I've Never Used Water Conditioners...Anyone Else?

[krichardson]

In one of our city parks there is a replica of a traditional Japanese house complete with a huge koi pond.The entire display has been there for years and some of the koi were quite large and old.Well,one year one of the local water lines ruptured and untreated water entered the pond and killed nearly all of the koi,some of which were said to be over twenty years old.

 

[Woefulrelic]

I further reinforce this, it isn't a guessing game. Some people can get away with chlorine treated water with water changes under 25%, but chloramine treated water at 80% will probably get you. Not only are there two different popular methods of treatment but the amount of treatment (chlorine or chloramine) differs as well. If you don't know, definitely don't use untreated or unaged water in large amounts of you don't know.

 

[fisheatfish]

I further reinforce this, it isn't a guessing game. Some people can get away with chlorine treated water with water changes under 25%, but chloramine treated water at 80% will probably get you. Not only are there two different popular methods of treatment but the amount of treatment (chlorine or chloramine) differs as well. If you don't know, definitely don't use untreated or unaged water in large amounts of you don't know.

Couldn't agree with you more. Not for the inexperienced.

 

[ehh]

Well water is just like aged water. If you allow tap water to sit or age, the chlorine or chloramine will dissipate. Although, there are minimal traces of metals I'm sure.

Well chlorine will gas out but chloramine will not. That's why it's used now.

I never understood why people played with this fire.

I know someone that was changing the water in his 1000 gallon using the hose and he killed 90% of his stock on accident. He conditioned it but he left the water running for several hours. So the volume of the tank was changed several times but if the water wasn't poisonous his fish wouldn't have died. That's reason enough for me to condition the hell out of my water.

 

[fisheatfish]

I've overfilled my 2500 gallon koi pond several times with the garden hose. After a backwash of the filter, I'd refill the pond with a garden hose and would forget to turn the water off...for hours. Hated myself for wasting so much water but was fortunate enough not to lose any fish and did not kill off the beneficial bacteria in the pond.

I see your point though ehh.

 

[ehh]

I know someone who thought they'd experiment not using conditioner.
Killed 5 tanks.

 

[fisheatfish]

I know someone who thought they'd experiment not using conditioner.
Killed 5 tanks.

This is why I threw out a warning in the initial post. Would hate to see anyone do that.

 

[Lgw]

I pay roughly $30 for ~12 months supply of conditioner. For that price, i wouldnt risk not using it.

 

[boldtogether]

Been in the hobby for over 30 years and I've never purchased or used any conditioner to treat my aquarium water. Started off with betas and goldfish, moved on to saltwater, koi ponds, planted tanks, discus and now mainly into CA/SA cichlids. Even got into breeding just about everything I've had.

I did learn the hard way in my early days. Upon emptying a 300 gallon pond and refilling it with a garden hose, I immediately threw in my kois only to watch them die one at a time. I learned real quick about the chlorine in the water. From that point on, never had any issues. With new setups, I would let the water sit for at least 24 hours. In aquariums, never have I waited for one to fully cycle before introducing fishes into it. Think 6 weeks is the required time frame to fully cycle a tank? I usually wait a day or two...no problems.

During water changes, I try not to take out more than 30%...usually 10-20% and refill straight from the tap without treating the water. Only issue is during winter months when the water is really cold and some fish, especially my loaches would get ich. Easy to treat but I've learned to use warm tap water to eliminate this issue. With minimal water changes, the beneficial bacteria in the filtration and the substrate will help stabilize the untreated water. If I need to perform a larger than normal water change, I would break it down to 2 days. I wouldn't recommend not treating the water with extreme water changes.

I'm sure this may raise red flags from some members, but from my personal experience, I've never used the stuff. I'M NOT SAYING, "STOP USING THE PRODUCTS." I wouldn't want anyone to kill any of their wet pets...this is just what I do and just curious if anyone else out there is.

How much do you spend on these conditioners, monthly?

I buy 500-1000 grams of sodium thiosulfate and mix my own. 500 grams is like $10...500 grams in a gallon of distilled water makes enough to treat approx. 38,000 gallons of water.
38,000 gallons divided by 150 gallons per water change is like 253 water changes per gallon of solution. That $10 is well spent in my opinion.

 

[convict360]

Years ago I would let the replacement water sit over night before using but now I have too many tanks and I don't have time or the amount of buckets to handle my water changes that way.That said,a bottle of water conditioner does not cost very much and it lasts more than a month or two.

+1

When I had my 56 gallon, I would only change like a bucket a week; and I'd do that by leaving the buckets to sit out for a night beforehand, no problems.

It was only when I joined here that I started doing insane water changes and adding a variety of chemicals lol...I do think that despite the recent stuff on adding probiotics etc is too much for me, even if it is amazing or whatever; there is a cut-off point for me.