Question about water conditioners?

Question

I have a ten gallon tank. I bought some of that tap water treatment stuff. My water evaporated quite a bit and i need to add about 1 gallon. I was wondering if i need to treat the water prior to putting it into the tank or if I can add the water to the tank and add 1 gallon's worth of conditioner.

Answer 1

Yes, you need to treat it.  Just divide by the volume and put a little conditioner in.

The reason is that untreated water has chlorine in it, which in small quantities will kill off swaths of the bacterial colony living in your filter media, potentially upsetting your nitrogen cycle.

Answer 2

You should condition the water in a bucket and add it to the tank for best results. I add mine and let the water sit in the bucket for half an hour stiring every 10 minutes or so then add it to the tank. When you fill the bucket, make your water one or two degrees higher than the tank water temp, so after 30 minutes when you add it to the tank it will be the same temperature.

You can also put an airstone in a water container and let it bubble for 2-3 days. This will remove the chlorine ect. and you then dont need conditioner.

Answer 3

It's best to treat the water before you add it to the tank so that there is no chance that the fish will get exposed to any chlorine, chloramines or heavy metals in the water before they are neutralized.

But in the long run what really matters is that the water does get treated.  So, if you should ever forget, do go ahead and treat the water after you've add it.