Tap water chorine and nitrifying bacteria question

[xtremegamer1000]

Ok, so yesterday I decided to start the fishless cycling process of my 125 gallon tank. This is the first time I've lived in the city and dealt with chlorine in the tap water compared to good ole natural well water in the country. Yesterday I added the proper amount of ammonia to the tank to reach 5 ppm, but I forgot to use a product to remove the chlorine contaminants from the tank water. I read that chlorine kills nitrifying bacteria (I already knew it was harmful to fish), so no bacteria can grow as of the moment. However, having already added the ammonia, could I just use the water conditioner that removes chlorine today and not have to drain my tank with the ammonia already in there? I guess what I'm asking is can I dechlorinate the tank water, even though I already have ammonia in there, and today and so fourth everyday keep adding a little ammonia, without having to drain the tank and start over, because I would rather not have to drain the 125 gallons. Thank you so much!

 

[duanes]

Since you just started cycling, it shouldn't be a problem, it takes weeks for nitrifying bacteria to grow. Normally total cycling can take 6 to 8 weeks.

 

[Drstrangelove]

Everyone (except people with fresh water as in a well, river or lake) that starts with chlorinated water has for all practical purposes water with no bacteria. The chlorine off gasses fairly quickly, so I think you would be fine by now so starting the process over won't save you any time.

If you have chloramine however, I would probably use a conditioner, but that's because I'm pretty impatient. You still don't need to start the process over however.

 

[jwh]

You can just add the water conditioner to the tank, don't drain it. If only chlorine is used it will gas out by itself within 24 - 48 hours. If chloramine is used you need a conditioner such as Prime.