Post by carlrs on Jan 6, 2007 16:18:00 GMT -5
I have a new article out:
What should I know about tap water for my aquarium? From Chlorine and Chloramines to Phosphates;
There US standards for tap water quality (and I am sure other nations such as the UK have their own regulations too), but that does not mean that these allowed levels are safe for fish (or humans for that matter)
CHLORINE AND CHLORAMINES:
To start with most city tap water has chlorine, which is an oxidizer (A chemical substance that gains electrons in a redox chemical reaction), but this can kill fish by burning their gills and poisoning their blood. Some municipalities use chloramines because they are more stable than chlorine. Chloramines are a chemical compound of chlorine and ammonia and cannot be boiled our or allowed to sit for a few days to remove them before adding this water to an aquarium. You will need to remove chloramines chemically before adding tap water that contains this to your aquarium. Standard de-chlorinators such as “Start Right Water Conditioner” will remove the chlorine, but leave the ammonia (NH4) for either your bio filtration or Zeolite (freshwater only) to remove. These basic de-chlorinating products are simple Reducers (sodium thiosulfate) and are quite safe, even overdosed contrary to some opinions floating around.
Products such as Amquel or “Prime- (Removes ammonia, chlorine, chloramines, ammonia)” will remove the chlorine and neutralize the ammonia (and more). Prime is made from Hydrosulfite salts which are basically non toxic reducing agents made up of bisulfites and hydrosulfites, aqueous solution, buffered at pH 8. As mentioned earlier, reducing agents are basically non toxic at reasonable doses to fish and aquatic animals. Please see my article “Aquarium Redox Potential; How it relates to proper aquatic health”
INORGANIC CHEMICALS; Nitrites, Nitrates, Copper, Phosphates, and Fluoride:
Nitrites are allowed up to 1 ppm, yet at this level there can be some damage to fish gills. “Methylene Blue (for nitrite and ammonia poisoning)” can be used for treatment of nitrite poisoning, but it is best to avoid this. A good bio filter will generally remove trace amounts of this from tap water, as will products such as Prime.
Nitrates are allowed up to 10 ppm, yet at this level in human studies infants under 6 months can become ill and suffer symptoms such as Blue Baby Syndrome. Now this level has shown no ill effect in any fish studies I have seen, but levels above 20 ppm can harm some marine cephalopods. It makes since in many marine aquariums too use RO water to mix up your salt mix or top off for evaporation so as to not add to hard to remove nitrates in you marine aquarium.
Other allowed chemicals of note are Copper- 1.3 ppm, Phosphates (no standards) and Fluoride- 4.0 ppm.
For my full article please visit this link:
aquarium-answers.blogspot.com/2007/01/what-should-i-know-about-tap-water-for.html
Carl
What should I know about tap water for my aquarium? From Chlorine and Chloramines to Phosphates;
There US standards for tap water quality (and I am sure other nations such as the UK have their own regulations too), but that does not mean that these allowed levels are safe for fish (or humans for that matter)
CHLORINE AND CHLORAMINES:
To start with most city tap water has chlorine, which is an oxidizer (A chemical substance that gains electrons in a redox chemical reaction), but this can kill fish by burning their gills and poisoning their blood. Some municipalities use chloramines because they are more stable than chlorine. Chloramines are a chemical compound of chlorine and ammonia and cannot be boiled our or allowed to sit for a few days to remove them before adding this water to an aquarium. You will need to remove chloramines chemically before adding tap water that contains this to your aquarium. Standard de-chlorinators such as “Start Right Water Conditioner” will remove the chlorine, but leave the ammonia (NH4) for either your bio filtration or Zeolite (freshwater only) to remove. These basic de-chlorinating products are simple Reducers (sodium thiosulfate) and are quite safe, even overdosed contrary to some opinions floating around.
Products such as Amquel or “Prime- (Removes ammonia, chlorine, chloramines, ammonia)” will remove the chlorine and neutralize the ammonia (and more). Prime is made from Hydrosulfite salts which are basically non toxic reducing agents made up of bisulfites and hydrosulfites, aqueous solution, buffered at pH 8. As mentioned earlier, reducing agents are basically non toxic at reasonable doses to fish and aquatic animals. Please see my article “Aquarium Redox Potential; How it relates to proper aquatic health”
INORGANIC CHEMICALS; Nitrites, Nitrates, Copper, Phosphates, and Fluoride:
Nitrites are allowed up to 1 ppm, yet at this level there can be some damage to fish gills. “Methylene Blue (for nitrite and ammonia poisoning)” can be used for treatment of nitrite poisoning, but it is best to avoid this. A good bio filter will generally remove trace amounts of this from tap water, as will products such as Prime.
Nitrates are allowed up to 10 ppm, yet at this level in human studies infants under 6 months can become ill and suffer symptoms such as Blue Baby Syndrome. Now this level has shown no ill effect in any fish studies I have seen, but levels above 20 ppm can harm some marine cephalopods. It makes since in many marine aquariums too use RO water to mix up your salt mix or top off for evaporation so as to not add to hard to remove nitrates in you marine aquarium.
Other allowed chemicals of note are Copper- 1.3 ppm, Phosphates (no standards) and Fluoride- 4.0 ppm.
For my full article please visit this link:
aquarium-answers.blogspot.com/2007/01/what-should-i-know-about-tap-water-for.html
Carl
