# Sodium thiosulphate -aquarium dechlorinator



## Jay1 (25 May 2015)

I do about near enough 1000 litres every week granted cycling tanks over the last five months has not been easy. I treat a water butt 120ml per 260litre of aquasafe.
I usually buy tetra aquasafe 5litres (last about five months) of it at around £33.00, but getting expensive so wanted to know what recipies and treatments you guys use (the big boy tanks) Have a Ro but don't like wasting so much water.
Sodium thiosulphate is what I intend to use but heard I only need a tiny amount so currently have a 260l water butt. So what dosage should I aim for as I have chloramines which has two bound chloride ions?
So what I can tell I need these chemicals?
Sodium Hydroxymethane Sulfinate, Polyvinyl Pyrollidones, Organic Hydrocolloids, Organic Chelating Compounds.


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## Andy Thurston (25 May 2015)

seachem prime treats a lot of water and powder form seachem safe treats even more water


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## Jay1 (25 May 2015)

Hey Andy hope all is well?
You use it and its defo prime in powder form?
1Use 100 mg Safe (scoop) per each 100 L (25 gallons) as *needed to reduce chlorine and chloramine* or per 25 L (6 gallons) for ammonia.
On there website it states reduce chlorine chloramine does it not completely remove it?
£32.60 for the prime 1KG.
roughly 23K litres against my 10K litres not bad Andy!


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## Andy Thurston (25 May 2015)

not 100% but an email to seachem would clear any confusion.
250ml of prime treats 9463l of water for around £13
250g of safe treats 25000l of water for around £17
I was trying to find a price for 4kg of safe but could only find it for $100 on amazon you might need to order it from your seachem dealer
just looked a but further if you use a double dose it will remove higher levels of chlorine/chloramine but thats the same with any dechlorinator


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## xim (25 May 2015)

It seems my Cories don't like sodium thiosulphate. They acted weird sometime when I used it.
Now I've switched to ascorbic acid (vitamin C) with very good result, no sulphur smell, no side 
effects to my Cories. And even cheaper than Prime. 1 KG for less than £12.

Chlorine level in my area is varied, depending on the season and the weather. I have to use a 
chlorine test kit. Sometime there is also ammonia in the water. So I have to mix it with Prime.

If I used only vitamin C, generally I would need to add 450 millgrams to neutralise 250 litres of 
tap water. But I would also add another 450 to be sure, making it 900 milligrams per 250 litres.

In the summer and rainy days, I've to bump the dosage up. And I would always add another 
450 milligrams after neutralisation as a safety measure if I didn't use Prime.

The only downside is you can't keep vitamin C in the solution for long. It will be oxidised and 
losing its chlorine neutralising capacity pretty quickly. Although a few days is fine.


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## xim (25 May 2015)

Hey, I can't edit my previous post above. There are some numbers I would like to correct.

Correction:

If I used only vitamin C, generally I would need to add 900 millgrams to neutralise 250 litres of
tap water. But I would also add another 450 to be sure, making it 1350 milligrams per 250 litres.


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## ian_m (26 May 2015)

Here is one of the definitive pages on chlorine/chloramine & sodium thiosulphate.
http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/chlorine-chloramine

Though my preference would be Seachem Prime.

Make sure you really have chloramine in the water as quite rare in UK. Test by using a chlorine test kit on water that has been aerated for 24hours, will register zero if chlorine used and chlorine present if chloramine used.

Also if chloramine make sure you use Prime (or Amquel+ etc) on you RO water as RO unit can still let fatal amounts of ammonia through if not in 100% condition. Normally one would store RO, test for chlorine &/or ammonia & add prime before putting in your tank.


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## Jay1 (26 May 2015)

Big clown said:


> not 100% but an email to seachem would clear any confusion.
> 250ml of prime treats 9463l of water for around £13
> 250g of safe treats 25000l of water for around £17
> I was trying to find a price for 4kg of safe but could only find it for $100 on amazon you might need to order it from your seachem dealer
> just looked a but further if you use a double dose it will remove higher levels of chlorine/chloramine but thats the same with any dechlorinator



*True yep came to the same conclusion we can't get 4kg only 1kg!*


xim said:


> It seems my Cories don't like sodium thiosulphate. They acted weird sometime when I used it.
> Now I've switched to ascorbic acid (vitamin C) with very good result, no sulphur smell, no side
> effects to my Cories. And even cheaper than Prime. 1 KG for less than £12.
> 
> ...



*Does not your PH swing a bit with Vit C? Plus the binding ions cause Ammonia glad you use prime to neutralise it!*



ian_m said:


> Here is one of the definitive pages on chlorine/chloramine & sodium thiosulphate.
> http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/chlorine-chloramine
> 
> Though my preference would be Seachem Prime.
> ...


As we live on a big hill the resivour has more chemicals than a 10 mile radius.

*Where I live we have Nitrates, Nitrites and Chloramine!*


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## xim (26 May 2015)

Jay1 said:


> *Does not your PH swing a bit with Vit C? Plus the binding ions cause Ammonia glad you use prime to neutralise it!*



It's a weak acid, yep, there must be the swing. But at 1350 mg/250 L, it is very small. As you might already know, it is widely used for treating tap water in aquaponics, and currently one of a better chemical (than thiosulphate) for wastewater treatment plants to treat chlorinated water before releasing into the environment.

As for the ammonia, I raised this option (vitamin C) because your first choice (sodium thiosulphate) didn't handle ammonia either. So I thought you might not concern about it. Seachem even have a dechlorinator for planted aquarium called "Premier" that just let the ammonia free from chloramines for plants to use.

But at the end of the day, if my water contained chloramines, I would use Prime or Safe.


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## Jay1 (28 May 2015)

xim said:


> It's a weak acid, yep, there must be the swing. But at 1350 mg/250 L, it is very small. As you might already know, it is widely used for treating tap water in aquaponics, and currently one of a better chemical (than thiosulphate) for wastewater treatment plants to treat chlorinated water before releasing into the environment.
> 
> As for the ammonia, I raised this option (vitamin C) because your first choice (sodium thiosulphate) didn't handle ammonia either. So I thought you might not concern about it. Seachem even have a dechlorinator for planted aquarium called "Premier" that just let the ammonia free from chloramines for plants to use.
> 
> But at the end of the day, if my water contained chloramines, I would use Prime or Safe.


Thanks Xim I'll start to switch over to Safe seems the right economical choice TBF. 
Thanks everyone for the input appreciated!
Jay


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## ian_m (28 May 2015)

Also remember that most dechlorinators will interfere with test kits, that really you shouldn't be using anyway. Generally will cause false positive ammonia and false negative nitrate readings.


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## Jay1 (28 May 2015)

ian_m said:


> Also remember that most dechlorinators will interfere with test kits, that really you shouldn't be using anyway. Generally will cause false positive ammonia and false negative nitrate readings.


LOL Ian no worries what I have observed is that regardless of test kits if you stick to a decent water change regime, there is no need for kits unless you are cycling a new tank.
*TBF every test result good or bad results in water changes right?*


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