dechlorinator/treating water - your opinions, please

[aquabee]

+1 on Prime and Amquel Plus. I dose immediately prior to water changes, and pre-treat in my smaller tanks. The effect is strongly felt to be instantaneous.

[rmalford]

+1 on Prime and Amquel Plus. I dose immediately prior to water changes, and pre-treat in my smaller tanks. The effect is strongly felt to be instantaneous.

I'm very much in agreement with the thorough pre-treat for smaller tanks. I'm confident that my water changes in my larger tanks just might be a little more simpler in the near future. I really appreciate everybody that chimed in and I apologize if this is already another thread that I failed to find by searching.

[Complexity]

I don't even pretreat my smaller tanks (assuming by pretreat, you mean add the Prime to the water before putting it in the tank).

For example, my 5g tank with my red cherry shrimp colony is easier for me to change water at the sink. So I just scoot the tank over and do the water change there. I use the exact same process as with my other tanks except I don't use my python.

1. Turn filter off
2. Drain water using regular vacuum hose
3. Add Prime
4. Fill water using sink's spray nozzle
5. Turn filter on

I've been doing this with tanks as small as 2.5g, and still absolutely no problem. I honestly cannot see any reason for adding Prime to the water before putting the water in the tank. As long as the Prime is in the tank, you can add the water in directly from the tap or outside hose regardless of the size of the tank.

[Sea-agg09]

I'm going to be the oddball here, but I do things the hard way. I will never use prime, as it gives false readings on most test kits, except seachem's tests of course. Prime will bind ammonia and nitrates so they are not biologically available, but can still be found by most test kits. Am-quel and nov-aqua do not give false readings on any api test kits. You also have to be careful when adding water directly to tanks, as chlorine acts very quickly to burn gills and sensitive parts of the fish. I always add water to buckets, add my conditioner, wait 15 minutes, then add the water. It's the long way, but it prevents problems.

[sountfc]

As far as turning filters off, it depends on the size of the water change I'm doing. If it's 50% or so and therefore not enough to cause them to stop flowing, I leave them on.

[eklikewhoa]

When I was doing ~100 water changes both 2262's would get shut off as well as the wet/dry but the wet/dry had a recirculating pump that would keep the system going wet.

[BeefyG]

I read once somewhere, and I think it was here, that Prime is good for 30 minutes after dosing it. I usually change two tanks at a time so I turn off my pumps, drain one, add Safe, start the drain on the other one, fill up the first, turn its pumps back on, add Safe to the second, fill up the second, and then wander off until I remember I was doing a water change and come running back to water running out the door. You may want to skip that last step.

[rmalford]

I read once somewhere, and I think it was here, that Prime is good for 30 minutes after dosing it. I usually change two tanks at a time so I turn off my pumps, drain one, add Safe, start the drain on the other one, fill up the first, turn its pumps back on, add Safe to the second, fill up the second, and then wander off until I remember I was doing a water change and come running back to water running out the door. You may want to skip that last step.

Better to make the mess on the tile than the carpet. Although, I haven't laid grout down for my tile yet. Had my python hanging out one time and left and came back to find it draining all over the tile.

[BeefyG]

Clamps are a water changers best friend.

[Complexity]

I was at HAW when they did that. Was buying fish and got into a conversation. Next thing we all knew, water was pouring over the top of the tank and all over the floor!

All my tanks are on carpet except my little 5g so I sit and watch the fill up like a hawk. I have always feared I'd get distracted and overfill a tank. What a huge mess that would be!