How much to add?

[Slaphppy7]

Why dose for the entire tank amount if the water in there has already been dechlorinated? Then you can dose for what you are putting in and save money. Also wouldn't it over dose and possibly cause bad reactions?

With deco, substrate, and anything else that occupies volume in the tank, it is pretty much impossible to know exactly how much water you are actually adding to the tank (when using a hose).

Prime can safely be dosed up to 5X the manufacturer's recommendation...better safe than sorry

I've used Prime for the nearly 10 years I have been keeping fish; I've never had a single negative issue with it...but I may look into the API equivalent when I need to get more, just because of what I've read from others here about it's effectiveness, and the lower dosing recommendation (I'm always willing to save $)

 

[Oblio]

With deco, substrate, and anything else that occupies volume in the tank, it is pretty much impossible to know exactly how much water you are actually adding to the tank (when using a hose).

The substrate is on the bottom. If I remove 50% (1/2 full) of a 100 gallon tank (50 gallons), with a substrate occupying 10% (10 gallons), I now have 40 gallons of treated water in the tank and need to add and treat 50 gallons of tap water to refill.

 

[Slaphppy7]

The substrate is on the bottom. If I remove 50% (1/2 full) of a 100 gallon tank (50 gallons), with a substrate occupying 10% (10 gallons), I now have 40 gallons of treated water in the tank and need to add and treat 50 gallons of tap water to refill.

You are much better at guessing volume amounts than I am.

 

[Oblio]

You are much better at guessing volume amounts than I am.

Measure halfway down the tank and make a small mark on the tank. That is 50%. Calculate the bare tank volume using maths. Divide volume by 2. You should be within a gallon or less for a large tank, smaller tanks will have less absolute error.

 

[itiwhetu]

Not really. They have guides on how much to use. I just know how much to add now without using the measurement vile

So you are that clever that you are adding milliliters of this product without measuring it. You have just reinforced my statement from above.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

So you are that clever that you are adding milliliters of this product without measuring it. You have just reinforced my statement from above.

Be nice, please. We know you don't believe in dechlorinator. Most of us do. It's accepted practice and it's OK.

Once you measure into a certain receptacle, it's simple enough to "eyeball" into the same receptacle without re-measuring it. I believe that's what Rocky means. No problem.

 

[Slaphppy7]

Be nice, please. We know you don't believe in dechlorinator. Most of us do. It's accepted practice and it's OK.

Once you measure into a certain receptacle, it's simple enough to "eyeball" into the same receptacle without re-measuring it. I believe that's what Rocky means. No problem.

Not only is it "accepted practice", it's a necessity for the majority of fishkeepers

Very few of us are blessed with rainwater that is pristine enough to keep tropical fish in, safely and successfully

 

[itiwhetu]

Be nice, please. We know you don't believe in dechlorinator. Most of us do. It's accepted practice and it's OK.

Once you measure into a certain receptacle, it's simple enough to "eyeball" into the same receptacle without re-measuring it. I believe that's what Rocky means. No problem.

In fact, you have all persuaded me that decholinator is necessary in many parts of the world, what surprises me is that best practice is not encouraged by those that use this product. I would have thought it was vital that anything that you add to your tank is measured accurately.

 

[Rocky998]

In fact, you have all persuaded me that decholinator is necessary in many parts of the world, what surprises me is that best practice is not encouraged by those that use this product. I would have thought it was vital that anything that you add to your tank is measured accurately.

It is, but dechlorinators can be over dosed and have no problems... I always am as accurate as possible but there is lots of wiggle room as well for the dechlorinators.
Now medications, and other additives are wayyyyy different and have to be accurate

 

[connorlindeman]

I agree with @itiwhetu that you should be as exact as possible even if it means using the cap to measure the proper amount. Fish live in water, not chemicals so it's best to make sure its as pure of water as possible.

 

[Byron]

Overdosing dechlorinator may or may not be harmful to fish. The issue is whether or not the chemical in the dechlorinator is able to diffuse across the cell membrane of a fish. If it is, then it is harmful because this is a foreign substance entering the fish's bloodstream and internal organs, and no one should think this is not somehow harmful. If the dechlorinator is not able to diffuse across the cell membrane, then it remains in the water (the water is continually entering fish via osmosis, it is what is in the water that may be harmful). Fish swim in water, not chemical soup, so in my view the sensible thing is to avoid making an aquarium into a chemical soup.

