Is Water Dechlorinator Really Nesacery?

[swordtail_king83]

I have read n a few sites and also been told by some that water dechlorinator is not needed and also is a waste of money. im starting to agree. I spend close to 100$ month on it. (aqua plus and aqua safe). I have 5 large aquariums and adding the correct dose per pail I add to the tanks I easily go thru a bottle (250mls) per weekly water change. now one of my suppliers/friends of my swords and platies, he produces masses of them per year and he never used a dechlorinator product in YEARS, and hes never had a problem. he told me this is how he does it... he changes 40-50% of the adults water once a week and 20-30% of the frys water once a week all using straight tap water and he has never had a problem and his fish are super healthy and top quality. any thoughts?

 

[phoenixgsd]

my father used to collect rainwater for his tanks back in the 70s, however chlorine tap water will kill the bacteria in your filter, so i would say yes it needed, the chlorine content does vary from area to area and the prices of dechlorinator varies too, i use prime as one bottle lasts forever, maybe you should give that a try, it would be cheaper for you

 

[phantomlink]

Dont buy those little bottles, just like meds the small bottles cost almost the same as a bottle 4x its size. A bottle of 250ml Prime treats 2500 gallons, and you should NOT be going through oneo f those weekly

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Exactly, I searched out online and buy my dechlorinator from someone on Amazon, saves me a fortune and my bottle lasts about 4 months. I now buy 4 litre bottles rather than little ones (they do come in bigger but I can't afford that at once).

 

[Royston]

Prime ......

 

[Mikey1]

the answer will depend on how much chlorine your water has to begin with....at my house there is not much....i often do 25-50% water changes with water straight from the tap, dont add anything.....never an issue....however, your water could be alot different than mine.....

 

[sadguppy]

Chlorine can not only be harmful to the fish, causing asphyxiation and death, but also to the bacteria in your filter which keep levels of ammonia and nitrite down. Of course the amount of chlorine in your tap water may not be at very harmful levels, but it is up to you whether you choose to take the risk. For the sake of a bottle of prime, or even just straight[background=rgb(249, 249, 249)] sodium thiosulfate (the active ingredient in dechlorinator)[/background] I certainly would not be taking that risk!

At a minimum, leaving water for 24 hours in buckets to allow chlorine to 'gas off' may well be less harmful than pouring it in directly, and less costly than dechlor.

 

[the_lock_man]

FIrst thing you want to do is to find out from your local water company what levels of chlorine and chloramine comes out of your tap. Only when you know that can you decide what's appropriate for you.

 

[fluttermoth]

In general, dechlorinator isn't needed for water changes of 50% or less. The amount of chlorine is intended to kill off loose, floating bacteria, not robust colonies like we have in our filters and, of course, the amount is halved if you're doing a 50% change.

Having said that, most dechlorinators serve other useful functions, like locking up heavy metals, and I would always use one. I've seen the effect of 'raw' tap water on fish, and it's not pleasant, and the losses and stresses you'd suffer if, for instance, your water company decided to dose more chlorine/chloramine than usual (which they can do, without notification in some circumstances, like flooding) and you knocked out your filter bacteria make it not really worth the saving, IMO.

If it's getting pricey then, as the other posters have said, look into buying in bulk or at more concentrated versions; Seachem Prime, or a pond dechlorinator.

 

[balajake]

Prime lasts forever

 

[Mikey1]

Chlorine can not only be harmful to the fish, causing asphyxiation and death, but also to the bacteria in your filter which keep levels of ammonia and nitrite down. Of course the amount of chlorine in your tap water may not be at very harmful levels, but it is up to you whether you choose to take the risk. For the sake of a bottle of prime, or even just straight[background=rgb(249, 249, 249)] sodium thiosulfate (the active ingredient in dechlorinator)[/background] I certainly would not be taking that risk!

At a minimum, leaving water for 24 hours in buckets to allow chlorine to 'gas off' may well be less harmful than pouring it in directly, and less costly than dechlor.

even if you did a 100% water change with water that had a high dose of chlorine, that would not even kill 25% of the bacteria in your filters, providing the media and tank are very well established....i have been putting raw tap water in my tanks for over 15 years, in that time i have had thousands of fish, and i can count the number of fish ive had die on one hand,

but like i said....it depends on what the water conditions are in your area to begin with,

bacteria are alot more durable and stronger than most people think, it actually takes alot of abuse to kill bacteria,

 

[iantaylor]

Just buy a decent HMA filter best money i have ever spent, removes heavy metals and chlorine

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Don't forget about chloramine. Chlorine will naturally outgas from water especially if it is agitated- this will do nothing to remove chloramine. So with a smaller water change, a well established and filtered tank, chlorine can likely be safely outgassed before it can cause serious damage.

And for sure in an established aquarium the danger from either chlorine or chloramine is much much greater for fish than for nitrifying bacteria.

Finally, not all fish are created equal especially when it comes to their ability to fend of the effects of chlorine, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, TDS etc. So under the heading of better safe than sorry, you may want to keep dechlorinating. There are wholesale solutions ot bulk purchasing that will greatly lower the costs.

 

[benzenering]

Well, I recently did a 50% water change and forgot to add Prime...killed my favorite fish. Not something I want to repeat.

 

[snazy]

The beneficial bacteria is not so easily killed by chlorine, but fish will be stressed although they may not die immediately. You need to take into consideration long term effect of weekly chlorine stress.
And that's not taking into consideration any heavy metals and possibly chroramines or ammonia in the water. In this case a dechlorinator is a must. Same applies if you keep any inverts like shrimp.
I've got 4 tanks and basically dose dechlronator to the amount to treat the entire tanks weekly as I use a python straight from the tap, so it's a bit steep. But the cheapest way to go for me are Prime and API, both are highly concentrated, therefore cheaper to use.