Dechlorinator mid water change

[Dephea]

Yeah so...

Long story short my ADHD brain got distracted during WC today, I was re-filling the tank with Python and I only realised I didn't add the dechlorinator like 3 min after I started refilling.

It's a 150L tank, i was replacing 60%ish of water, and my taps are not having the greatest pressure so the re-filling wasn't fast. I did it roughly 1h ago, all fish alive so far but not too sure if I need to do anything? I'd rather not have to do another WC right now because my water bill will probably successfully discourage me from having fish, it's bad enough with daily WC for ich.

Should I panic or can I just leave it as is?

 

[Slaphppy7]

Yeah so...

Long story short my ADHD brain got distracted during WC today, I was re-filling the tank with Python and I only realised I didn't add the dechlorinator like 3 min after I started refilling.

It's a 150L tank, i was replacing 60%ish of water, and my taps are not having the greatest pressure so the re-filling wasn't fast. I did it roughly 1h ago, all fish alive so far but not too sure if I need to do anything? I'd rather not have to do another WC right now because my water bill will probably successfully discourage me from having fish, it's bad enough with daily WC for ich.

Should I panic or can I just leave it as is?

Should be fine as it is now.
In the future, have your dechlor-filled syringe sitting on the lid of the tank before you begin to refill, so that you don't forget it.

 

[Dephea]

I never do, the cap was sitting on the filter as always and the python got hooked in, I actually forgot to open the valve in python too but realised fast enough so only had a mini leak by the tap, started wiping the water straight away hence my dechlorinator mishap / delay. I'm usually really good with that and have everything pre-measured and ready

 

[Byron]

You should be fine. Over 25+ years, I have done this twice. Both times I spotted the miss when I observed all the fish at the surface, gasping. That went pretty far, but I squirted in the conditioner as soon as I saw it, and in both cases, no fish died for months if after, so I caught it in time. But I would not make a habit of it. Fortunately I have a habit of always looking into the tank as it is refilling and just after, making sure things look "OK," so it is easy to spot something like this.

 

[Dephea]

Yeah I usually just sit by the tank once it's done and just chill, observe and literally investigate every single thing so I know I would have noticed it but just got worried. My gouramis initially did gilp for air a bit but now they all seem to act as usual including the flashing that I am trying to battle, I bet my mistake did not help but at least they are all alive, phew!

 

[Slaphppy7]

I never do, the cap was sitting on the filter as always and the python got hooked in, I actually forgot to open the valve in python too but realised fast enough so only had a mini leak by the tap, started wiping the water straight away hence my dechlorinator mishap / delay. I'm usually really good with that and have everything pre-measured and ready

Get yourself a medicinal syringe, from your pharmacy or at one of the dollar stores...they're usually marked in increments of ml, much more accurate way to measure out your dechlor instead of using the cap...less messy, too...I dump some of my dechlor into a small glass jar with a lid, makes drawing the proper amount of dechlor into the syringe much easier than trying to draw out of the bottle.

 

[Dephea]

Get yourself a medicinal syringe, from your pharmacy or at one of the dollar stores...they're usually marked in increments of ml, much more accurate way to measure out your dechlor instead of using the cap...less messy, too...I dump some of my dechlor into a small glass jar with a lid, makes drawing the proper amount of dechlor into the syringe much easier than trying to draw out of the bottle.

Hmmm syringe is a great idea, thank you! I have the huge API bottle so dosing is a bit tricky. I will print a small cheat sheet with 10%/20%/30%etc water changes amounts and the full amount if I'm using python (I only use python for big changes, for small ones it takes longer than a good old bucket and a gravel vac. I have other pets that get medications in syringes so I probably have more than enough in one of the pet boxes. Will have a look tonight and see how it goes

 

[Slaphppy7]

More than welcome...