Is dechlorinator necessary?

[joesandy1822]

I just got my 3,000 gallon pond up and running over the weekend. We are on city water, and it does have chlorine in it. I will not be having koi, but will have plenty of plants (eventually) and goldfish. I am aware of the harmful affects of chlorine on fish, but if the water has been in over several days, wouldn't the sun take care of the chlorine? We used to have a pool, and I know for a fact that in bright sunlight, the chlorine was eaten up in no time. Do I still need to use a dechlorinator?

When can I add fish? I am familiar with the cycling/nitrification process because I have kept aquariums until recently. But goldfish are frequently used to cycle an aquarium. Could they be added to the pond safely this early? The water has been in since Friday evening. The only plants I have in the pond right now are some bunches of hornwort. Lilies are on the way, and I will be getting hyacinths, lettuce, and others as my budget allows.

Thanks!

Sandy

 

[richyd]

I just got my 3,000 gallon pond up and running over the weekend. We are on city water, and it does have chlorine in it. I will not be having koi, but will have plenty of plants (eventually) and goldfish. I am aware of the harmful affects of chlorine on fish, but if the water has been in over several days, wouldn't the sun take care of the chlorine? We used to have a pool, and I know for a fact that in bright sunlight, the chlorine was eaten up in no time. Do I still need to use a dechlorinator?

When can I add fish? I am familiar with the cycling/nitrification process because I have kept aquariums until recently. But goldfish are frequently used to cycle an aquarium. Could they be added to the pond safely this early? The water has been in since Friday evening. The only plants I have in the pond right now are some bunches of hornwort. Lilies are on the way, and I will be getting hyacinths, lettuce, and others as my budget allows.

Thanks!

Sandy

I'm sure others will chime in, I'm still a newbie, but from what I understand the chlorine bubbles off after a few days. But city water will still contain other stuff you don't want like heavy metals and other contaminants which a dechlorinator will get rid off. I would definitely recommend using a dechlorinator

Also I would start off with just a few assorted goldfish/commets etc until your filter matures

 

[gardengimp]

you need to find out if your city uses chloramine to treat water. If so, you will need something like ChlorAm-X to condition the pond before anything much will live in it. I would not add any fish just yet. You want to make sure you are 100% through with draining water and adding any chemicals/fumes/dirt/grit/sweat and tears before you put any fish in. Getting your bio filter started and running before adding fish is also a really good goal.

 

[Dave 54]

All water companies chlorinate their water and yes you sould dechlorinate if there are chloromines in the water then you really need a good off he shelf Dechlorinatore and chloromines remover as fish and that dont get along at all and fatalities often happen so you need to keep it going every water change to be on the safe side.
Never shirk treating for things like that.

rgrds

Dave

 

[HTH]

The chlorine (not chloromine) goes away in a day with the pumps and air running. Give it two to be safe.

You really do not need to worry about cycling a 3000 gallon pond unless you immediately add a significant fish load. Add fish as the bio filter grows and you may not even notice it cycling.

Make the effort to quarenteen any fish you buy for 3 or 4 weeks prior to adding them to the pond. No better time to get setup to do that then now. It is a lot easier to treat sick fish in a kitty pool then in a 3000 gallon pond.

My personal feeling is that using feeder goldfish to cycle a pond is very bad. Feeder fish are often sick and using them may result in inoculating you pond with disease or parasites. Not everyone agrees with me on this. If you insist on using them QT first.

 

[fishin4cars]

If you see I liked it I agree with it 100%!

 

[koiguy1969]

the thing is... many dechlorinators neutralize chlorines, which is great. but they only break the chlorine bond to the ammonias in chloramines. thats what chloramines are, a chlorine and ammonia mix. this leaves behind the ammonias. an already active bio filter can get rid these ammonias in a short time. and its the neccessary food for a biofilter thats starting out.
IMHO.. if your buying your first number of fish from the same "tank". theyve already all been exposed to the same enviormental hazards, so quarentining and running a seperate system seems pointless. i'd give them a salt bath and put them in the pond. quarentining is much more beneficial when adding additional future fish.

 

[HTH]

Your view is not uncommon and in part what makes sense has to do with the size of the pond. With a few 100 gallons it is no big deal to treat the entire pond. With a few 1000 gallons it is a big deal. Having just the one word pond is troublesome.

In a QT tank or small pond you can observe fish much better then in a larger pond. Observation is an important part of QT.

