Must I dechlorinate the water for my goldfish?

Question

Can someone help??A relative came over today and took one look at my goldfish tank, only to start frothing at the mouth with rage of how cruel I was to allow them to live in such an enclosure!Apparently you shouldn't use tap water in a tank for goldfish. I feel extremely stupid now, and after doing research on google.com nothing really helped. So can someone tell me if you have to use dechlorinating chemicals in the tap water because I never did that before and the fish seem ok.

THANKS SO MUCH GUYS FOR YOUR ANSWERS AND TIP TOP SPEED, TWAS MOST EXCELLENT! I WISH YOU CLEVER PEOPLE TO BE FRIENDS FOR LIFE, DESPITE THE FACT THAT I AM A TEEN AND YOU GUYS ARE PROBS A LOT OLDER HAHAHA THANKS SO MUCH!

Answer 1

It's no problem if you use tap water for your goldfish - or any other fish!

Tapwater is treated in some way, though, to "sterilize" it. Usually this means the addition of a chemical like chlorine or chloramine. You can call your water company to find out what they use. Neither of these chemicals are good for your fish, which is why they must be removed.

If your water is treated with chlorine, it will evaporate itself in about 24 hrs, or you can add a dechlorinator. Chloramine is a chemical where chlorine and ammonia are combined to create a new compound that's longer-lasting - it won't evaporate and needs to be treated with a product to remove chloramine, not just chlorine. Otherwise, when it dissociates, you'll be getting ammonia in your tank (toxic to fish).

Many products on the market will treat both chlorine and chloramine, but the dosage required is different. So find out which is used to treat your water, remove it with the proper method/chemical, and don't bother buying expensive bottled water when tap water will be just fine!

Answer 2

2 things: YES you should dechlorinate you water for all fish, either with dechlorinator or by letting it sit over night to let the chlorine evaporate. Second thing is goldfish should not be in bowls! You did not say what type of tank it is but because goldfish will get to be 6+ inches long and produce more ammonia than tropical fish 1 goldfish should be in nothing less than a 10 gal tank. Thanks for being concerned and always remember that mistakes are to learn from not to shy away from. Gaood luck.

Answer 3

That's just cruel. The bacteria that your goldfish need to remove the ammonia from the tank can't live in chlorinated water. You definitely must de-chlorinate the water. Your relative,the one frothing at the mouth, knows of what he froths.

Answer 4

i've known tons of people that had gold fishes wit tap water and lived for 6 yrs +
but if u really wanna be on the safe side, get a fish safe water tablet, they are cheap, well depends on which one u buy, i got one for $1.35 i think, it worked like a charm, all u gotta do is drop it in the tank/bowl, dependin on how much water there is, and let it completely dissapear, the pills also get rid of more than just chlorine

Answer 5

You dont have to from my experience in the past, however I do it anyway. I even sometimes use a little one gallon aquarium with a filter. Just because I dont like to always have to clean it all the time, and it saves me some time. I think you can do it either way.. dont feel bad.