Toronto tap water - let sit or use conditioner?

[restoredvd]

I live in Toronto. I have read that the city uses Chloramine to treat its water. I am afraid this will be harmful for fish if not treated with chlorinator conditioner?
Those of you who live within Toronto border, have you used tap water and just let it sit for x number of hours before? If so how many hours are safe enough?

I am looking to set up a guppy tank.

[characinfan]

I let it sit at least overnight and, more frequently, around 24 hours. If I ever top up the tank with water right out of the tap, I use water conditioner, but mostly I just let it sit.

[youngt3]

Originally Posted by characinfan

I let it sit at least overnight and, more frequently, around 24 hours. If I ever top up the tank with water right out of the tap, I use water conditioner, but mostly I just let it sit.

same here. I usually let mine sit for 48 hours before using it to top off my tanks. If not, then definitely need to use conditioner

[tom g]

I use tap water for my wifes saltwater aquarium at her office with no issues …

[Karin]

The person who had this tank before me always just let the water sit overnight. Me, I use conditioner, because my schedule is so erratic, I fit in water changes rather randomly.

[Mlevi]

I add Seachem Prime to all the water i use for water changes.

Leaving municipal supply water overnight used to be the traditional method of getting rid of chlorine in this hobby, however, most municipalties (including Toronto) now use a combination of Chlorine and Ammonia (which forms Chloramine). Chloramine does not dissipate as readily, according to some claims.

Water conditioners also contain other beneficial components (for example, stuff that is supposed to help fish with their slime coats etc), and, a $20 bottle of prime lasts quite a while (in my case).

For me, even if none of the municipal water chemical dissipation rates / product marketing claims are true, it comes down to two things...peace of mind, and the convenience to do impromptu water changes.

$20 over a span of 6 months is a more than a fair tradeoff for that, in my humble opinion.

Al.

[characinfan]

>Leaving municipal supply water overnight used to be the traditional method of getting rid of chlorine

I've had the same fish for 27 years, so I can attest to this!

The other reason for letting water sit is to get it to come to room temperature, so that there's less thermal shock for the fish.

[Mlevi]

characinfan, 27 years is huge, even for a marblehead. That's awesome! Don't think I have ever come across a first hand account of any species of aquarium fish that was sustained for even close to that period. That is truly impressive. Tells me we have a dedicated aquarist in our midst, which is fantastic for the rest of us, as we get to benefit from your experience.

Didn't mean to imply that using conditioner is better than the traditional method of leaving water out overnight. Just sharing what works for me currently, and why I use it.
For me, using water conditioner, is like Pascal's wager. It doesn't take much doing, cost is minimal in my case, as, currently, my biggest tank is 35 Gal (a 500 ml bottle of Prime treats something like 6000 Gallons, if I recall correctly), and it gives me peace of mind, and flexibility of water changes without planning ahead.

Originally Posted by characinfan

>Leaving municipal supply water overnight used to be the traditional method of getting rid of chlorine

I've had the same fish for 27 years, so I can attest to this!

The other reason for letting water sit is to get it to come to room temperature, so that there's less thermal shock for the fish.

[mousey]

Newmarket uses chloramine. I use Prime as a conditioner. Sometimes the ammonia injector at the water treatment plants uses the wrong dose. I have had a whole tank of fish die when doing water changes in the spring when there is spring runoff. Then the water plant uses extra chlorine and ammonia. I now use a double dose of prime at each water change.

I have met people at the fish store who also have lost tanks of fish because of the chemical injection method the town uses.

As well I figure the Prime is a good overall cover to use when I clean the filters in case there is a mini spike of nitrates in the tanks.