How long does city tap water have to sit before the chlorine is gone enough for the fish tank?

Question

I recently cleaned out and changed the water in our goldfish tank. Normally I use spring water in the tank, but last night I filled it with city tap water. I had heard that if that water is left to sit for about 24 hours before the fish are added that the chlorine will be gone enough to be safe for the fish. Is this true? How lond should I wait until I put the goldfish back in?

Answer 1

Where do you have your goldfish while you're waiting on the water?? They produce waste so quickly and need so much oxygen that if you leave them for long in a bucket or even a smaller, unfiltered tank you're probably going to lose them.

The guys warning you about chloramine in your water supply are right. Whoever is thumbs-downing them just isn't keeping up with the times! Chloramine is being added to more and more city supplies specifically because it DOESN'T evaporate and therefore keeps water safer longer for human consumption. It WILL however kill your fish.

Dechlorinators aren't that expensive.

Answer 2

When you are gravel vacuuming it's best to only do half one week and the next time you are cleaning the gravel to clean the other half. That also helps your biological filter since too much good bacteria can be removed if you do it all at once. As far as the tap goes if you use water conditioner just add it back. Otherwise, let the water sit out over night so the chlorine and chloramines get evaporated. Those two chemicals can kill fish and your biological bacteria.

Answer 3

It is true, if you are certain the city uses Chlorine, and not chloramines, for their water. If your city uses chloramines, letting the water sit out for one day will NOT remove the harmful effects of the chemicals, you need a dechlorinator that is rated for chloramines as well as chlorine. You need to find out which your city uses, or just add some amquel or other similar product to be sure.

You should not be removing your goldfish from the tank! A water change should never be more than 50%, and should be done by siphoning some water out with the fish in the tank, then putting fresh water (treated to dechlorinate) back in. Removing the fish and putting them back, especially into water that has been changed 100% is extremely stressful and often leads to death or disease in the fish. You should never remove your fish if at all possible. Additionally, you don't want to remove all the bacteria in your tank, as they are what is breaking down the ammonia into less harmful nitrogenous wastes. If you actually clean out your tank, you risk your fish poisoning themselves.

The proper procedure for a routine water change is siphon 20-30% of the water out of the tank, using a gravel vacuum to suck the debris from the gravel. Use a tank scrubber to clean the inside of the glass if necessary, and remove and rinse off the filter media in the tank water you removed (not tap water or bleach water!). Replace the filter media, rearrange any decorations you disrupted, and re-fill the tank with fresh water you either let sit out to dechlorinate, or you treated with a dechlorinator chemical. This is all you need to do, and if you fully clean your tank by taking all the water out and actually washing the tank/decorations, you are harming your fish!

Answer 4

I've never heard this. When I add city water to my fish tank, I add Chlor-B-Gone or something like that to the water. You can go to any pet store and buy drops that instantly neutralize the chlorine so you don't kill your fish. I would HIGHLY recommend doing that, otherwise there is a very good chance that chlorine will remain in the water and your fish will die, literally within minutes. This happened to us.

Answer 5

well when i clean my fish tank I use tap water, with the dechlorinater of course. It only takes a few hours for me but just to be safe i would wait about 24 hours before returning the fish to the bowl

Answer 6

The first thing you need to do is to check what your city uses to treat their water. It used to be that chlorine was the only chemical used, and if this is your case, the chlorine will dissipate in 24 hours as you've heard. But because the chlorine disappears so quickly, more water services are now using chloramine, which lasts much longer. You can get products to remove this as well, but you need to be careful about the wording on the package. If you use a product that treats only chlorine, or one that "breaks the chloramine bond" (chloramine is a combination of chlorine and ammonia), ammonia, which is toxic to fish, will be released into the tank. You want a product that "removes" or "neutralizes" chloramine. Some will remove both chloramine or chlorine, but you'll need to use a different dose.

A call to your water provider should be all you need to find out which is safe to use.

NOTE: depending on where you live, there may be metals dissolved in the water as well - better water conditioners will neutalize these as well - something that just letting the water sit out won't do!

Answer 7

In most areas, 24 hours of letting the water stand in a small container is fine. If setting up an entire new tank, it is best to wait several days.
I set my water in a 2 gallon pitcher for 24 hrs, then add to my 55 gal aquarium.

Answer 8

Why on earth is someone giving the thumbs downs to warnings about chloramine? The person doing that is either ignorant or extremely stupid-probably both! As I've frequently said before-no amount of thumbs downs alter facts.

Answer 9

i have always heard that you leave ti for 24 hours. there is a product by tetra aqua, called aqua safe. it neutralizes chlorine, chloramine, and heavy metals in the water instantly. it costs like $4 to $5 for a 3.38 fl oz bottle

Answer 10

24 hours or buy a chlorine remover and its instant