# Small water change- dechlorinator needed



## nayr88 (17 Aug 2010)

hello people.

This is non plant tank related question, its on my 240ltr. Well basically im doing 10% water change daily, bacause its quite a small amount in comparison to the size of the tank would i still have to use a water treatment, or will the mature filter and rest of the water sort out the 'nastyness' of the tap water??


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## PM (17 Aug 2010)

Absolutely I'd say. Use dechlorinator.

I forgot to use it once on 1 liter topup on my 54 liter tank and three of my rummy noses died within 24 hours.

Always best to use it.


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## nayr88 (17 Aug 2010)

okai cheers for the info, i have been but was getting to the end of my bottle. guess ill just buy the pond stuff so it lasts longer


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## PM (17 Aug 2010)

Seachem Prime is the most concentrated I know of, and can be found cheaply on ebay.

I buy the smallest bottle and it lasts over a year for my two small tanks (54L & 12L) with 50% weekly changes.

Well worth it IMO.


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## nayr88 (17 Aug 2010)

ill have a little look, i was using api stuff wich was pretty cheap and has lasted some time.

just a side question is doing a 50% weekly change good? i mean i was doing this but the guy in my lfs advised doing 10-15percent daily as doing a big 50 at the end of the week is too much to quickly, i no the ei method requires doing a 50% but would doing a small amount often keep the parameters of the tank in check rather than them getting bad then really good in the space of an hour or so? also since doing 10% daily my water has never looked cleaner nor has there been such little crud on the gravel, aswell as the end result of the week being a 70% water change.

thanks


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## PM (17 Aug 2010)

Well I reckon it depends ehat you are keeping. I've got tetras, amanos & ottos, and they do fine.

Never had anything bad happen after a water change, and daily WCs are too much for me...

In _theory_ it's probably better, but in practice I can't see it making much difference unless you have fish  with very specific requirements. I just want healthy plants and my inhabbitants all seen happy


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## nayr88 (17 Aug 2010)

fair dincum


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## Lisa_Perry75 (1 Sep 2010)

nayr88 said:
			
		

> i was doing this but the guy in my lfs advised doing 10-15percent daily as doing a big 50 at the end of the week is too much to quickly



Unfortunately the assistants in fish shops do not necessarily know what they are talking about. Many many people have done 50% water changes without a problem - in fact quite the opposite. I would actually be interested what parameters the lfs guy means by "too much too quickly".
The only thing I can possibly think is sometimes if the water companies do something and I have known people have some mysterious fish deaths. But the people who have had this have been doing a range of % w/c, not necessarily 50%.


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## GreenNeedle (2 Sep 2010)

PM said:
			
		

> Seachem Prime is the most concentrated I know of, and can be found cheaply on ebay.
> 
> I buy the smallest bottle and it lasts over a year for my two small tanks (54L & 12L) with 50% weekly changes.
> 
> Well worth it IMO.



You've never seen pond dechlor then 

That is the most concentrated   and 10x cheaper.

I would have to agree with Lisa Perry.  Thse fish didn't die because dechlor wasn't added unless there was something unusual about the water content.  Many people on here do weekly 50% water changes without ever using dechlor with no consequence at all.

As for LFS people.  I never listen to them.  Most of them take half an hour to catch 10 fish and thats with days, weeks, years practice etc 

AC

AC


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## dw1305 (2 Sep 2010)

Hi all,
I use rainwater so I don't de-chlorinate, in the past I would have said you don't need to for small water changes, and if you were worried you could always leave the water to out-gas before use for bigger water changes. 

However if I used tap water for water changes I would now recommend a water conditioner containing EDTA, (look for sodium thiosulphate, hydromethane sulfinate and EDTA in the ingredients), this is because if your local water company has found a broken water main in your area they will add a lot of extra chloramine (without informing you) as a "belt and braces" approach with potentially catastrophic results. Sodium thiosulphate de-couples the chlorine ammonia bond, and neutralises the chlorine, but that leaves the ammonia for the filter/plants to deal with.

I think that "Pond Prime" is probably the cheapest good option as Lisa suggests, a quick Google suggests you can buy 4 litres for Â£42 in the UK.

More details on chelation towards towards the end of this post. <http://www.ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=12666>

cheers Darrel


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## Lisa_Perry75 (2 Sep 2010)

dw1305 said:
			
		

> I think that "Pond Prime" is probably the cheapest good option as Lisa suggests



I didn't actually suggest using Pond prime, sorry Darrel. PM suggested Seachem Prime and Andy suggested using pond dechlorinator.

I used to use tetra pond dechlorinator - lasted aaaaaaaaaaaaages


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## dw1305 (2 Sep 2010)

Hi all,
Sorry Lisa, should have checked. Anyway I stick by my suggestion, what ever pond water conditioner that is cheapest and contains EDTA.
cheers Darrel


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## nayr88 (2 Sep 2010)

cheers people sorry havent checked back.

thanks


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## jm_ (9 Nov 2010)

always safety the water and gas off 48 hours, just be safe as you can really


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## SteveyG (2 Dec 2010)

nayr88 said:
			
		

> also since doing 10% daily my water has never looked cleaner nor has there been such little crud on the gravel, aswell as the end result of the week being a 70% water change.



I know this is an old thread, but just to avoid confusion for anyone reading this, changing 10% daily for 7 days is not the same as a single 70% water change due to the dilution. 7 10% water changes is the same as a single 52% change


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## nayr88 (2 Dec 2010)

So if I have a 100litre tank, I do 7 water changes over 7 days. 10 liters each time. Meaning I removed 70lites from my tank and replace it with 70litres, this isn't a 70% Water change? Mi no comprende?


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## SteveyG (3 Dec 2010)

No, because each time you only change 10%, you're essentially taking some of your 'fresh' water back out.

The first day, you take out 10% tank water. The second day you are taking 9% tank water out and 1% of the water you changed the time before.


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## nayr88 (3 Dec 2010)

Point taken


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