Question regarding De-chlorinating Water

In article <piughvce4cugki88j9tmm66jkm3iarpq8s DeleteThis @4ax.com>, The Madd Hatter wrote:

>are VERY well aerated though...
>Is it neccessary to add dechlor to the
>water if you're doing small changes like 10% to 20%?

To me it seem like an unnecessary risk. Even small ammounts of
chlorine harms the fish. Sick and stressed fish are more likely to get
sick. Amquel and Prime are cheap.


>Doesn't the
>chlorine evaporate fairly quicky if you have good movement inthe water
>column?

Chlorine may evaporate quickly. Chloramine does not. Chloramine is
commonly used to treat water.
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The Madd Hatter <themaddhatter DeleteThis @rogers.com> wrote in
news:piughvce4cugki88j9tmm66jkm3iarpq8s@4ax.com:

> Hiya Folks!
>
> I've been away from the group for a while, since my sis was getting
> married, but now she's hitched and gone!
>
> I have a question regarding chlorine content in water... I've always
> used some form of dechlorinator or the other, but I ranout the other
> day, and a fellow hobbyist told me he doesn't use any at all. He does
> 20% to 50% water changes, w/ regular tap water. He did say his tanks
> are VERY well aerated though... Is it neccessary to add dechlor to the
> water if you're doing small changes like 10% to 20%? Doesn't the
> chlorine evaporate fairly quicky if you have good movement inthe water
> column?
>
> I'm going to be getting a couple of barrels to hold water for my pond
> (for the water changes), since we're talking a lot of water, but can I
> get away w/ filling my tanks straight from the tap?
>
> BTW, all my tanks have Rift Lake Cichlids... Setups vary from large to
> small, w/ all different types of filtration....
>

When I was just starting out in fish keeping, (this was over 20 years
ago), I had a single Tanganyikan tank and would do 25% water changes
without adding dechlorinator. Never noticed any problems. Then, one day
I decided to do a 75% water change. My Julidichromis started going into
convulsions immediately. All the other fish died soon thereafter except
for a single leleupi, but it suffered some sort of permanent gill damage
(the gills turned a permanent bright red color).

So I guess the lesson is that you can get away with doing small water
changes without dechlorinator, but you are taking big chances. Moreover,
even small water changes probably needlessly stress the fish and might
harm the biological filter. The extent of the risk may vary from
locality to locality however. In some locations, chloramine in addition
to chlorine is present. Chloramine is highly toxic to fish, whereas
chlorine is only mildly toxic.

Meph
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