What De-chlorinator Should I Use?

[rich05uk]

Not sure if i've posted this in the right place, but here goes....

I'm new to the hobby and have finally got everything setup and ready to add water to begin cycling my tank. Question is, what de-chlorinator should I use?

I have read a lot of reports on here and it appears that Seachem Prime is the preferred choice, but this leads me to another question. It says on the manufacturer's website that it not only removes chlorine and chloramine but also removes ammonia. Isn't it important to ensure ammonia is present in the tank to allow it to cycle, then after cycling the ammonia shouldn't be removed as it is needed to keep feeding the bacteria which turns it into nitrites and then into nitrates?

Also, as I'm planning to plant my tank, it says that Prime also detoxifies nitrite and nitrate, allowing the biofilter to more efficiently remove them. Isn't this bad for planted tanks?

I'm confused, any help please?

 

[rdd1952]

Actually, Prime detoxifies ammonia rather than removes it. Their info is somewhat misleading in that one line says it removes it and then the next line says it converts it to the non-toxic form which is ammonium. I guess that is removing in a way but it still leaves the ammonium there for the bacteria tp process. It is fine for a dechlorinator nad one of the most popular ones. It won't ave any adverse effect on the cycling process. As far as the plants are concerned, they actually prefer the ammonia. The will use what they can there and then use the nitrates.

 

[rich05uk]

Thanks rdd1952,

So let me get this right. The bacteria that convert Ammonia to Nitrite can also convert Ammonium to Nitrite? (As Prime converts Ammonia to Ammonium).

Also, I assume the same is true for the bacteria that covert the Nitrite to Nitrate in that whatever non-toxic product is produced from Prime detoxifying nitrite and nitrate can be processed by the nitrite bacteria in the same way to produce nitrate.

Finally I assume that the plants can also consume ammonium instead of ammonia and whatever non-toxic product is produced from Prime detoxifying nitrite and nitrate in the same way as nitrite and nitrate them selves in the same way.

I just want to make sure that the biological part of my filter works in the same way when using Prime, i.e. Ammonia is converted to Nitrite and then converted to Nitrate which is beneficial to my plants. Prime seems to remove Ammonia, Nitrite & Nitrate chemically which leaves me worried as these are very important to the correct functioning of the filter. I wish I could just get water without chlorine and chloramines to put into the tank without the need for a conditioner, would make things SOOO much easier.

 

[rdd1952]

I think you've got it pretty well. I don't think you need to wory about the Prime. It is a very popular dechlor and used by lots of embers here. I personally use Stess Coat though. Not necessarily because I think it's better but because that's what my son told me to get when I set p my first tanks a few years ago and I never changed brands.

 

[rich05uk]

Interesting, I just came across this post.....

Also, in my quest for more information I came across this article on dechlorinators. So I guess I am now trying to find a dechlorinator that simply removes chlorine and chloramines without doing any of the 'other stuff'. Any suggestions?

If such a product exists, would I need to do anything else to the water such as removing heavy metals etc, if so how?

 

[andywg]

That second link is a bit misleading. Overdosing dechlorinators over time is no real issue. I think it is Seachem that had a go at using a 50 times strength overdose and reported no ill effects. Also, water changes will help keep any build up to a lower level.

The main ingredient in "simple" dechlorinators is sodium thiosulphate. This bonds to the chlroine and prevents it damaging anything. The same chemical will also break che bond between chlorine and ammonia (chloramine) but will leave a residual of ammonia (which will be dealt with by any mature biological filter). My understanding is that those products which claim to remove chloramine simply bind up the free ammonia as well as the chlorine after splitting the chloramine bond. This will most likely be by converting the ammonia into ammonium, which is less damaging to fish (though not entirely harmless).

There will always be both ammonia and ammonium in a tank. Roughly speaking, the lower the pH, the lower the amount of ammonia and higher amount of ammonium. Our test kits (that we can afford) will not normally differentiate between ammonia or ammonium. Consider it this way, how can a product actually remove ammonia from the water without you emoving something (such as a filter medium) from the water?

Bonding heavy metals is useful though not entirely essential, but the best dechlorinator is generally accepted to be Prime.

 

[waterdrop]

"The same chemical will also break che bond between chlorine and ammonia (chloramine) but will leave a residual of ammonia"

Just for fun: My tap water in Chapel Hill is treated via a chloramination process. I put a couple gallons of tap water in a bucket, tested out zero ammonia with my api ammonia test. Treated the tap water with dechlor and then tested again and was in fact able to immediately see from the test a small amount of ammonia now being shown by the test.

Thanks rich and andy for a nice piece - I had been wondering the same things about ammonium and prime from reading about them here. I remember another member reported having worked out that Prime, because of its concentration, was the lowest cost dechlorinator/dechloraminator. I've got a bottle of Stress Coat to work through but I'm beginning to think I may switch to Prime as I am now more convinced than ever that they are equals in terms of the dechlor function.

~~waterdrop~~