Chloramines, Chlorine & Ammonia in tap water

[wellmax]

:roll: Hi All, I have noted here some do water changers straight from the tap without treating their water for Chlorine, Chloramines & Ammonia with a product available from your local Pet Shop.

If this is true how does the good bacteria survive in our bio filters, these chemicals kill good bacteria. How do Aquarium Shops change their large volumes of water? There must be some secret here that Im missing. Its a great idea not to treat the water and make water changers easy, "Top up with the garden hose and we are away, BUT ARE WE LAUGHING OR CRYING, :oops: with the outcome. Regards Wellmax

[MarkLB]

I think it depends on where in NZ you live. Here in ChCh the water isn't treated so it's safe to use straight from the tap.

[wellmax]

Thanks MarkLB, thats interesting. I would like to here more from those living in Auckland City. Regards Wellmax

[Caryl]

It all depends on where you live. We don't have all added to our water here either.

Alanmin can tell you all about chlorine and chloramines. I think we don't have chloramines added to water in NZ but they occur naturally? :-?

I know Aucklanders who don't use additives and are breeding many fish quite happily.

If your tank is properly set up and maintained you do not need to add products to reduce ammonia either.

I have never added any chemicals to my tanks and never lost a fish as a result.

I will always remember a conference I attended, many years ago, in Auckland where a well known local goldfish breeder was setting up display tanks in the main hall. He had acrylic tanks and was filling them up with water from the fire hose. The smell of chlorine was very strong. He then dropped his huge and fancy goldfish right in! When I asked if he had added anything to neutralise the chlorine he said no, because the fish were used to it and it didn't bother them, so why add costly chemicals when they weren't needed?

[LYNDYLOO]

I have done Water Changes straight from the Tap, for the past 12 Years and never had a problem

[alanmin4304]

There shouldn't be ammonia in your tap water but any chlorinated water supply will contain chloramines as well and they will not be removed by letting the water stand or by aerating it. I am aware that some people add chlorinated water straight from the tap and don't have a problem. What I have tried to point out in the past is that aeration or letting the water stand overnight may get rid of the chlorine but will not get rid of the chloramines which are almost as bad. You pays your money and takes your pick.

[whetu]

...You pays your money and takes your pick.

I think Alan has summed it up quite nicely there!

I live in Auckland and I choose to add products to my water to remove chlorine before adding it to my tank. In my opinion, it's not about the bacteria in the filter - it's more about what it does to the fish directly. Like with human lungs, chlorine can burn fishes' gills and sensitive skin, so I prefer to reduce that risk by adding chlorine remover to the water.

In saying that, I only do that when doing a water change and adding a lot of water at once. If I'm just topping up the tank with a few litres of water due to evaporation, I usually don't bother.

Just to make it clear: I am simply telling you what I do, and my reasons for it. Other people make different choices and seem to be doing just fine. It's up to you what you choose to do after researching the issue.

As with a lot of things in fish keeping, I would suggest that a less experienced fish keeper should take a cautious approach until confident that they have a stable environment, know their fish and the whole aquarium ecosystem very well, and are ready to try experimenting.

[BikBok]

I'm in Sth Auckland, and we need to use the additives.

I emailed our water supply for a typical analysis and theyr eturned this:

Carnoustie Monitoring Cl2-R ' 0.88 mg/L Chlorine

Carnoustie Monitoring Cl2-TotL '0.92 mg/ Chlorine

Carnoustie Monitoring Eert18pa <1 /100 mL ?

Carnoustie Monitoring HPC-1mlA '0 cfu/ml Bacterial count

Carnoustie Monitoring pH-AT ' 7.9 pH Unit pH

Carnoustie Monitoring Tert18pa <1 /100 mL ?

Carnoustie Monitoring Turb '0.19 NTU ? turbidity light penetration

pH was 7.9. Our area normally between 7.5-8.5

typical analysis of Manukau Water 2008 . MAV is Maxiumum allowable value

first figure is the avg result.. 2nd figure is the MAV

avg MAV GV

Nitrite Nitrogen 0.002 0.21 or 32 mg/L N

Nitrate Nitrogen 0.21 50 mg/L N

Nitrogen 0.21 <1 mg/L

Aluminium 0.024 0.1 mg/L mg/L

Copper 0.0006 2 1 mg/L mg/L

Iron 0.012 0.2 mg/L

Mercury 0.00016 0.002 mg/L

Lead 0.00023 0.01 mg/L

Zinc 0.0026 1.5 mg/L

Bromodichloromethane 0.015 0.06 mg/L

Bromoform 0.002 0.01 mg/L

Chloroform 0.018 0.2 mg/L

Dibromochloromethane 0.01 0.15 mg/L

THM Ratio 0.326

Total Dissolved Solids 95

Sulphate 15.3

Sodium 12

Calcium Hardness 32

Magnesium hardness 7.8

Total Hardness 39.5

Magnesium 1.9

Calcium 12.7

[wellmax]

Thanks BikBok,

Many thanks for the data relating to Sth Auckland Water and to all who have given there views on the subject.

Regards Wellmax

[Caryl]

Looks good BikBok but what does it mean? :-?

[VinsonMassif]

Nitrite Nitrogen 0.002 0.21 or 32 mg/L N

So does this mean that they measured 0.002ppm NO2, out of a possible 32ppm

[BikBok]

So does this mean that they measured 0.002ppm NO2, out of a possible 32ppm

I'm not actually sure why there are three figures there.

The 0.002 was the avg reading over 12 months, I'm looking at the original spreadsheet and there was no variance.

The "0.21 or 32" is written exactly as that under the MAV (max allowable value) column. The 32 seems awfully high!

underneath the spreadsheet it says:

1 - MAV in case of a long term exposure to nitrite

2 - MAV in case of a short term exposure to nitrite

so I'm guessing those are the 2 MAV values.

The readings are "Manukau Water Ltd Typical analysis of drinking water"

[Ira]

:roll: Hi All, I have noted here some do water changers straight from the tap without treating their water for Chlorine, Chloramines & Ammonia with a product available from your local Pet Shop.

If this is true how does the good bacteria survive in our bio filters, these chemicals kill good bacteria. How do Aquarium Shops change their large volumes of water? There must be some secret here that Im missing. Its a great idea not to treat the water and make water changers easy, "Top up with the garden hose and we are away, BUT ARE WE LAUGHING OR CRYING, :oops: with the outcome. Regards Wellmax

I use rainwater, only additives to my water are bugs, leaves and bird poop.

[darkfur]

gotta be careful if you collect rainwater what roof it comes off, galv roofs can add a lot of zinc to your water

[alanmin4304]

Is zinc toxic to fish?

[darkfur]

as far as I know if you have enough of it it, it is. I suppose that goes for most metals.

[Muzz]

Here is an interesting article.

http://theaquariumwiki.com/How_to_make_ ... e_for_fish