The right way to add anti-chlorine ?

[y26tan18]

Adding anti- chlorine into the tank:

1. Before adding new water from the tap
2. While adding new water from the tap
3. After adding new water from the tap

or

4. mixing in the anti-chlorine with the new water in a pail first before adding it into the tank....

Is there a difference in these 4 methods ?

Note: I'm not talking about aged water. As I do not have the space to do so. Instead I'm using water straight from the tap into the tank via a very long hose.

Also, would it be safer to overdose the anti-chlorine ?

 

[joe jaskot]

Either 1, 2, or 4 would work. #3, adding anti-chlorine after adding the water to the tank exposes the fish to any chlorine that may be in the water. It is okay to overdose, but don't go overboard.

 

[squint]

#4 is obviously the best. Even better would be to use a chlorine test kit just in case your water supplier decided to increase the concentration of chlorine.

 

[y26tan18]

Either 1, 2, or 4 would work. #3, adding anti-chlorine after adding the water to the tank exposes the fish to any chlorine that may be in the water. It is okay to overdose, but don't go overboard.

#4 is obviously the best. Even better would be to use a chlorine test kit just in case your water supplier decided to increase the concentration of chlorine.

Thanks.

 

[clekchau]

you need to dose the entire tank not just what water you are changing out

 

[doviiman]

Adding anti- chlorine into the tank:

1. Before adding new water from the tap
2. While adding new water from the tap
3. After adding new water from the tap

or

4. mixing in the anti-chlorine with the new water in a pail first before adding it into the tank....

Is there a difference in these 4 methods ?

Note: I'm not talking about aged water. As I do not have the space to do so. Instead I'm using water straight from the tap into the tank via a very long hose.

Also, would it be safer to overdose the anti-chlorine ?

I usually use method 1 . Once I drain the water from the tank (say 40%), then I add the enough prime (anti chlorine chemical) for the whole tank, wait 15 minutes, then add the new water with the hose straight from the outside faucet. Never had an issue in all my 30+ years of fish keeping..

 

[arodini]

you need to dose the entire tank not just what water you are changing out

really? why is that?

 

[anarekist]

i do number 2. hehe. so far so good.

 

[greenterra]

really? why is that?

Filling straight into your tank is perfectly safe but dosing for the complete volume is a must though. The reason for this is Chlorine and Chloramines are not the only thing that Prime will bond to on a molecular level. There are many chemicals,minerals, dissolved organics etc in our tanks that prime will actually bond to long enough for our biological filtration to take care of. The problem this makes for in tank water changes is when you dose for the amount of water you are replacing only, much of the Prime can be used up bonding to these leaving a lower concentration of the Prime to do its job with the Chlorine/Chloramines. Seachem have this info on their sites and also state on their bottles to dose for the complete volume if treating in tank. For those treating in a tub prior to introducing it to the tank, treating for the replaced amount is fine. If you are going to age your water first, no prime is needed if your water has Chlorine only as this will evaporate off fairly quickly with a little aeration or water movement. However, if your water has Chloramines in it you will still need to dose. Chloramine is used now in most municipal water supplies because it doesn't evaporate off like straight Chlorine.

 

[12 Volt Man]

Seachem loves to state that you need to dose for the full tank volume but you don't.

you only need to dose for the volume of new water only, unless your tank has a nitrite/ammonia problem (since prime neutralizes these too).

free chlorine is much more reactive than the heavy minerals and dissolved organics in the old water so when you dose with any dechlorinator it will likely do the job we want it to first before reacting with all the other stuff in the tank. Chlorine loves to react with things lol.

Seachem just wants people to buy more Prime. plain and simple. I don't use it though. I use a Hagen dechlor.

the only time you need to dose for full tank volume (other than the nitrite/ammo case I mentioned above) is when you are treating the full tank volume when you initially fill it up for the first time.

after that, its all partial water changes and you only really need to add for the new water each week.

that being said, since Prime is so concentrated if you do wish to dose for full volume, its probably not that big a deal because its quite concentrated (one cap for 50g right?)