ducati Posted July 13, 2010 Report Share Posted July 13, 2010 I live in Papakura - is it OK to use water for goldfish without treating? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reptilez Posted July 13, 2010 Report Share Posted July 13, 2010 I live in Papakura - is it OK to use water for goldfish without treating? Hi,im a local aswell to Papakura, i have rain water so i can ...What whater do you get? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikBok Posted July 13, 2010 Report Share Posted July 13, 2010 Give PetPac takanini a call.. They'll be happy to advsie. I'm pretty sure their water comes out at a nice pH7.0 but not sure about chlorine etc. They are on Papakura supply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diver21 Posted July 13, 2010 Report Share Posted July 13, 2010 i live in west auckland and dont bother about treating the water unless its a huge water change, like 90% or more. but thats just me if your really bothered i would just buy a large 44 gal drum and run an airstone in it for 24hours before a water change Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted July 13, 2010 Report Share Posted July 13, 2010 if your really bothered i would just buy a large 44 gal drum and run an airstone in it for 24hours before a water change *sigh* when are people going to stop perpetuating this myth? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ducati Posted July 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2010 Which myth? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cricketman Posted July 13, 2010 Report Share Posted July 13, 2010 that aeration alone removes chlorine.... Alanmin4304 has written this over and over, and i believe this should be stickied, sinc it has been discussed religiously and is a mainstay of the "Newbie questions" (not to say that we mind people asking, just that it is a recurrence that has ability to become somewhat grinding) What you read on the internet about chloramine being a combination of chlorine and ammonia is because that is how it is manufactured in countries where it is added to the water supply as monochloramine and used as a disinfectant rather than chlorine. It is used because chlorine is a strong oxidizing agent and reacts with other compounds in the water supply to form nasties which monochloramine does not. It is used in about 25% of the USA. It is a requirement of the Department of Health in NZ that chlorine is used as it is a better disinfectant than monochloramine. All proteins are a double helix of phosphates with various amino acids hanging off them and all living things contain proteins. Chlorine reacts with amino acids and other nitrogen compounds to form monochloramine, then dichloramine and then trichloramine. This is called the chlorine demand when chlorinating water supplies and there will be no free available chlorine until this demand is satisfied. As the chlorine dissapates the equilibrium changes and the chloramines move back to monochloramine and this is the compound that irritates your eyes in a swimming pool and the compound that people think they are smelling as chlorine. The way to fix that problem is to add more chlorine and push ]the chloramines up to the trichloramine state and this is not so irritating. It is always the case therefore that chlorinated water supplies contain chloramines and they will not be removed by storage, heating or aeration, but will be moved to the monochloramine state which is the one that is most dangerous to your fish. The only way to remove the monochloramine is with chemicals such as sodium thiosulphate which is the active ingredient in treatments available from the pet shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diver21 Posted July 14, 2010 Report Share Posted July 14, 2010 sorry i thought that it didnt completly remove the chlorine but dissapated some of it, like 60% can you get chlorine test kits? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diver21 Posted July 14, 2010 Report Share Posted July 14, 2010 ok now im curious as to what will really remove chlorine, quick search on google came up with intresting results. the normal water conditioner RO my favorite: "just stick a piece of paper in it for one hour and it will collect the chlorine out of your water" lol granualated activated carbon boiling leaving the water in a glass container in the sun for a few hours i know the ro would but would a simple activated carbon filter do it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted July 14, 2010 Report Share Posted July 14, 2010 You can get water filters that will do it (like the ones you put under your bench, I think they use carbon) and I plan on investigating this for my continuous drip system (although ideally I'll just use rain water), but IMO Seachem Prime is the best bang-for-buck water conditioner. Its not that expensive over the long run, and although some people would claim its not necessary it gives you a bit of a margin of error if there is something wrong with your tap water (for example the thread a while back where the guy lost a heap of discus fry because of ammonia in his tap water). