Any body up for a challenge??

[Essjay]

the main ingredient in your dechlorinator is vitamin C which is ascorbic acid

My dechlorinator does not contain ascorbic acid; it contains thiosulfate and EDTA. And water.

 

[itiwhetu]

My dechlorinator does not contain ascorbic acid; it contains thiosulfate and EDTA. And water.

Hi, you are the chemist, how does it work, what exactly does it do to the Chloramine that we can't do naturally. Or how can we set up a tank that will break it down naturally

 

[mbsqw1d]

I don't know if my water quality report tells me about chlorine/chloramine content.. it isnt chloride is it, thats salt right?

 

[Essjay]

Chloramine, as you know, is an ammonia and a chlorine joined together. Once they split apart they can be dealt with separately - letting the chlorine gas off and filter bacteria deal with the ammonia. But it doesn't split by itself, you have to add a chemical to do that. The thiosulfate in dechlorinators splits the chloramine into ammonia and chlorine. Ascorbic acid also breaks up chloramine.





Chloride is the anion of hydrochloric acid. It is not the same as chlorine. Chloride is Cl- (sorry, can't type - as a superscript) and chlorine is Cl2 (or 2 as a subscript).

 

[itiwhetu]

I understand that Chloramine will break down with time on its own. So it won't stay in the water of a tank for ever. Therefore if we can work out that time frame, we can let the biological filtration system deal with the ammonia and the chlorine will be released into the atmosphere. If the tank is acidic the ammonia will be converted to ammonium ( non toxic ).

 

[mhancock]

Different thought, I've wondered if it would be possible to set up a tank with continuous and slow water coming in (from tap) and then out (to the veg patch) at such a rate that temperature is able to be stable, but that no other filtration or chemicals are needed.

 

[itiwhetu]

Different thought, I've wondered if it would be possible to set up a tank with continuous and slow water coming in (from tap) and then out (to the veg patch) at such a rate that temperature is able to be stable, but that no other filtration or chemicals are needed.

Easily down and i have done this linked to a hydroponics set up great for raising large numbers of fry and feeding your lettuces at the same time

 

[Essjay]

But I for one could not have enough water standing round for however many weeks it would take for the chloramine to break down.

Say it took 10 weeks. I would need 10 containers of 100 litres water standing at any one time. My husband would divorce me. If it took 20 weeks, that 20 x 100 litre containers of water.
For those of us who don't live in large houses with gardens big enough to hold all those containers, it is just not practical.



If I tried to let 100 litres water stand even overnight to gas out chlorine he would complain.

 

[itiwhetu]

I understand Chloramine will break down in 72 hours in an aerated system. Therefore I would hope that under my system you could do a 25% water change and let the biological filter take care of it.

 

[seangee]

Chloramine take several weeks to months to breakdown and never goes completely. This is true even in the presence of vitamin C. Activated charcoal will remove it but leave behind the ammonia.

 

[kwi]

I understand Chloramine will break down in 72 hours in an aerated system. Therefore I would hope that under my system you could do a 25% water change and let the biological filter take care of it.

So what do the fish do with the toxicity during this 72 hours?

 

[kwi]

Perfect. Have you got chloramine in your water supply?

I didn't know for certain so sent an email to NI Water.
Turns out no.

 

[itiwhetu]

I didn't know for certain so sent an email to NI Water.
Turns out no.

So they are using only chlorine therefore under my system you do not need to be adding anything to your tank. The internal filters have activated carbon in them. The ammonia will turn to ammonium under acid conditions. No problem

 

[PheonixKingZ]

@Byron has stated that if you leave tap water out to sit for 24 hours, it will become aquarium safe.

 

[itiwhetu]

I am still figuring out Chloramine. But from my experience passing chlorinated water through a spray nozzle on a hose basically gets rid of the chlorine, the little bit left is dealt with in the tank. I have been told off on this site for saying this, but here is what I do. When I do a water change it is 25% and I fill the tank with the garden hose, spray nozzle, cold water. This perks up the fish, basically giving them a tropical down pour. I have bred dozens of species of fish. All of the more difficult ones have spawned partly because of this method of water changing. Just something for you to think about.