Loaches Online Forum

The title says it all

I always took it as gospel that you add dechlorinater to all water added to a tank depending on the instructions of the specific dechlour one uses.

I have read theory's saying that this is not the case.

I would be interested to hear peoples views, technical understanding on the matter.

Regards onebto.

If there is no chlorine or chloramine (well water, for example) then don't bother.
I do not add it if I am topping off the tanks. Chloramine is about 1 ppm in my tap water, and the topping off is never even 10% of the tank volume.
If your water has chlorine (not chloramine) it is possible to run the water into a barrel and circulate it for 24-48 hours and enough of the chlorine will out gas that the water is probably safe for the fish. I would test this to be sure.
If your water has chloramine it takes longer for the chlorine-ammonia bond to break, and then for the chlorine and ammonia to out gas. Like a week or more. I would test it, if you want to go this route.
You can find other filter material or methods (RO) that might remove these, but you would need to prep the water ahead of time. Make sure the chlorine or chloramine are removed before you add the water to the tank.

If the dechlor you are adding is doing other things for you you may still want to add it for those other purposes, or else find a single action product that targets your needs better.
"Locking up heavy metals": May be needed, but EDTA is available separately. Get the water tested if you think this is needed. May be helpful for shrimp, very sensitive to copper.
"Adds vitamins or electrolytes" Forget it. I feed my fish a wide rotation of food.
"Replaces slime coat"- A healthy fish does not need added slime coat or irritants to make him produce more slime coat. If you are handling the fish you might want something like this, but not all the time.
"locks up ammonia, nitrite or nitrate"- Dechlor should lock up the amount of ammonia that comes from chloramine. If you have so much of any of these that you need more dechlor to deal with them then deal with the real issue: overfeeding, under-developed bio-filter or whatever.

We've just made it a habit to put in Easy Life with every change. We haven't tested the water for chlorine/chloramine or any metals, so I feel safer doing that.

Thank you for your reply

Regards onebto

What about zeolite to remove nh3?
I'm using a plastic container about 120lt, there I have a 1000l/h pump with a.carbon and zeolite, I use this water after 1 day of filtering and then it's OK.

Yes, zeolyte can remove ammonia in a pretreatment of water. The best way to look at any of these treatments is to know what is in the tap water that you want to remove, then research which products are available to remove it.
Consider the initial purchase price and the cost of rejuvenating the material. For example zeolyte can be rejuvenated by soaking in salt water, then rinsing well with tap or RO water. It gradually quits working, though, so test each batch of water you are treating, and replace the zeolyte when the tests show it is no longer doing the job.