

For my smaller tanks which have fry in, and sponge filters, i fill buckets, dechlorinate, then add.

But for my show tank, 360L, i drain it straight to the toilet, add enough de chlorinator to deal with 360l of water, then fill it back up. Obviously the filters need to be off at this stage to make sure non of the chlorine gets to them.

Proof is in the pudding with that method - i have discus spawning, bolivian rams currently looking after their fry, and cardinal tetras displaying fantastically bright colours!

ATK!!! · Jun 27, 2011

Ok, thanks for the replies people! I am getting to see your point but wouldn't the chlorine take even less time to kill any bacteria you may have growing in you substrate/ornaments than the dechlor. Or does this not matter? Lets just say that it takes 1 mintue for the dechlor to completely disperse, how long does it take for chlorine to take effect on bacteria. I am starting to see how dumb the idea I was told is! You learn a new thing every day eh

Also what about other things in the water? (eg. heavy metals) How long does it take for the dechlor to react with these things? A fatal amount of time... I don't think so!

Wow, when I started typing I thought one thing and now I totally agree with you guys :good:

Thanks everyone!

KkAaNnEe · Jun 27, 2011

One thing I do is to put my two caps of dechlor in the spot where i will aim my hose, this way te dechlor is already in the spot where im adding water.

Mikaila31 · Jun 27, 2011

ATK!!! said:
Ok, thanks for the replies people! I am getting to see your point but wouldn't the chlorine take even less time to kill any bacteria you may have growing in you substrate/ornaments than the dechlor. Or does this not matter? Lets just say that it takes 1 mintue for the dechlor to completely disperse, how long does it take for chlorine to take effect on bacteria. I am starting to see how dumb the idea I was told is! You learn a new thing every day eh

Also what about other things in the water? (eg. heavy metals) How long does it take for the dechlor to react with these things? A fatal amount of time... I don't think so!

Wow, when I started typing I thought one thing and now I totally agree with you guys

Thanks everyone!

Your assuming your tap has a lot of chlorine to start with. Like I said test it, its easy if you know anyone with a pool or spa. Or you can buy liquid or test strips(this is the only place I would suggest test strips). First off you add the dechlor to the tank before adding the new water. The new water lets say contains 0.5ppm of chlorine. Even without any dechlorinator in a 50% water change chlorine will still dilute to 0.25ppm a reading that will neutralize in an hour if not faster on its own. There is little harm a small amount of chlorine can do to ALL the bacteria in your tank before it gets used up. Pools are kept at 1-2ppm to keep things from growing. Even if you by chance lose some bacteria a healthy colony can spring back within half a day if not faster. You would not see anything on a test kit, bacteria are always dying and reproducing in a healthy tank. Now if you add dechlorinator to the mix you are both neutralizing and diluting the chlorinated water you add to the tank. If you use a full dose of prime for the water added you likely have over 6 times the dechlorinating power you need.

I am new to chlorinated water, being on it for a whole week now. If tests are right, which they should be. A cheap test strip kit and an $20 liquid chlorine test that could detect 0.2ppm both said there was nothing in my new tap water. Though I am starting off with under dosing prime. I do not intend to use dechlorinator at all eventually. I know a lot of people don't use for smaller changes since its simply not needed. I haven't for the last 4 years on well water, I just use it straight and don't add a single thing.

You bring up heavy metal. Why do these worry you? Just because the bottle claims to remove it I assume... My old water received regular drinking tests. Even safe drinking water has minuet traces of lead, copper, iron, ect. Apart from the lead you can find a LOT of heavy metals supplemented in your fish food, since quite a few are essential minerals. There is nothing 'fatal' or harmful about a normal amount of heavy metals in water unless they become excessive. You will find them in nature and I have raise a fair number of fish and shrimp in my well water. I moved my bamboo shrimp to my new apartment yesterday and when I pulled him out of the tank he had the prettiest striped red coloration.

ATK!!! · Jun 27, 2011

Thanks for the quick reply. You've defo put my mind at rest! The only reason I mentioned the heavy metals is because we get huge amounts of copper in our water for some reason and I just wondered how bad it is for invertibrates and fish. I guess they have to be exposed for longer periods of time with extremely high concentrations to be damaged by it.

Why then do some people worry about adding copper based medicines to tanks with shrimp in? Is this just a myth, or perhaps it's because they have to leave it in there for long periods of time without taking any out...

That'll make things much easier for me then, no more buckets for me :hyper:

Mikaila31 · Jun 27, 2011

ATK!!! said:
Thanks for the quick reply. You've defo put my mind at rest! The only reason I mentioned the heavy metals is because we get huge amounts of copper in our water for some reason and I just wondered how bad it is for invertibrates and fish. I guess they have to be exposed for longer periods of time with extremely high concentrations to be damaged by it.

Why then do some people worry about adding copper based medicines to tanks with shrimp in? Is this just a myth, or perhaps it's because they have to leave it in there for long periods of time without taking any out...

That'll make things much easier for me then, no more buckets for me

Well the question then is how much copper? My previous place had at least 0.13ppm according to an old water test. Copper is toxic for invertebrates, but it is also a essential mineral. Considerable copper will kill shrimp and such. Treating the tank with copper based medicines is one way to kill shrimp. There is a big difference in the amount of copper used in those medications and the amount of copper normally in tap water. Unless your tap water tastes like pennies I honestly would not worry about it. Basically no copper is bad(except its in most fish foods anyway). Traces of copper is good. Large amounts of copper is bad for inverts.

ATK!!! · Jun 29, 2011

I can't say that I know how much copper we actually have in our water but as you said, I doubt very much that it'll be bad for inverts. How do you disperse the water into the tank then, would an old shower head or hose fitting work or would it have to be new (bearing in mind our water covers everything in limescale!)