Dechlorinator

[Matt]

Who uses this stuff? What brands and why? I ask as I haven´t for a few years now…

#309027

[Eyrie]

Nutrafin Aqua Plus for me, since my water board uses chloramine rather than just chlorine.

[Mark Duffill]

I have to admit I dont and havent used it for years now

[Richy]

I know of a couple of lfs’s which don’t and quite a few people but personally I DO use dechlorinators, basically as I don’t trust the waterboard.
I know someone who is adamant that using a garden hosepipe (with a rose gun) to refill a tank releases chlorine as it’s topped up due to the pressure of surface agitation etc. I was there once when he did it and to be honest, yes I could smell chlorine in the room.
The question is, without expensive water testing can we be sure that they do what they state on the label??
Personally, as I have a few tanks I fill a vat half with hot water from the tap and other half cold and treat with either API Stresscoat or a similar product like Tetra etc.
I’ll sit on the fence and watch the replies as it may be very interesting.

[mickthefish]

i think it’s cheaper to buy a purifier or an RO unit than shell out cash for a dechlorinater.

mick

[ndc]

i use it sometimes, havent used it for a few months now as i ran out and just havent replaced it, hasnt stopped the guianacara or geo altifrons from breeding and the guianacara fry are now over an inch long so it hasnt bothered them, i do think though it depends where you live – were lucky up here because of having kielder close by so the water is pretty natural. even when i had the shop i used it sometimes but not all the time – if it was wild caught fish id use it or sensitive fish from asia but the czech republic stuff i tended not to bother. i spoke to a guy who worked for different water boards testing their water a couple of years ago and at the time he said there was no water boards up here using chloramine and that the water was pretty good quality overall. the main problem up here is with the amount of phosphate in the water so the only thing i use all the time is phosphate/nitrate removing pads from juwel or green x dependind on the filter – ive got both in at the moment and they definately work. as for dechlorinator i always used stress coat but i buy pond strength as it goes further in big tanks and you cant overdose with it.

[Mark Duffill]

I have been informed that the easiest way to be sure if your water contains chlorine or chloromine is to fill a white bucket with tap water, if the water has a blue tinge to it is chlorine if it has a green tinge to it’s chloromine.

I had a friend who worked for United Utilities and he said that chlorine or chloromine was added on Fridays to stored water so if you are carrying out water changes on the following Wednesday, Thursday or Friday mornings a large percentage of chlorine has already dissipated. He actually tested my water one day after a 50% water change, the water was sprayed in from a hose pipe and there was a minuscule chlorine reading.

This guy actually bred a lot of discus, plecs, cories and south American cichlids and he never used dechlor at all.

There was a point raised some time ago that if you have chloromine in your water and you use traditional dechlorinators it will do harm in itself because the dechlorinator will remove the chlorine from the chloromine but release the ammonia from the chloromine and of course a pretty hefty ammonia spike will occur.

[Matt]

There’s a scientific theory that both chlorine and chloramine dissipate pretty much immediately when added to mature water. After reading that I stopped using dechlorinator and never lost a single fish following a water change, even fry of supposedly delicate species. Let me dig it out and I’ll post the reasoning up in here. It’s interesting stuff!

[Graeme]

QUOTE (Mad Duff @ Aug 31 2008, 10:31 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I have to admit I dont and havent used it for years now

Same here!

#309104

[Mark Duffill]

The way I see it is if I can get wild loaches and they are fine and the same loaches then go on to spawn and fry survive then it cant be that much of a problem can it

#309145

[Eyrie]

I know chlorine is meant to gas off fairly quickly and will do so if water is left to stand overnight, but chloramine is longer lasting, hence why it is used. Also worth noting that not all dechlorinators treat chloramine, and those that do usually require a stronger dosage (presumably for the reason Mark just gave).

[dunc]

Aye, like Neill, I use pond strength stuff. I’m not too fussed about using it, though I try to use it on larger changes.

[Little Lamb]

Reading some of these replies is quite bizarre as although I’ve only been fishkeeping for a few months, it has been drilled into me numerous times that using dechlorinator is necessary to ensure the wellbeing of your fish by preventing the ‘good’ bacteria from snuffing it. For this reason I use Nutrafin Aqua Plus and will continue to do so (as so far it doesn’t appear to be doing any harm). Not quite sure if it’s right or wrong anymore though /smile.gif” style=”vertical-align:middle” emoid=”:)” border=”0″ alt=”smile.gif” />

[dunc]

Indeed Little Lamb.. it’s one of the first things you’ll hear in an aquatics shop. I’ve heard on numerous occasions that dechlorinator “cleans” the water, which people misinterpret as meaning it removes algae etc, etc…

If your water is heavily dosed with chlorine, it’s probably worth using dechlor. A lot of people don’t use it however and I’ve yet to hear of it having a detrimental effect on their fishes.

The biggest problem I have with not using dechlor is that chlorine allegedly kills nitrosomonas (the beneficial bacteria which break fish waste down in aquaria). I have no idea how true this is though…

[ndc]

id always recommend it for new fish keepers as well, any help at all is beneficial when you start a tank, the same as using something like stress zyme to boost bacteria, if i had a bottle lying around id use it but if i didnt i wouldnt lose sleep. same as testing water etc, once youve kept fish for a while you can see if they are happy by behaviour , i do have a test kit but rarely use it and only then its just out of interest, theres nothing more beneficial than good water changes –

[Author]

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