Question About Changing Water!?

[Peter C]

I don't use conditioner ful stop

Have to assume you don't get your water from a tap then?

Yeah tap water, but living in the lake district we have slightly better water than the south!

 

[Ruskull]

You'd be surprised at the number of folks who don't use water conditioner with tap water, a bit of the science behind it can be found here.

Not to be , well extremely confrontational with a MOD but...
Can you direct the way forward in detail to the situation of each water supplied or should an individual be required to understand what is in the water from the particular tap without any in depth research?
This is viable in extremely specific circumstantial conditions and in no way recommended to the average keeper.
USE conditioner unless you fully understand your particular parameters and are willing to risk the health of your tank.

I'm hooked up to City Water so I use conditioner, but my father's house is on a well. He doesn't use any conditioner because there's no chlorine added.

 

[Tolak]

You'd be surprised at the number of folks who don't use water conditioner with tap water, a bit of the science behind it can be found here.

Not to be , well extremely confrontational with a MOD but...
Can you direct the way forward in detail to the situation of each water supplied or should an individual be required to understand what is in the water from the particular tap without any in depth research?
This is viable in extremely specific circumstantial conditions and in no way recommended to the average keeper.
USE conditioner unless you fully understand your particular parameters and are willing to risk the health of your tank.

Not confrontational at all, skepticism is expected. If you followed my link; http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/161413-water-changes/ and scroll down to post #19 you will find reference to some research concerning this topic. You'll find many aquarists, especially the old timers will do this not knowing the science behind it.

 

[FishBlast]

I've been doing water changes with no conditioner prior to March 2012, only leaving water outside over night or over a few days to lose chlorine.
Nowadays I do mixed changes: the smaller ones I do by leaving them outside over night and then changing 1.5L daily.
The big ones - if my dechlor is low, I will just leave a bottle or two outside and then change the water without dechlor.
When I have enough dechlor, I change as much as I can (up to 30L) with dechlor as I can fill in an extra bottle and fast.
I use Tetra Aquasafe.

 

[Ruskull]

I use Tetra Aquasafe too.

 

[FishBlast]

I use Tetra Aquasafe too.

I have just one regret about it: Small bottle lasts for only 3 months
I wonder if pool dechlorinators are any good... and no idea what kind we have here, nobody knows about Prime...

 

[Ruskull]

I bought the big bottle & it's about 2/3's gone already. It's a 16.9 oz. bottle!

 

[Mauigirl]

You'd be surprised at the number of folks who don't use water conditioner with tap water, a bit of the science behind it can be found here.

Not to be , well extremely confrontational with a MOD but...
Can you direct the way forward in detail to the situation of each water supplied or should an individual be required to understand what is in the water from the particular tap without any in depth research?
This is viable in extremely specific circumstantial conditions and in no way recommended to the average keeper.
USE conditioner unless you fully understand your particular parameters and are willing to risk the health of your tank.

Not confrontational at all, skepticism is expected. If you followed my link; http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/161413-water-changes/ and scroll down to post #19 you will find reference to some research concerning this topic. You'll find many aquarists, especially the old timers will do this not knowing the science behind it.

I did read and do agree that in some situations this would be just fine, just don't want the random forum browser to get the wrong idea is all

 

[FishBlast]

I bought the big bottle & it's about 2/3's gone already. It's a 16.9 oz. bottle!

I buy the small one, but anyway I can supplement with non-dechlor when possible (probably best for plants if dechlor removes some metals that they need...)

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

I use prime at the moment, but now I can't get hold of it so I bought some pond dechlorinater as its much cheaper than tetra products and such as its heavily concentrated. But once its been running for a year I will more than likely not use any if I'm only going to change 25 litres once a week.

 

[Ruskull]

I use prime at the moment, but now I can't get hold of it so I bought some pond dechlorinater as its much cheaper than tetra products and such as its heavily concentrated. But once its been running for a year I will more than likely not use any if I'm only going to change 25 litres once a week.

Hey that's a sweet tank in your signature!

 

[Tolak]

You'd be surprised at the number of folks who don't use water conditioner with tap water, a bit of the science behind it can be found here.

Not to be , well extremely confrontational with a MOD but...
Can you direct the way forward in detail to the situation of each water supplied or should an individual be required to understand what is in the water from the particular tap without any in depth research?
This is viable in extremely specific circumstantial conditions and in no way recommended to the average keeper.
USE conditioner unless you fully understand your particular parameters and are willing to risk the health of your tank.

Not confrontational at all, skepticism is expected. If you followed my link; http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/161413-water-changes/ and scroll down to post #19 you will find reference to some research concerning this topic. You'll find many aquarists, especially the old timers will do this not knowing the science behind it.

I did read and do agree that in some situations this would be just fine, just don't want the random forum browser to get the wrong idea is all

I don't see it as being any sort of wrong idea. There's scientific studies explaining the how's & why's behind it. With new aquarists you do want to provide as large a margin of safety in the event of any user error, and often they are dealing with a cycling or newly cycled tank. Using dechlorinator, and adding it to the water first is usually the best plan in these situations.

Over time, with some experience behind them, aquarists can limit of eliminate the use of dechlorinator. Many people do it without any issues at all, long term. If tap water contained enough disinfectants to kill a mature colony of nitrifying bacteria it would be undrinkable, but would probably make an excellent oven cleaner.

That being said I do use Prime for large water changes, mostly due to who knows what as far as metals & such can come out of my supply source. Due to my setup I add Prime afterward, and see no need to turn off filters.

 

[dbanner]

I used to use nutrafin aquasafe but it didn't last long between my 450 litre and 150 litre tanks. Now I use seachem prime and it lasts aaaages. I buy a 500ml bottle for around £13 and 5ml treats 200 litres of water added so a 500ml bottle will last 50 weeks doing the 2 tanks lol

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Sometimes temporary chlorine is a godd thing. Kills bacteria, helps with infections. In fact, I have left chlorinated water in my tank for up to 15 minutes at a time (filter ON) for the treatment of bacterial infections and it has in no way damaged my established biological filter. My GT aquired a fungal/bacterial infection of the mouth from a sparring session with a tankmate and I used the chlorine to my advantage, per Tolak, and not only had amazing results towards the betterment of my fish's ailment, but I also incurred no damage to my filtration, which was still running when I did this.

Point is, I don't think it matters when you add the dechlorinator. If you add it before, great! If you add it during, great! If you add it after, great! As long as you add it within 15 minutes of water change, you should be good to hook.

 

[coldcazzie]

Sometimes temporary chlorine is a godd thing. Kills bacteria, helps with infections. In fact, I have left chlorinated water in my tank for up to 15 minutes at a time (filter ON) for the treatment of bacterial infections and it has in no way damaged my established biological filter. My GT aquired a fungal/bacterial infection of the mouth from a sparring session with a tankmate and I used the chlorine to my advantage, per Tolak, and not only had amazing results towards the betterment of my fish's ailment, but I also incurred no damage to my filtration, which was still running when I did this.

Point is, I don't think it matters when you add the dechlorinator. If you add it before, great! If you add it during, great! If you add it after, great! As long as you add it within 15 minutes of water change, you should be good to hook.

Indeed. I add my water via hose, and usually leave the filter running during my water changes (ie, drop the water level to just above my external inlet and then refill). I turn the tap on, walk around to the tank and then add dechlor. Sometimes I make tea first though.