Water Changes? Should I treat the water before adding to the tank?

[Kaosu]

What is the point in adding dechlorinator AFTER you have filled the tank and the chlorine has come into contact with your fish and the filter media (if they're still running)?

Best practice would be to heat and pre-treat the water before adding it to the tank, but many (most?) people seem to find adding dechlorinator to the tank then filling directly from the tap works well too.

Untreated tap water does not kill the bacteria on your filter ..I have for years rinsed my sponge filters and canister filters in untreated water right out of the tap..never had a problem.

 

[David R]

I'm concerned about pre treating water because I have two 5 gallon buckets that I siphon water from the tank. I usually take 6 buckets out. Then dump it. If I only have 2 buckets should I put the dechlorinator in the bucket then dump it into the tank like that.

Do yourself a favour and go buy a long siphon hose that will reach to the nearest drain or window, carrying buckets is for suckers!!
If you're going to pre-treat water you really want a container large enough to hold the entire volume of water you change, and ideally a cheap pump and hose to refill the tank with. If your fish are fine with water changes straight from the tap then stick with it, just add the dechlorinator before refilling the tank.

Where I live untreated tap water does not appear to kill the bacteria on your filter ..I have for years rinsed my sponge filters and canister filters in untreated water right out of the tap..never had a problem.

Fixed that for ya.

 

[Drstrangelove]

Chlorine and chloramine do not instantly kill bacteria like nerve gas. However, they do kill bactera at certain levels and will deactivate them at lower levels. Chlorine itself dissipates over time and distance from the water supply plant. It's therefore possible for some people to use tap water for quick rinses and have minimal effects, especially in under stocked tanks.

This does not however mean that everyone can get away with that behavior. One person living in one county, close to a plant could have many times the level of actual chlorine in their water versus someone in another county, far from a plant. Chloramine adds a whole new wrinkle.

Given how ridiculously cheap it is to detoxify these chemicals I would never intentionally not do so. This is especially so when can find many posts from someone losing expensive and personally valued fish after forgetting to dechlorinate in error, or from creating mini cycles after wiping out large amounts of BB.

 

[Kaosu]

Do yourself a favour and go buy a long siphon hose that will reach to the nearest drain or window, carrying buckets is for suckers!!
If you're going to pre-treat water you really want a container large enough to hold the entire volume of water you change, and ideally a cheap pump and hose to refill the tank with. If your fish are fine with water changes straight from the tap then stick with it, just add the dechlorinator before refilling the tank.



Fixed that for ya.

I have lived sever places ..so there is that as well.