 

[capewind]

With a few 100 gallons it is no big deal to treat the entire pond. With a few 1000 gallons it is a big deal. Having just the one word pond is troublesome.

In a QT tank or small pond you can observe fish much better then in a larger pond. Observation is an important part of QT.

It was costly treating our old pond, when it was only 2000 gallons ... I would probably have a heart attack if I had to price out treating almost 9000 gallons of water ... Kiddie pools or totes for dips, 750 gallons for a QT ... never again ... EVER ... will I put a fish into our ponds that has not been through 6-8 weeks of QT ... I dont care if it was the same tank, same supplier, just a day apart ... if I didnt buy the fish the same day, from that same tank, SEPERATE QT ... I may just be paranoid, but learned the value of QTing the hard way, and once in awhile, do learn from my mistakes;-)

 

[joesandy1822]

I guess this is one reason why I will choose goldfish and not koi. They certainly are beautiful, but seem to come with a lot more responsibility than I am wanting right now. I will most likely hand select feeder goldfish (some are VERY pretty), adding them only once. I have maintained aquariums for years, so I know what a healthy fish looks like (at least on the outside). When I had a smaller "pond", I never had problems with feeder goldfish, but maybe that was because I chose which ones I brought home. They did not just scoop a bunch into a bag for me.

I am still confused. It has now been 4 full days since I filled the pond. The chlorine is probably gone, but do I still need to worry about chloramines, heavy metals, or anything like that if I am only going to have goldfish and lots of plants?

Thanks again,

Sandy

 

[HTH]

In regards to what we have been talking about there is little difference between koi and goldfish other then it is hard to find koi as mistreated as feeder goldfish.

If you insist on not QTing the fish seek out you local pond or water garden club and get some excess goldfish from ones of its members. You stand a much better chance of not getting fish that will screw up your pond.

Insert standard rant regarding feeder goldfish here.

 

[capewind]

I guess this is one reason why I will choose goldfish and not koi.

I hate to give you some bad news here, but I only had dropsy once ... the GOLDFISH was spotless when I bought it (hard to miss blemishes on a 8" solid white fish) but just a couple of days later it was a solid white pinecone. While GF may be a bit more tolerant of water quality, they can carry disease and parasites, just as easily as Koi can. Goldfish or Koi, you are responsible for their life. I guess with goldfish being less expensive, their lives have lower value too.

 

[HTH]

Check with you local water department to find out if you have chloramines. Once that is know we can go from there.

 

[joesandy1822]

I hate to give you some bad news here, but I only had dropsy once ... the GOLDFISH was spotless when I bought it (hard to miss blemishes on a 8" solid white fish) but just a couple of days later it was a solid white pinecone. While GF may be a bit more tolerant of water quality, they can carry disease and parasites, just as easily as Koi can. Goldfish or Koi, you are responsible for their life. I guess with goldfish being less expensive, their lives have lower value too.

I think you took my comment wrong. I would not suggest that just because something costs less, the value of their life is lower. Trust me, I have pet rats.....they get vet care and treated as well as our dog. Most people are disgusted by the very thought.

My point was only that I have never personally had a bad experience with feeder goldfish, but as I said, maybe it is because I hand select them. When you purchase a fish at Petsmart, Petco, and most other aquarium stores, the water supply is usually shared by ALL the tanks in the store. Therefore, if one tank has something, there is a good chance they all could have it.

Sorry if I offended anybody.

Sandy

 

[capewind]

My point was only that I have never personally had a bad experience with feeder goldfish, but as I said, maybe it is because I hand select them. When you purchase a fish at Petsmart, Petco, and most other aquarium stores, the water supply is usually shared by ALL the tanks in the store. Therefore, if one tank has something, there is a good chance they all could have it.

Not offended... But what you miss behind the scenes is that most places pull the dead and sick out before you can see it. Being on that central filter adds lots of issues, and a great example of why you should QT, even with careful inspection. In a "fish store" aside from floaters, what are you thinking you'll see? Maybe some ich? a bit of fin rot? Easy to SEE and TREAT if symptoms are already showing ... what about other things that the fish havent broken with yet? I didnt QT for most of my life. Like many ponders, did fish tanks as a kid, later got into marine reef tanks ... never QT, and was LUCKY ... sooner or later, your LUCK will run out. The point is how far do you want to push it? Do you want to accidently kill fish along the way?