# Is dechlorinator necessary when filling a tank with a hose?



## Steve (Mar 27, 2013)

So I probably change about 30-50 gallons per day and figure I'm probably spending about $10-15/month on dechlorinator for my discus and cichlids but I heard from my friend that he doesn't use anything for his goldfish (he just puts tap water into the tank without using a dechlorinator). So I'm wondering if anyone here knows when dechlorinator is needed? I fill my tank using a homemade python siphon dealio and there's quite a lot of aeration from the hose. Does anyone know if the dechlorinator is necessary?


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Yes. How does filling with a hose make it any different in terms of level of chlorine from using water just from a tap? Does 25-50' of hose really "dechlorinate" your tap water? Do you use Prime? It should be quite cost effective.


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## mrbob (Aug 9, 2012)

Discus very sensitive to chlorine all fish really! Put enough Prime in for the whole tank then fill! never pass!! there is a cheaper alternative to Prime! called Seachems Safe a powered prime if you will! I just ordered 4 KG container through JL Aquatics!
having 27 Tanks running need to save money!! 

never fill without dechlorinater! Hose will not help you, would have to at least install a carbon filter system to your water main or better yet R/O


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## hp10BII (Apr 23, 2010)

There's heavy metals present in our water supply that can't be removed with aeration alone. A good dechlorinator should be able to do double duty.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

This should be an interesting thread. 

Im in the middle on this topic. I used to use tap water conditioner but not everytime. As a kid I never used it. Sometimes I forget to add it. I dont think Ive lost any fish over it. Mind you I dont have discus. I think it also depends on where you live in B.C. My Dad. Who I concider well educated seems to beleive if you live in Coquitlam than you are very close to your water source therefor the city doesnt need to add as much chlorine to the water because the water doesnt travel down the pipes as far. Thats his opinion and it does make some sense. My dad never uses tap water conditioner on his tank. I dont know if it effects his fish or not. He old so getting him to change his ways isn't an option. 

Some days when I turn on my tap at home (Langley). I can smell the chlorine in the water. Some days it smells a lot, others days nothing. I drink tap water all the time and I like to think its not harmfull to me. If I can drink it, I sure hope a fish can live in it. Thats how I look at it. MrBob mentioned using RO water. Using RO water would strip the water off all it's elements so you would have to add those elements back into the water, which would put you back to square 1. Adding water products.

Now I use Seachem buffers so I dont need to condition my water because Seachem claims it has water conditioner additives in the buffer. I still dose prime every once in awhile but I rely on my buffers to declorinate my water. 

Someone should setup 2 tanks and perform water changes at the same time. 1 tank gets declorinator. 1 doesnt. Keep basic fish, maybe a school of tetras in both tanks. After 2 months look at the results. If I was alowed another tank this would be a neat experiment and WE would all finally have an answer.


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## Steve (Mar 27, 2013)

SeaHorse_Fanatic said:


> Yes. How does filling with a hose make it any different in terms of level of chlorine from using water just from a tap? Does 25-50' of hose really "dechlorinate" your tap water? Do you use Prime? It should be quite cost effective.


It's not the hose that dechlorinates the water, but supposedly aeration that removes chlorine. I know that if you leave a glass of chlorinated water around for a couple of days the chlorine dissipates, so I was just wondering if anyone knew if the increased aeration through use of a hose affected that more rapidly. I am currently using "Nutrafin Aqua Plus" - 375 mL bottle for $10.00. It says it treats 750 gallons. So if I change on average 35 gallons/day it would last me 21.5 days leading my to buy 17 bottles per year at a cost of $170.00. Of course, the bigger the bottle I get the more savings there are so I'll have to look into other things but I figured I would see if anyone was filling their tanks without dechlorinators (and apparently some people here do =P)


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

Steve said:


> It's not the hose that dechlorinates the water, but supposedly aeration that removes chlorine. I know that if you leave a glass of chlorinated water around for a couple of days the chlorine dissipates, so I was just wondering if anyone knew if the increased aeration through use of a hose affected that more rapidly. I am currently using "Nutrafin Aqua Plus" - 375 mL bottle for $10.00. It says it treats 750 gallons. So if I change on average 35 gallons/day it would last me 21.5 days leading my to buy 17 bottles per year at a cost of $170.00. Of course, the bigger the bottle I get the more savings there are so I'll have to look into other things but I figured I would see if anyone was filling their tanks without dechlorinators (and apparently some people here do =P)


Look at using some different products. For instance, Prime or Safe. For 35g of water, Prime's dosage is only 3.5ml. For 4L of Prime, its approximately $80 or so. Your Prime cost would only be $0.07 per dose. If you choose to use Safe, it's powder but its even cheaper. 5 grams for every 450 gallons. $30 per kg. Your dosage would be 0.4g if my math is right. That bottle of Safe will last you 2500 days, almost 7 years.


