How fast does water conditioner work?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
esoxlucius said:
I'm beginning to think that the whole dechlorinator thing is a bit over played. People say that chlorine evaporates off very quickly, especially the more agitated the water is as it's going into the tank. I reckon a lot of the chlorine, what % i really don't have a clue, evaporates off instantaneously. That would mean that the actual chlorine % our dechlorinators have to deal with is minimal. Thats why, whichever haphazard way we individually choose to add our dechlorinator, none of us have tank crashes or fish wipe outs, or maybe some people have, i'd be interested to hear of such disasters. The reason i think this is that i just tip mine in at the beginning of the refill process and then wonder how the hell that little bit of dechlorinator takes all the chlorine out of 160 gallons or so without seemingly coming into direct contact with said dechlorinator. Proof of the pudding in all of this is the people who on occasion completely forget to add prime, don't realise till it's too late, but the tank is fine!!!!
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Chlorine levels are pretty low usually, so it doesnt do harm so quickly, and warm aerated water is said to gas off chlorine in 24 hours or so
 
My water at times has a very strong chlorine smell. One time I decided to put the water in a bow and added a drop of aquasafe. The strong odor was gone in seconds. I will always use a conditioner.
 
esoxlucius said:
I'm beginning to think that the whole dechlorinator thing is a bit over played. People say that chlorine evaporates off very quickly, especially the more agitated the water is as it's going into the tank. I reckon a lot of the chlorine, what % i really don't have a clue, evaporates off instantaneously. That would mean that the actual chlorine % our dechlorinators have to deal with is minimal. Thats why, whichever haphazard way we individually choose to add our dechlorinator, none of us have tank crashes or fish wipe outs, or maybe some people have, i'd be interested to hear of such disasters. The reason i think this is that i just tip mine in at the beginning of the refill process and then wonder how the hell that little bit of dechlorinator takes all the chlorine out of 160 gallons or so without seemingly coming into direct contact with said dechlorinator. Proof of the pudding in all of this is the people who on occasion completely forget to add prime, don't realise till it's too late, but the tank is fine!!!!
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But chloramine doesn't evaporate so quickly.

I can think of several cases where people I know killed off several tanks and/or several fish because they thought they didn't need a water conditioner.
 
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Chloramine can remain stable weeks. But across North America both chlorine and chloramine levels in tap water can vary greatly. This is where many hobbyists get confused, and where Seachem's advice becomes very sketchy. Seachem only targets a certain chlorine/chloramine level, one number across the board. My advice is to test your own water, or ask your local water supply company at what levels they treat at year round, they all have those figures in a high-low range. Then use Seachem's target number on their label, as one size does not fit all when it comes to water conditioners. If you don't know, don't guess.
 
...and, IMHO, don't expect to get a legit answer from your water supply company. I had two issues with my local water this summer when refilling my tanks. Wiped out about 10 lemon tetras one time and then killed my largest (4"+) Mascara barb. If I had the space, I'd keep a giant storage tank for my water change supply.
 
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....... and that's why one should be testing their own water. But by law I believe all municipalities must record their high/low chlorine and/or chloramine values. Most of that data can be found online. As an example as to how much of a swing can take place from one city to the next.

Some specific examples of actual chloramine levels found in drinking water located in the USA.



Portland Oregon 2015 Drinking Water Quality Report

Maximum levels of total chlorine residuals from chloramine detected: 2.02 - 2.72 ppm.

http://www.portlandoregon.gov/water/article/244813



San Francisco CA 2013 Water Quality Report

Chloramine residual levels average 2.2 ppm, with a high range of 2.9 ppm.

http://sfwater.org/index.aspx?page=634



San Diego CA 2013 Water Quality Report

Disinfectant Residual (Chloramine) distribution system average 2.2 ppm, with a high range of 4.1.

http://www.sandiego.gov/water/pdf/wq13.pdf



Massachusetts Water Resources Authority 2014 Report

An average of 1.8 ppm chloramine was reported (no maximum level given?)

http://www.mwra.state.ma.us/annual/waterreport/2014results/metro.htm



Houston TX 2013 Water Quality Report

An average of 1.96 ppm chloramine, and a maximum level of 3.8 ppm

http://www.publicworks.houstontx.gov/sites/default/files/images/utilities/wq2013.pdf


Kansas City 2014 Water Quality Report

An average of 2.27 ppm Chloramine, with a maximum level of 3.07 ppm

https://www.kcwaterservices.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/2014WQR1.pdf


Miami Florida

An average of chloramine residual in the main system of 2.5, with a high range of 4.2 ppm, and the Aventura (Norwood) system showing an average of 3.1 ppm, with a high range of 4.0 ppm

http://www.miamidade.gov/water/library/reports/water-quality-2014.pdf


Philadelphia

Philly has its tap water sourced from three different water treatment facilities, which across the entire distribution area average out at 1.98 ppm, with a high range of 3.8 ppm.

http://www.phila.gov/water/wu/Water Quality Reports/2014WaterQuality.pdf



Fairfax VA

An annual chloramine residual of 2.8 ppm, with a high of 4.1 ppm.

https://www.fcwa.org/waterqualityreport.pdf


Washington DC

Highest running annual average, 3.0 ppm chloramine, with a high range of 4.2 ppm.


https://www.dcwater.com/news/publications/DC_Water_Annual_WQReport_2014.pdf


The answer is there is no ONE SIZE FITS ALL for these types of questions, one has to have a local water disinfectant base number to start with before they can calculate the quantity of water conditioner such as Seachem Prime/Safe required.

I posted about this when Seachem changed their labels last year.

http://monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/seachem-safe.651005/#post-7348490


To answer the OP's question, the good news is most water conditioners work instantaneously.
 
If you conclude that it's safe, I would take the tapping into the washer line over barrels any day of the week.
 
Depends on the stock you keep as well. I know I've forgotten to add Prime to my goldfish 55g, that contains 4 adult goldfish after a ~75% WWC. Didn't effect them at all. If this happened with fry or sick/weak fish, it would probably effect them in a bad way.
 
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