do we really need to treat our water ?

rob1984

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
May 9, 2012
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so ive read a lot of threads and seems tons of guys/girls that have a drip auto top off don't treat their water. I use tap water that is safe to drink, do I have to treat the water ? im using safe at the moment, but thinking I could save myself 30-40 bucks is all, and save the safe for nitrate/ammonia spikes if it ever happens

im pretty sure I read that any chlorine in the water kills BB ? if that's true how do you auto top off guys using town/city water not get mini cycles or high ammonia measurements ? :screwy:
 

predatorkeeper87

Potamotrygon
MFK Member
Sep 8, 2014
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so ive read a lot of threads and seems tons of guys/girls that have a drip auto top off don't treat their water. I use tap water that is safe to drink, do I have to treat the water ? im using safe at the moment, but thinking I could save myself 30-40 bucks is all, and save the safe for nitrate/ammonia spikes if it ever happens

im pretty sure I read that any chlorine in the water kills BB ? if that's true how do you auto top off guys using town/city water not get mini cycles or high ammonia measurements ? :screwy:
Those auto top off guys more than likely have RO units in their homes.
 

Wailua Boy

Potamotrygon
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Jan 2, 2015
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If you are topping off less than 1%, then you can get away not dechlorinating. Also depend on your water supply.(chlorine vs. chloramine)
 

krichardson

Bronze Tier VIP
MFK Member
Jun 19, 2006
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^Makes sense...it depends on the treatment of the water in your area.I rarely dechlorinate top off water in my bigger tanks but with tanks under one hundred gallons I don't risk it.
 

davenmandy

Peacock Bass
MFK Member
Feb 1, 2012
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Check water reports, they're accessible and quite simple to read. I run my drip through a carbon filter to remove chlorine (there is no chloramine in my water), but I'm willing to bet that's pure caution. Chlorine dissipates with aeration. Some taps aerate right at the source removing majority of the harmful chlorine. If I didn't run a carbon filter my water would drip straight onto my bubbles and into my powerhead, 65mil/m being spread through the rest of my 400 gallons, which will detoxify in no time.

Better safe than sorry though. From year to year they may change what they treat their water with too. My water is treated with fluoride though, wonder the long term effects of that are on my fish. Or me haha.

Sent from my Z10 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 

Drstrangelove

Potamotrygon
MFK Member
Oct 21, 2012
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I use tap water that is safe to drink, do I have to treat the water ?
1) Water that is safe for an adult human to drink can kill thousands of species including fish.
2) Treating the water is not a yes/no question. It's more like a "under what conditions can I get away with doing or not doing something" question.


Water that is safe to drink (for humans) contains chlorine or chloramine in an amount that falls within a certain range. That range can be---but isn't always---lethal to fish. It depends on the fish, how much of that water is in the total water supply, and other factors (like the fish's health, the water oxygen level, etc.) Even if the water isn't immediately lethal, it can harm the fish on a long term basis and cause an earlier death. People who live far from the water supplier get a lower dosage of chlorine than people nearby.

So using other aquariums as a guide is fraught with danger and perhaps not meeting the criterion you have for raising and caring for your fish.

If I had expensive, emotionally important wet pets, I'd spend extra effort to make sure the water was not potentially poisonous. OTOH, if I had many tanks and far too many guppies, I might not even care. Most people sit somewhere in between those obvious extremes. So it's your call. A slow drip with a lot of agitation or spray with well oxygenated water and very hearty fish might not need a treatment for chlorine. But it's still really, really cheap to eliminate the issue altogether, so for me, I'd treat the water. But, I'm very conservative, borderline OCD. For others, who have years of experience with a stable system, they know that as long as things don't change, it's not needed and they have safety procedures in place that might mitigate that risk if things do change.


You have to look at your conditions and fish and judge how risky you care to be. Research your fish, your water supplier and examine your priorities.
 
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