How long does Chlorine, Chloramine, and such take to actually damage fish?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
++ to the posts above. Drain water-- then add dechlorinator-- then fill tank. Or add dechlorinator as you fill ok too.

There's just no reason to fill your tank with chlorinated water, then add dechlorinator, unless you're just trying to prove a point that won't change anyone's mind anyway. It's playing Russian roulette with your fish. There are some scenarios under which you might get away with it-- for example, your water has chlorine, not chloramine and the water travels far enough before reaching your fish that most of the chlorine dissipates. But all it would take in that scenario is a change to chloramine or for your municipality to add an increased dose of chlorine or chloramine, whether by mistake or to correct an issue they're dealing with-- either of which can happen-- and there goes any margin of error you might have skated by on to that point.

There are a lot of things in fishkeeping that I chalk up to one way is more or less as good as another and it comes down to personal preference, but this isn't one of them.
 
RD. said:
...the reaction time with these chemicals in an aquarium, while adding tap water via a python - is pretty much instantaneous...
Click to expand...

That's been my experience...

Quick story:

Several months ago I was battling a really stubborn case of Ich. I had temps at 86-87F for 3 weeks and added salt (2 Tablespoons per 5G). Several of my Clown Loaches were showing no signs of improvement. I was a little desparate, looking everywhere for a solution. I read somewhere that low doses of chlorine/chloramine would take care of the Ich, so like a moron I decided to not dose the full volume of the tank with Safe until a few minutes after I was done with the 50% water change (BIG MISTAKE!). As the tank was just being topped off, my loaches (even the ones that showed no signs of Ich) started swimming really erradically, coming to the surface then spiraling down, like an airplane in a graveyard spiral. They were acting like they were drunk; I'm pretty sure it was chlorine/chloramine poisoning. I dosed the full volume of the tank with Safe as quickly as I could and within seconds, the loaches were swimming normally as if nothing had happened. Scared the #$%^ out of me, but I definitely learned my lesson.

As everyone else has mentioned, dose the full volume of the tank, then fill'er up!
 
It cleared up about a week later, but not sure that had anything to do with the Chlorine/Chlormaine "bath" because I also kept the temps up and maintained salt levels at 2 Tblspns per 5 gallon.

No way for me to really tell, but it looked pretty clear to me that if I hadn't added conditioner to the water quickly, the loaches would have been belly-up within a short time.

Sp. correction: eratically, not eradically =)
 
Does your guys Seachem Safe have a really strong odor (from the bottle not the tank)? I bought mine from Kens Fish.
 
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