Treating tap during water changes

Hello,

I'm new to the tropical fish community and am in the process of cycling my first tank. I had a question regarding water changes. If I'm taking cold water out of the tap (which I am), other than waiting for it to reach room temperature, should I treat it with Prime first before using it in my tank or would simply waiting a few days in a bucket be enough?

Thanks!

 

I would treat the water first...You can try leaving it out, but all that does is allow it to gas out and the chlorine to dissipate. I don't believe it would reduce any ammonia or nitrites that may be present in the water......In my opinion, it's always better to treat the water first just to be safe...

Rather than allow my water to sit out and reach room temp, I have a spare bubble thermometer that I put in the bucket and regulate the tap water temperature to match that of the tank...It saves time for me that way.

 

I suppose a relatively inexpensive heater would speed things up. Thanks!

 

You'd still need a thermometer.....I just use the hot/cold and regulate it that way....Very easy to do.

 

if you're cycling fishless, then you don't really have to be real exact with water temp. Just treat the water & add it to the tank. Your heater will bring it up to temp. Eventually you get the hang of getting your tap water at the temp you want (with turning the hot & cold so far) by how it feels.

 

I am not cycling fishless. I did for a while, but decided to add some gold fish to get things going. My water seemed good enough (after testing) to add a few fish and they seem to be doing well so far (although they've only been in there for a day or so). I will keep a close eye on my water and do regular water changes.

 

I see. Well, if you want to, you can get a digital thermometer with a probe on it at the LPS/LFS. you can use that to accurately measure the water temp when you get tap water out and use it to measure the temp in the tank as well.

 

Another question...How long does it usually take for water treatments like Prime to take effect? In other words, how long after putting prime in tap water should I wait before transfering it to my tank?

 

It should say on the bottle, but I believe the good ones like Prime make the water ready as soon as they're added.

 

It should be fine right away, but I usually wait about 5 minutes anyway....Remember when pouring water into the tank to try to make some bubbles to aerate the water going in....Since tap water is pressurized within the pipes it is full of gas (oxygen). By making bubbles it helps to break up the compressed gasses thereby reducing stress on the fish.

 

Its pretty much instantaneous. I use Prime and add it to my bucket as it is filling, then syphon the bucket into the tank as soon as it is full. I have read on here where those who use products like the Python are feeding tap water directly into the tank along with their conditioner and never had a problem.