Can Too Much Dechlorinator Kill Fish?

[Dawson14]

Recently, my city has been flushing the pipes with lots of chlorine to clean them out. They do this twice a year, and unfortunately, I got a used 29 gallon tank that Im setting up and I have to use 20 gallons of tap water. You could smell the massive amounts of chlorine in the water out of the faucet. I put in the regular amount of tap water conditioner and called the local fish store and asked if I should put more. I was told to put triple to quadruple the recommended amount. Is this true? Can too much dechlorinator kill fish?

Also, Im going from a 10 gallon to 29 gallon tank. Will only having 33% of the regular water with bacteria in it be enough to keep the fish alive? I added start right which has all the good bacteria in it to get it going.

 

[WILDER]

No tolak would tell you to double or triple dose if there been cleaning the pipes.

 

[prankster705]

I think to much dechlor can't kill fish...

 

[Dawson14]

No tolak would tell you to double or triple dose if there been cleaning the pipes.

So if it calls for 6 drops per 1 US gallon, and I have 20 gallons of new water than I should put in an additional 240 drops on top of the original 120 it called for correct? So 360 in total.

 

[rdd1952]

I never measure dechlorinator (I use Stress Coat). I just squirt it in the tank after adding water with the python. There is an old thread from about 2 years ago where someone had written to API and asked if it was possible to overdose and their reply was that you could not.

 

[WILDER]

Here you go double dose.
http/home.pacific.net.sg/~mathangi/fishdying.html

Taken from the link.
9. Extra chlorine. During the summer, bacteria in drinking water can become a serious threat. The United States is rarely affected by water-born diseases because water treatment plants aggressively treat municipal water with chlorine or chloramine. If you can smell chlorine in your tap water, that means the chlorine levels are very high. During summer months when they are adding extra chlorine, you may want to double the dosage of your dechlorinator. Simple dechlorinators (Yamato's No-Chlor, Wardley's Chlor-Out) cannot be overdosed. Even if you used ten times more dechlorinator, no harm would come to fish or other inhabitants of the aquarium. Don't be afraid to double-dose on dechlorinator during the summer. It will prevent your fish from being damaged or killed by chlorine.

 

[prankster705]

I use pond dechlor... I think I always give in to much - hard to dose it for a 20 gallon tank

 

[Dawson14]

Sweet, thanks wilder. That brings me to my next question. Does Dechlorinator work instantly Or does it take a day or days?

 

[WILDER]

Instantly I think.

 

[rdd1952]

Does Dechlorinator work instantly

Yes, as soon as it hits the water.

 

[prankster705]

yup, instantly...

 

[Amunet]

Lol.. I would hope dechlorinator doesn't kill fish. I just squirt it into the bucket when I'm doing water changes.
I've stopped measuring a long time ago

 

[fishboy619]

i got bored of measuring too, just squirt a bit in, after so long, you can judge the amount thats right, i dont think slightly underdosing or overdosing effects the fish, with python that adds water to the tank, the fish must be in tap water for a bit before water treatment is added anyway.
if its s stress releavier too, like tetra aqua safe, surely you cant overdose?

 

[WILDER]

I would run the tap for a while before you refill.
Good luck.

 

[Fishmanic]

I add dechlorinator to the tank before refilling it. I dose the exact amount of dechlorinator based on tank size, not on the amount of water I add. Never noticed any issues.