The above being the issues...I have not come across evidence as to whether or not the dechlorinator chemical can diffuse across the cell membrane. So out of an abundance of caution, it is obviously wiser to avoid overdosing. This is yet another situation where the "harm" may be a weakening of the fish in some way, similar to what high nitrate does. Why take the risk?

Another issue...different dechlorinators use different chemicals. The fact that the chemical in say the API may not diffuse does not mean the different chemical in Prime (and it is different) does not, it well may. Again, Seachem will not say what this is, and I have not come across studies to help us. So, as they say, buyer beware.

 

[Essjay]

I always use the dose as stated on the bottle. It is easy for me as I use buckets to refill and the dose is 1 drop per US gallon as I have chlorine in my tap water. I use 2 drops in 7.6 litres (2 gallons) - I can't carry and lift a bucket with more water in than 2 gallons.

The dechlorinator I use comes in different sized bottles. The larger sizes have a measuring cup as part of the lid; the smaller bottles have a dropper in the lid. I bought one small bottle, then when that was finished I bought a more cost effective larger bottle and use that to refill the small 1 fl oz/30 ml bottle.
If I was adding water via a hose and adding the whole dechlorinator dose straight to the tank I would measure it using a syringe rather than a measuring cup.

 

[Colin_T]

I'm going to throw something out there to freak you all out.

Water conditioners/ dechlorinators have instructions for removing chlorine from water, but the instructions are or should be based on the water having a certain level of chlorine/ chloramine in. The World Health Organisation recommends no more than 2mg/l (ppm) of chlorine in drinking water. If the water company has increased the chlorine/ chloramine in the water, then you need to increase the amount of dechlorinator to compensate for the extra chlorine/ chloramine.

Ideally, you should be testing the tap water for chlorine/ chloramine every time you do a water change, and then adding the appropriate amount of dechlorinator to neutralise all the chlorine/ chloramine.

Whilst you can buy chlorine test kits, I don't know of any chloramine test kits.

The next safest option is to put the tap water into a holding container and treat that amount of water for chlorine or chloramine, whichever is in your water. The water and dechlorinator should then be mixed for at least 5 (but preferably 30 minutes) by vigorous aeration to allow all the chlorine/ chloramine molecules to be neutralised by the dechlorinator. The dechlorinated water can then be added to an aquarium containing fish, shrimp or other aquatic organisms.

 

[Rocky998]

I'm going to throw something out there to freak you all out.

Water conditioners/ dechlorinators have instructions for removing chlorine from water, but the instructions are or should be based on the water having a certain level of chlorine/ chloramine in. The World Health Organisation recommends no more than 2mg/l (ppm) of chlorine in drinking water. If the water company has increased the chlorine/ chloramine in the water, then you need to increase the amount of dechlorinator to compensate for the extra chlorine/ chloramine.

Ideally, you should be testing the tap water for chlorine/ chloramine every time you do a water change, and then adding the appropriate amount of dechlorinator to neutralise all the chlorine/ chloramine.

Whilst you can buy chlorine test kits, I don't know of any chloramine test kits.

The next safest option is to put the tap water into a holding container and treat that amount of water for chlorine or chloramine, whichever is in your water. The water and dechlorinator should then be mixed for at least 5 (but preferably 30 minutes) by vigorous aeration to allow all the chlorine/ chloramine molecules to be neutralised by the dechlorinator. The dechlorinated water can then be added to an aquarium containing fish, shrimp or other aquatic organisms.

You scare me with those facts

 

[itiwhetu]

I'm going to throw something out there to freak you all out.

Water conditioners/ dechlorinators have instructions for removing chlorine from water, but the instructions are or should be based on the water having a certain level of chlorine/ chloramine in. The World Health Organisation recommends no more than 2mg/l (ppm) of chlorine in drinking water. If the water company has increased the chlorine/ chloramine in the water, then you need to increase the amount of dechlorinator to compensate for the extra chlorine/ chloramine.

Ideally, you should be testing the tap water for chlorine/ chloramine every time you do a water change, and then adding the appropriate amount of dechlorinator to neutralise all the chlorine/ chloramine.

Whilst you can buy chlorine test kits, I don't know of any chloramine test kits.

The next safest option is to put the tap water into a holding container and treat that amount of water for chlorine or chloramine, whichever is in your water. The water and dechlorinator should then be mixed for at least 5 (but preferably 30 minutes) by vigorous aeration to allow all the chlorine/ chloramine molecules to be neutralised by the dechlorinator. The dechlorinated water can then be added to an aquarium containing fish, shrimp or other aquatic organisms.

Thank goodness someone here using proper science when using chemicals on their fish