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted July 14, 2010 Report Share Posted July 14, 2010 The active ingredient in most chlorine removal systems is sodium thiosulphate. It breaks the chlorine and chloramines to harmless substances (sulphur and hydrochloric acid I think). I bought some from Warren in bulk ages ago but I don't know where he got it from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted July 14, 2010 Report Share Posted July 14, 2010 A problem with carbon is that it can absorb things then overload and dump them back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikBok Posted July 14, 2010 Report Share Posted July 14, 2010 A problem with carbon is that it can absorb things then overload and dump them back. so what would an ideal carbon change schedule be? I use the aquaone cartridges with wool/carbon and change every 8 weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted July 15, 2010 Report Share Posted July 15, 2010 so what would an ideal carbon change schedule be? Once every 5 weeks given constant usage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted July 15, 2010 Report Share Posted July 15, 2010 An ideal carbon change regime in my opinion would be to change from using it and remove the chlorine and chloramines with a product designed to do it. Or move to Christchurch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikBok Posted July 15, 2010 Report Share Posted July 15, 2010 An ideal carbon change regime in my opinion would be to change from using it and remove the chlorine and chloramines with a product designed to do it. Or move to Christchurch. i use stress coat or a more basic water conditioner to remove the chlorine etc. The filter cartridges are premade with carbon in them and I change them for new ones every 8 weeks. Been doing this for over a year and everything seems in order. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted July 16, 2010 Report Share Posted July 16, 2010 What are you using the carbon to achieve? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikBok Posted July 16, 2010 Report Share Posted July 16, 2010 What are you using the carbon to achieve? good question... I guess it takes out any impurities I've missed but I have been thinking about this and wondering if I actually need it at all. When i set up my first little AR380 just over a year ago, I did everything by the book and put in the filter cartridges which are premade with a layer of wool and carbon underneath. I changed them 6-8 weekly. But now I'm thinking I could just go to a wool layer by itself, by it in bulk and save myself a heap of money. The cartridges are convenient, don't leave loose wool fibres to get stuck on the impeller.. but soon start adding up in price. If I don't really need carbon at all, maybe it's time to ditch it. I'm also running an AR850 now, using the same type of filter system with noodles, black sponge, and wool/carbon cartridge. ok.. so who uses carbon in their filter and what is the purpose? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted July 16, 2010 Report Share Posted July 16, 2010 Suggestion.---If you don't know why you use it why not stop. I haven't used carbon in a filter for over 30 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikBok Posted July 16, 2010 Report Share Posted July 16, 2010 Suggestion.---If you don't know why you use it why not stop. I haven't used carbon in a filter for over 30 years. I might just do that! good to hear what other people are doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted July 16, 2010 Report Share Posted July 16, 2010 Might save some money and get your next tank that much closer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deepsound Posted July 16, 2010 Report Share Posted July 16, 2010 Suggestion.---If you don't know why you use it why not stop. I haven't used carbon in a filter for over 30 years.I do appreciate to read you. Definitely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted July 16, 2010 Report Share Posted July 16, 2010 I haven't used carbon in a filter for over 30 years. 10+ years for me, mechanical and biological filtration work far better than chemical IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henward Posted July 16, 2010 Report Share Posted July 16, 2010 evidence of chloramine in tap water - according to the test sheets of watercare, theya re not there. now, chloramine if im not mistaken is a reactinow tih amonia and chlorine? well... i have been using straight out tap water in my tanks...All of them including discus which are apaprently mroe sensitive.... no adverse effects. i asked for a test sheet and the chlorine in taps are almost non existent to none, evaporating before they reach your taps. none the less. i use no agers - none - and no problems and my fish are fat, huge and monstrous.... in sayign that, id otn know bout west, south or regional nz. if you are scared. try this get 5 goldfish - cheap comets or cold water guppies put them in the bucket - a big bucket, and leave them over night running a tap over it int eh kitchen or outside garden tap if next morning they are alive, perhaps thats a godo sign:D nz water is clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reptilez Posted July 16, 2010 Report Share Posted July 16, 2010 i live in Papakura/Franklin and never treat my water....i have never had any problems, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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