Non-Chlorinated Water

[KiwiGal77]

Not new to the hobby, but this seems like a newbie-type question so thought I'd post it here.

Haven't kept fish anywhere that didn't have chlorianted or tank rain water before, so of course always used conditioners when doing water changes. If your water isn't chlorinated, is there still a need for the conditioners? Bearing in mind that the reason for not being chlorinated is because it's naturally very pure and safe, not because it's had other treatments instead.

Water is very soft (CaCO3 @ 45) with a pH of 7.8 - in case that makes a difference.

 

[itiwhetu]

I am on rainwater and don't use dechlorinator. Infact I have never used a dechlorinator in over 40 years of fish keeping. It is all to do with how big your water changes are going to be.

 

[Colin_T]

If the water does not have chlorine or chloramine in, then you do not need to use a dechlorinator in the water.

If you get water from a water company, then you will probably need to dechlorinate it. Contact the water company and find out what they add (chlorine or chloramine).

If you have rain water, dam water or well water, it will be free of chlorine / chloramine unless you have added some to it.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

I use bottled water due to awful tapwater, so I have no need for dechlorinator

 

[KiwiGal77]

If the water does not have chlorine or chloramine in, then you do not need to use a dechlorinator in the water.

If you get water from a water company, then you will probably need to dechlorinate it. Contact the water company and find out what they add (chlorine or chloramine).

If you have rain water, dam water or well water, it will be free of chlorine / chloramine unless you have added some to it.

Sweet, thanks! Our city's water is all from underground aquifers and has always been known as being very pure and clean naturally. Usually the water isn't treated, but they have been doing some minor chlorinating to most areas for the past 4 years while they've been upgrading the system, they're now applying for permits to go completely chlorine-free again.

So will of course continue to use water conditioners until it is confirmed that our area is no longer being chlorinated, but then it'll be good having one less thing to think about and one less expense for tank maintenance!

I wasn't sure if there was anything else the water conditioners like API Tap Water Conditioner / Aqua Essentials were doing to help make tap water safe outside of the dechlorianting.

 

[GaryE]

I wasn't sure if there was anything else the water conditioners like API Tap Water Conditioner / Aqua Essentials were doing to help make tap water safe outside of the dechlorianting.

They will say their products are essential, even without chlorine or choramines. They usually sell that with heavy metals in the water. They aren't needed in your situation. It sounds like you have excellent water

 

[kiko]

I'd say it all depends on how big of a water change you'll be doing....
myself I use tap water (chlorinated water) through a shower head filter to reduce it a little bit
but I only do 10% weekly water changes...
the problem starts when you want to do big water changes...
remember...chlorine takes about 2/3 days to go away...a small water change won't just kill your fish specially if you have a filter for it...you can buy them on amazon or something for 20 bucks
now...if you do a wc today...another one tomorrow when chlorine hasn't fully evaporated...another one the day after..you might just kill some fish that way...
ro water will also kill your fish so you have to remineralize it and fix it back to your current tank parameters
so be patient and just do 10% water changes with a minimum 3 days apart...this way you won't disturb the tank much and still get those water changes done...
PS: let the water run for like 20-30secs before using it to get rid of anything that came from your pipes from the water just sitting there...

 

[KiwiGal77]

I'd say it all depends on how big of a water change you'll be doing....
myself I use tap water (chlorinated water) through a shower head filter to reduce it a little bit
but I only do 10% weekly water changes...
the problem starts when you want to do big water changes...
remember...chlorine takes about 2/3 days to go away...a small water change won't just kill your fish specially if you have a filter for it...you can buy them on amazon or something for 20 bucks
now...if you do a wc today...another one tomorrow when chlorine hasn't fully evaporated...another one the day after..you might just kill some fish that way...
ro water will also kill your fish so you have to remineralize it and fix it back to your current tank parameters
so be patient and just do 10% water changes with a minimum 3 days apart...this way you won't disturb the tank much and still get those water changes done...
PS: let the water run for like 20-30secs before using it to get rid of anything that came from your pipes from the water just sitting there...

Sorry, I think you might have misunderstood my post. I'm talking about using pure, clean, soft tap water that has ZERO chlorine in it.

 

[kiko]

Sorry, I think you might have misunderstood my post. I'm talking about using pure, clean, soft tap water that has ZERO chlorine in it.

Pretty sure you mentioned your water being chlorinated and your water company applying for a license to stop using it....

 

[Guyb93]

I personally would still prime my water added simply because why not .
It will bind heavy metals and detoxify ammonia to some extent

For rainwater to have a ph of over 7 I’d be curious about that , from my knowledge rain water is normally 5-6 ph wise , could be wrong though

 

[kiko]

well I don't use anything...and I think that's the route he wants to go from my perception of his posts...
once no more chlorine...does he still need to do water chasing?
simply to put it...no
but since you never know if your water company will add chlorine to start fixing pipes down somewhere else....
safest bet...small water changes...or you can boil water or leave it in a bucket for like 3/4 days before adding it to the tank

 

[TwoTankAmin]

well water here- never dechlor for use in tanks.

I do dechlor plants after using a bleach dip to kill algae. But I am returning the plants to a tank with fish so I want to know the chlorine is "dead."

If one has the time and the space you can let water dechlorinate naturally. Chlorine and ammonia are both gasses, so they can evaporate. Chloramine is used because it is more durable in the water system than chlorine. But the bond between the chlorine and ammonia will eventually break and then the components cane evaporate.

What are the properties of chloramines?

Chloramines are formed during a reaction between chlorine (Cl2) and ammonia (NH3). Chloramines are amines which contain at least one chlorine atom, which is directly bond to nitrogen atoms (N). Inorganic chloramines are formed when dissolved chlorine and ammonia react. During this reaction three different inorganic chloramines are formed; monochloramine (NH2Cl), dichloramine (NHCl2) en trichloramine (NCl3).
Inorganic chloramines, free chlorine and organic chloramines are chemically related and can change into one another easily. These compounds cannot be found in isolated form. Inorganic chloramines are not persistent, however, these compounds are more persistent than freely available chlorine compounds. Research has shown that the half-lives of inorganic chloramines can vary from one minute to 23 days, depending on the circumstances.

from https://www.lenntech.com/processes/disinfection/chemical/disinfectants-chloramines.htm

 

[Colin_T]

For rainwater to have a ph of over 7 I’d be curious about that , from my knowledge rain water is normally 5-6 ph wise , could be wrong though

Pure rain water should have a pH of 7.0 and 0 GH and 0KH.

If the rain water has a pH below 7.0, then it is probably from a city or area with air pollution.

I have never known rain water to have a pH above 7.0, but if it did, either the test kit is wrong or there is something contaminating it, probably chemicals in the air.

 

[connorlindeman]

The other day I did a 50% WC on my tank and added the wrong chemical. I had only a little bi of prime left( afew drops) so I decided to add API dechlorenator to compensate. I accidentally added ammo lock instead of dechlorenator. Thankfully there was no problems.

 

[Oblio]

Pure rain water should have a pH of 7.0 and 0 GH and 0KH.

If the rain water has a pH below 7.0, then it is probably from a city or area with air pollution.

I have never known rain water to have a pH above 7.0, but if it did, either the test kit is wrong or there is something contaminating it, probably chemicals in the air.

I thought rainwater has a pH <7.0 due to slight carbonic acid from the CO2. This is what dissolves limestone to form terrestrial caves.