Water Conditioner Research

[timmystood]

Hey all

I am proposing to test my tanks and answer the great question - do we need water conditioner to remove chlorine on a mature and inmature tank.
From this moment on I will not use water conditioner on further water changes for 1 month. It will be used on a variety of my tanks at different stages.

Tank A - Running for 2 years, weekly water change (25%), fully cycled. 1 Betta, 3 Head + Tail Tetra, 6 Neon Tetra, 5 Cherry Barbs, 2 Platty, 2 Bronze Cory Catfish, 2 Albino Cory Catfish and 3 Amano Shrimp

Tank B - Running for just 2 weeks, weekly water change (25%), very close to end of cycle. 4 Fancy Goldfish

I believe these two tanks offer a good scale to see if we really need water conditioner. Wish me luck and I will let you know how things turn out. Any sign of ill-health and the tests stop.

TIMMYSTOOD

 

[kev350d]

Give us what lol ?

ohhh lol i read between edits lmao..

This doesnt really mean alot as the percentage of chemicals and heavy metals can vary in substantial amounts dependant on location, so what works for you may not work for others and could give people a false positive should yours be ok. (it was only 2 weeks ago on this site that people were finding ammonia present in their tap water so this will give you an idea of just how unsafe tap water can be if not checked)

 

[WILDER]

I've heard of people keeping fish like goldfish and never even used water conditioner and they had no problems.
But a fish with sensitive skin i think you need it, as it could break the layers of skin down.

 

[timmystood]

This doesnt really mean alot as the percentage of chemicals and heavy metals can vary in substantial amounts dependant on location, so what works for you may not work for others and could give people a false positive should yours be ok.

True.. will still be good to see what happens.

 

[kev350d]

This doesnt really mean alot as the percentage of chemicals and heavy metals can vary in substantial amounts dependant on location, so what works for you may not work for others and could give people a false positive should yours be ok.

True.. will still be good to see what happens.

Sure it will, "maybies" lets hope the fish agree. The percentage of chlorine in ideal tap water when diluted into a good sized aquarium should not affect the bio filter (i wont guarentee this though) as who says your tap water is ideal, although i did work for the local water authority so i can tell you that i have seen chlorine levels so high that grit was found in pipe work.. (like what you find in the bottom of swimming pools)

 

[WILDER]

Kev do you think that not using water conditioner can cause skin damage.

 

[kev350d]

Kev do you think that not using water conditioner can cause skin damage.

My skin is shagged so hell yeah i'd blame it on that lol (and not the fact im an engineer by trade getting up to the eyes in whatever) seriously depending on how hard your water is and the ph of the soap you use "if any" as alot of folk dont believe in it for blocked pores etc then yes i believe it could have an adverse effect depending on how sensitive your skin is (take your comment on the cory's, people are the same we all have different tolerances to certain substances and all skin types produce oils at different rates.

But as a whole id say 9-10 people would be fine.

As far as consuming tap water goes (heck most tests carried out where by people drink mineral water and tap water, its rare that any know the differance when blindfolded).

Dr. Zeus signing off lol

 

[WILDER]

Kev.

 

[andywg]

Timmystood,

You really need to get a chlorine test kit before doing this. For all we know your water supply might have next to no chlorine in it by the time it reaches your tap.

As I am sure you know this has been done before by two members of the UK on another board (one with just chlorine and one with chloramines) and they showed no ill effects over 6 months of usage and if anything felt the colours of the fish were brighter, though that is far too subjective a thing to really comment on.

It would be good to be able to test for the heavy metals as well to see how they build up. It would also be worth contacting the water company because if you do a water change just after they flush the system it could cause all sorts of problems. Ask them to notify you before any flushes of the system.

 

[rixy]

i hadnt used dechlorinator for approx a year up until about 2 weeks ago.no noticable damage to fish(that i could tell) fish all seemed happy,ate ok etc etc.everyones water is different,fish stocking levels are different,cleaning regimes are different.im a heavy feeder so all my tanks get a 50% water change without fail every week.i spent a lot of time making sure my sand/gravel is always clean plus my tanks always look spotless.im just fussy that way.so it worked for me(hopefully) but whos to say it will work for you?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

didn't use dechlor for my first 3 years of fishkeeping cos i didn't even know it existed. i had various problems but i dont think it was cos of no dechlor, complete ignorance to fishkeeping was more at fault

after i learnt a bit about stocking, tank maintenance, filtration etc....... i then still didn't use dechlor for about a year with no ill effects. i use it now, but i'm not gonna worry myself if i miss it every so often or don't quite does enough etc. i don't think it's *as* essential as we all think it is.

 

[rixy]

you hit the nail on the head miss wiggle

 

[Larry_the_lobster]

I havent used any delor in ages (we're talking several months now) and to be honest I havent noticed any bad side effects. I have however noticed that the fish are more active and more colourful. It may of may not be because I stopped adding declor but I know im not going back to using it, to me (Im not telling everyone to stop using it) not using declor works, Shout and scream all you like but in an already over-expensive hobby one less thing to pay out is most welcome.

 

[Arfie]

Hi Timmy, good luck with it

For the life of me I can't remember where I read it, but my understanding is that bigger fish are more tolerant with chlorine then smaller fish like tetra, so they should be the ones to watch closest.

I actually know of a discus keeper who does about 10% water changes per day and doesn't use dechlor and we know how "fussy" discuss are supposed to be

I'm one of those that raised a goldfish without dechlor, they lived to 14 and 18 years of age, with 100% water changes 2-3 times per year and the tank cleaned with washing up liquid I wouldn't do this now and had I looked after them properly they may have reached 30 years old by now, then again, they may have been too sterile and been killed off by a disease much earlier.

Keep us informed.

Arfie

 

[OohFeeshy]

I haven't used dechlor for about 6 months and have had no ill effects thus far. Since my findings are far from properly documented I can't comment really, but I haven't found any bacterial losses (or any that caused spikes) or any problems with the fish, even when not dechlorinating water in unfiltered betta tanks.