Removing chlorine for water Changes....

HI all,

when I do my water changes, I am treating the water in whatever containers I have (old drink bottles and jugs) to remove the chlorine. I was thinking there must be an easier way, could I dose the tank with the tap water fixer then add tap water? Or should I add the water then dose the tank? Or is doing it how I am (treating it outside the tank) the best way? Thanks

 

Always better to add water with chlorine already removed to avoid hurting your live stock.

 

I don't know what is correct but I treat the entire tank then fill it with fresh water.

 

I was thinking there must be an easier way, could I dose the tank with the tap water fixer then add tap water? Or should I add the water then dose the tank? Or is doing it how I am (treating it outside the tank) the best way? Thanks

You can dose the tank then add the water, that's perfectly fine. Surprised the instructions don't say that, actually.

 

I dose the container (in this case, 5-gallon bucket). The container you are bringing new water in, is a lot smaller. I can dose for 5 gallons instead of the 20 or 55 gallons, if I were treating the tank. So while I treat the smaller container first, I do also agree that adding to the tank then treating, is probably OK since the chlorine is still in a smaller portion of your overall tank capacity. For a short time, the fish may get a higher concentration of chlorine, but then you would have nullified it. In my case, though, I'll prefer to not give them this brief moments of added chlorine in their environment.

 

Just add tap water, try to temp match as close as possible.
Add Prime for the entire tank, not what you just take out.

 

I dose the container (in this case, 5-gallon bucket). The container you are bringing new water in, is a lot smaller. I can dose for 5 gallons instead of the 20 or 55 gallons, if I were treating the tank. So while I treat the smaller container first, I do also agree that adding to the tank then treating, is probably OK since the chlorine is still in a smaller portion of your overall tank capacity. For a short time, the fish may get a higher concentration of chlorine, but then you would have nullified it. In my case, though, I'll prefer to not give them this brief moments of added chlorine in their environment.

It makes no difference if you treat 20 gallons of water in four 5 gallon batches or 20 gallons of water in a single batch in the tank. You only need to dose for the new water in either situation. And the fish being exposed to the chlorine isn't an issue. It's neutralized close enough to instantly it doesn't matter.

 

It makes no difference if you treat 20 gallons of water in four 5 gallon batches or 20 gallons of water in a single batch in the tank. You only need to dose for the new water in either situation. And the fish being exposed to the chlorine isn't an issue. It's neutralized close enough to instantly it doesn't matter.

What I meant by my reply is about the ones who are dosing after they put in the tank. Eg, dosing for 5 gallons, or dosing for 20 gallons, might use different amounts of dechlorinator. Or rather, there may be some larger tanks that use more than just 20 gallon doses, since some dechlorinators describe dosing for 10 or 20 gallon quantities, and you'll have to measure up or down for the larger or smaller tanks.

Also the dechlorinator will tell how soon it works, though I would imagine most people want the ones that work almost instantly.