Water Conditioner, Is It Worth It

[michaelwgroves]

I have a mature 900 litre planted community tank, I have just discovered today that a lot of LFS & fish keeps just dont use it.
Apparently Chlorine evaporates within 24-48 hours.

I usually fill my resovior with 20/80 RO/Tap water 24-48 hours before I do a water change to allow the water to come up to room temperature, On that bases all the chlorine should have evaporated.
I have been using Tetra AquaSafe for 2 years now, but I'm thinking did I really need to use it once my tank was fully matured.

Based on my usual water change technique, is there any reason why I should continue to use it?

Please note, I'm in the process of researching Discus just in case that makes a difference.

 

[Tolak]

If you have just chlorine, not chloramine, you can gas it off. Be aware that a good water conditioner such as Aquasafe also binds any dissolved metals that may be present.

Even with chloramine, aquarists get by without any dechlorinator, I know a few that do, as long as the water changes are 25% or less. This topic may be of interest to you; http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...l=water+changes

 

[mike os]

waste of money in your case ... ro needs nothing more, & the small percentage of tap...well personally I would save my pennies.

personally I have not used one for several years.....

 

[michaelwgroves]

Thanks guys, I'm gonna give it a go without dechlorinator

 

[jnms]

You could always try Tetra Pond AquaSafe. You can get 250ml for about £7, and 0.5ml treats about 10ltr of water. You could do a 100% water change with just 45ml, so a 250ml or 500ml bottle would last quite some time!

I use this myself and it has been fine.

 

[Pleccy]

Good luck with it, fishkeepers 40 years ago didn't have dechlorinators.

 

[Truck]

water conditioner is a must for any aquarist

 

[andywg]

water conditioner is a must for any aquarist

Really?

Then explain how many people have tanks that do just fine without any dechlorinators. The chlorine dose in water pipes is not meant to handle a colony anywhere near the size of what we have. Once a colony is mature then it can appears able to resist the chlorine in tap water (assuming the chlorine stays in the water long enough to get to the colony rather than gassing off).

On top of this is the research that bignose found which appears to indicate that our filter bacteria seem to be able to feed on the amine part of chloramine and then allow the chlora part to off gas (I'm sure there is another part to chloramine, but that will be some sort of protein, yes?).

Based on the above I think your statement cannot be considered accurate, and certainly is not based on any scientific backing (please note the section the thread is in).

 

[mike os]

water conditioner is a must for any aquarist

please explain...

and bear in mind that I breed discus, stingrays, some of the rarer corys, apistos, ancistrus and killies in tap water without a dechlorinator of any kind, have not usd any for several years and have seen no noticeable difference in the health of my stock

 

[michaelwgroves]

I found a good article which explains,

"EPA Guidelines set a maximum allowed level of Chlorine of 4ppm. Most water supplies target 2-4 ppm Chlorine. Note that 4ppm of Chlorine is actually 5.8ppm Chloramine. (The Chlorine is 69% of the chloramine molecule, ammonia is the other 31%) So, with a possible 5.8ppm Chloramine, you have 4ppm Chlorine, and 1.8ppm ammonia. "

[URL="http/www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_chlorine.htm"]http/www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_chlorine.htm[/URL]

My take on it is even if your water supplier is using the max chloramine, a 10% water change would only introduce 0.18 ppm ammonia and whilst not ideal and a mature tank should be able to deal with this quickly. Also I keep pH under 6.9 as ammonia is unable to form in a pH under 6.9. "At pH 6.9 and lower it begins to convert to ammonium, which is a form more easily tolerated by the fish".

[URL="http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphysodon"]http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphysodon[/URL]

I've spoken with my water supplier and they do not use chloramine, so I'm happy either way.

 

[Bignose]

Also I keep pH under 6.9 as ammonia is unable to form in a pH under 6.9.

Wrong-o. The ammonia-ammonium balance does shift more towards ammonium the more acidic the solution is, but there is still ammonia, and possibly plenty of it.

Please see:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...l=toxic+ammonia

 

[pica_nuttalli]

allow me to throw in the fact that every water supply system is different, so just because one person has great luck with sensitive fish and no dechlorinator does not mean that will work out for someone else living far, far away.

 

[dthoffsett]

allow me to throw in the fact that every water supply system is different, so just because one person has great luck with sensitive fish and no dechlorinator does not mean that will work out for someone else living far, far away.

Where I live it can differ depending on what part of town you live in. It's always a good idea to check with your local water board before making the decision for or against water conditioner.

 

[aaronnorth]

could it be possible that not using a dechlorinator which leaves chlorine present will kill off any bacteria that could cause diseases so in fact it makes the water quite safe?

 

[mike os]

could it be possible that not using a dechlorinator which leaves chlorine present will kill off any bacteria that could cause diseases so in fact it makes the water quite safe?

correct..... we dechlorinate to remove a steriliser, then (often) add UV & ozone systems to sterilise the water.......... at low levels it is not a problem, exposure is not toxicity... otherwise it would also kill us.....