How to change water SAFELY

[bluemandarin]

Hi,

New to large tanks and just got my first 48x15x15 tank awhile back. I'm seeking some advice as to how to do water changes safely. For my small tanks I always declorinate bucket by bucket with seachem prime before adding any new water to the tanks during water changes, however it doesn't seem feasible to do that with my 4 footer given the amount of water that has to be changed at once. I have a hose attached to a tap that can reach the tank, and I was wondering if it is ok to drain the water from the tank, add declorinator to the tank at that point, and then turn on the tap to refill the water to the desired level. Any advice guys?

Thanks in advance !

 

[dogofwar]

Yes - just add Prime (or whatever dechlor) after draining and before filling. You can also add it while you're filling.

Matt

 

[aclockworkorange]

Yup, that's how I do it.

 

[wcc963]

so after draining and before filling is the way to go? any real problem with filling befrore dechlorinating?

 

[Hot Slime]

so after draining and before filling is the way to go? any real problem with filling befrore dechlorinating?

Drain, the dechlorinate, then fill the tank. You want to dechlorinate before you fill it up because you don't want to expose your fish to chlorine and chloramine.