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## onefishtwofish (Apr 21, 2010)

chloramines will not dissipate like chlorine. it is meant to last longer. so letting it sit wont do the trick unless you know for sure the city just adds chlorine. and remember, we are talking fufu prince and princess discus here........lol


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## Steve (Mar 27, 2013)

Vancouver doesn't use chloramines


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

http://www.metrovancouver.org/about/publications/Publications/MunicipalWaterUseGuidelines.pdf


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

Diztrbd1 said:


> http://www.metrovancouver.org/about/publications/Publications/MunicipalWaterUseGuidelines.pdf


Nice post. I will try to read all of it. I read the first bit and it looks like my old man was right about chlorine and the pipes. The closer to the reservoir the less chlorine in the water because it gets broken down through its travels and less is needed. If you live far from your reservoir more chlorine is added at a second station.

I will read the not fish safe part next


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

So from what Ive gathered. Tap water isnt always safe for aquarium fish. But....... Im wondering. If you are doing 50% water changes. Than you are mixing 50% tap water with 50% aquarium water so it might be possible to get away with not using water conditioner depending on the volume of water, how close you are to the reservoir etc..... 

If you can get your hands on some Sodium thiosulphate, and Sodium sulfite. Maybe its cheaper than tap water conditioner.


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

I don't know. If I have a tank full of expensive Discus, not adding chlorine remover to save a few bucks a month seems like a risky Russian roulette gamble to me. It may be safe most of the time but that one time when the city adds chloramines or more chlorine because of water quality concerns will result in a tank full of dead and dying discus. They have done that in the past and I know friends who lost their fish when the city did this and did not make any public announcement about it at the time. The dechlorinater also binds harmful heavy metals and help protect the fish.

As for spraying it out of a hose to "aerate" and "dechlorinate", it does not make sense to me at least that this will have much effect on chlorine levels compared to having the water sit in a bucket/barrel with a powerhead or airstone for 24 hours. I'm assuming that you are spraying it straight into a barrel or bucket (indoors) as opposed to shooting it straight up into the air outside where the air/water interaction time is greater than being sprayed underwater or into a container. I just cannot see how your proposed "hose-dechlorination" technique makes any logical or scientific sense. Sorry.


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## Steve (Mar 27, 2013)

Well... looks like dechlorination is definitely still the way to go. I'll probably look into a large size of prime or something like that. Sodium thiosulphate is generally sold by the ton... Thanks for everyones input though!


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

I could be mistaken, but I believe Rick sells the sodium thiosulphate pellets or whatever its called, might check with him. Im sure it cal be found in smaller amounts than by the ton. I use NovAqua Plus from J&L...Best and cheapest place to buy it or Prime.

Kordon Novaqua Plus Water Conditioner 16 oz. 16oz/448ml treats 960 gal same price as the stuff you use

Prime is more concentrated, 5ml treats 50 gal while most other brands( including the one you use)...5ml only treats 20 gal. I've never used it but I know many here do, and for that price I may lol

SeaChem Prime Water Conditioner Additive - 500 mL $13 treats *alot* more water.... like 5000 gal

SeaChem Prime Water Conditioner Additive - 100 mL for $5, 100 ml treats 1000+ gal


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

I've been using seachem safe myself. Probably as cheap as anything out there and is readily available. 

Sent from my gigantic Samsung Note 2


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

Looks like prime is the way to go. I just learned a little about tap water. Thanks for the info diztrbd1. I feel a little smarter


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## JTang (Apr 21, 2010)

Diztrbd1 said:


> I could be mistaken, but I believe Rick sells the sodium thiosulphate pellets or whatever its called, might check with him.


Yeah I remember that he was using that instead of the pricey aquarium products. I was there one night for some discus when he was doing a 90% WC on his large 6' display tank. All he added was a few pieces of those crystals! He was selling them back then but that was 2 years ago. Rick does daily 90% WC's on all of his grow out tanks so if he's using it, that's probably the cheapest method!


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## JTang (Apr 21, 2010)

That's Rick @ Canadian Aqua Farm BTW...


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## kacairns (Apr 10, 2012)

Rick was selling that dechlorinator as recently as a few months ago, seems to have disappeared on his webpage though currently, 200grams treats 10000g of water for $30, it is approximately same price as Prime but I find it last longer as when dosing prime I end up putting more then required due to laziness of measuring ie I pump it out at approximately 5ml per pump... but usually ends up being more then 5ml per pump.


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