adding water conditioner when?

redlessi

I just purchased a lee ultimate gravel cleaner that comes with the thing that you attach to your sink for water changes. I want to know how do you add water conditioner when using this. I used to use 5 gall water jugs and treat the water in the jug before adding it to the tank. If the water is going directly into the tank how much do you treat, the added amount or the whole tank????

Thanks much

mags2313

Umm. I have the same sort of gravel vacuum but I only attach it to the sink to get the water and gunk OUT. And then I always just use buckets to put the water slowly back in, and of course, I treat the water first before adding it to the tank.

redlessi

I thought it was also for filling the tank back up.................

Twistersmom

What size tank are you filling back up? How much new water is going to be added?

I would add enough to dechlorinate the whole tank, then fill back up.

1077

I too add enough conditioner to treat the whole tank. Never know when water treatment plant is going to flush lines with more chlorine, and or chloramines. Better safe than sorry. I add the dechlorinator to the aquarium and then hurry to the faucet to switch the valve to the fill posistion.

aunt kymmie

I do the exact same thing!

redlessi

35 gal tank that I usually take out about 10-15 gallons on partial water change day. Can you use too much water conditioner????

Herky

I have a water changer as well, and I add double or triple the amount needed depending on how much water I take out and what it says for that amount on the bottle. Not very cost effective, but better to be safe than sorry. I buy novaqua by the gallon now anyway so I don't worry about using it up so much as opposed to buying small bottles of it one at a time. I dump the conditioner in first and then begin filling the tank back up. It scared me to no end at first but have had no incidents doing it like this, and have been doing so for a couple of months now. It's a much easier, faster, and efficient solution than running a bucket brigade on cleaning day.

I think as others said, just put in enough to cover the amount of your tank to be absolutely sure, and things should work out great for you. Have fun with your new maintenance tool!

Herky

I know for a fact that the water treatment plants in my area are pretty notorious for doing this. For an environmental ecology course I took in college we took field trips to the local water treatment plants and they matter of factly stated that they overchlorinate the water at various times during the year, especially in the summer time.

I live in a region with an extensive freshwater lake and wetland system and our water comes out of it, and with bacterial and algal blooms in the summer, they have to do it for drinkability or our water gets very fishy and pretty gross to drink. Sometimes you can smell the chlorine coming out of the glass of water you are drinking from a foot away...it really is pretty bad so I make sure to be extra careful with dechlorination.

Twistersmom

Most bottles say somewhere how much you can use and not overdose. Usually it is a very high amount that can be safely used.