i was looking on some shop sites and noticed the price difference and amounts of water that some of the water treatments covered. so thought a useful topic would be a post with whats available, how many litres it treats and how much it works out cost wise. this way members could buy the cheapest treatment to treat those Hugh water changes we all do. So post what you are using, how many litres it covers, cost, country you use it in. also if you think of any other useful advice that covers this topic. Please try to keep on topic so at the end we have a clear post so member can find a cost effective good dechlorinator in there part of the world. Lets see how this work

i am currently using Hagen Nutrafin aqua plus. £15.00 UK pounds for 2L. treats 15,140L's (3,330 uk gallons)of chlorine or 7,500L chloramine. 10ml treats 8 uk gallons.contains a stress coat.

I have used tectra Aquasafe. £50.00 UK pounds for 5L. treats 10,000L. 5ml treats 10L. contains stress coat,

I use Nutrafin Aqua Plus also, 100ml treats 700 litres, cost me £3.50 for 120 ml.

I used to use Seachem Prime. 1x 5ml cap treats 200L of water. Details here: www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Prime.html

It's about £5.00 for 100ml and between £6 - £7 for 250ml. Can be bought in 50ml, 100ml, 250ml, 500l, 2L, 4L and 20L

However, I no longer use any treatment.

Prime, thats not bad. 5ml per 50gallon. i will workout whats cheapest out the lot once we have a few to choose from unless a faster maths expert wants to help out i am hoping that once we have a few options we can find the cheapest way to change water in each country.

2L of prime in uk is £60 and treats 20,000 us gallons gives added bonus of removing ammonia and nitrates too.

Prime is looking to be the cheapest solution so far.

Why no water change now?

I also use Seachem Prime. I purchased the bottle at my LFS (like to support the little guy); not at Petsmart where it would be cheaper. Bottle is 16.9 fluid ounces = 500 ML. I would assume buying a larger bottle would also save money.

Here is the treatment breakdown:
In US ($USD, US Gallons and $$ per Gallon):
Cost $17.00 Treats 5,000 gallons = $0.00340 per gallon
assuming a 150 gallon tank and a 30% water change, that is $0.15 per water change

In UK (UK Pound, imperial gallons and Pound per Gallon):
Cost 10.2 pounds, treats 4,163 gallons = 0.00245 pounds per gallon
assuming a 125 UK gallon tank and 30% water change, that is 0.0917 pounds per water change

marcus wrote:


I do still change the water but I don't use any water treatments. Haven't for a long time and never have with my Oscar and her tank mates.

our water is chlorinated too but i am not sure whether chlorine or chloramide.
and i never had used any treatment for my water.....

i was told that in order to remove chlorine from the water, boil it and chlorine
is gone. just don't over boil so that other minerals remains.

I use Sera Aquatan.
5000 ML is good for treating 20.000 Liters and costs me 57 Euros.
1,3 US Gl is good for treating 5,300 USgal and costs me 85 USdollar.
1,08 UK Gl is good for treating 4400 UK Gl and costs me 51 UK pounds
I need 75-100ml per wc.
Only getting pond dechlor maybe cheaper, but for aquariums Sera has the best quantity for cheapest prize in Holland.
Mind you I get a 10% discount on all Sera articles, being a steady customer.

Prime would surely be a better option for you too noddy. even if you had to pay postage?

marcus wrote:

Man you wouldn't believe how muchtime I spent on the mathemathics, I just hate numbers.
But I came out with a quite high prize for my WC.
and I'll have a look around, i will probably run into the seachem brand at some other LFS here in Holland, before this 5000ml container is finished.
I only calculated for the 180Gl and payed no attention to the other tanks around the house, so I even use more Aquatan every week.

btw anyone familiar with mixing Sodium Thiosulfate yourself, since that seems to be the working ingredient for 98% in prime?
That may be even cheaper than the Seachem prime.

I use waterlife poolshield 2ltr. 5ml treats 100g. I got it from a wholesaler that i used in my old job and i cant remember how much. However i find that stuff for ponds is loads cheaper than stuff sold for tanks. When it comes to dechlorinator is the same stuff just different concentrations

Generally I use chemical treatment for my water changes however I do 'top off' my tank a few times during the week; likely more than most as I have a mesh hood.

I am interested in not treating the top off water with any chemicals, either through open air contact and/or boiling. Usually I let it sit for about 24-48 hours in an open container. I have read that generally the chlorine will evaporate, however based on my water report, for those who are knowledgeable about water chemistry, are there any additional components that would still be present and harmful to my tank I would need to address i.e metals etc.

I'd appreciate the help on this as I'm definitely a layman in terms of understanding water components and chemistry out of the tap.

(click on pics for larger view)