Of chlorine, chloramine, carbon and zeolite.

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WinstonCourt

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May 30, 2010
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My recent move has brought me to a water supply which uses chloramine in the treatment. While carbon will remove the chlorine, the ammonia is left behind. I find that simply running one filter bag of carbon and one filter bag of zeolite, or ammonia granules, in another bag works well. I simple toss them in the same filter and let them do their thing. Each water change, I exchange the ammonia granules with another bag with has been recharged in salt.

This is much cheaper than the product they sell, a combination of carbon granules and zeolite, and used for the same purpose.

I am sure one charge on the zeolite would probably be good for a few water changes. At some later date, I will play with that.
 
Carbon is excellent at removing chlorine, zeolite is excellent at removing ammonia.

coach_z said:
Carbon removes chlorine??

A few drops of Prime by Seachem will take care of the chlorine and neutralize any ammonia you have in your tank, take a lot less time to do, and use a lot less materials. Will also cost less in the long run.
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This: 'Fresh carbon will adsorb chlorine.' from here: http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/water/chlorine.shtml

Now, some might say only fresh carbon will grab onto chlorine. And, this may be very true, in a drinking water system where conditions are held at, or near, sterile.

Not so in an aquarium. A phenomenon called 'biological regeneration' of the carbon occurs. This impressive term simply means the microorganisms living on the carbon keep 'eating' the stuff the carbon absorbs and when rinsed and cleaned, the 'bad stuff' goes away with microorganisms. Plus, this biological regeneration also has the microorganisms creating salts and various other, benign, salts from the chlorine, etc., such as sodium chloride, potassium chloride, etc.

Here is a fairly recent water quality report of my water:
http://www.calwater.com/wq/ccr/2009/stockton-stk/index.php?page=Table

if you happen to view the above, you will see there are some very non-desirable chemicals in this water, such as Bromodichloromethane, Bromoform, Chloroform, Tetrachloroethylene and a few others, SeaChem Prime will not remove those. The bio-regeneration organisms living on the carbon can.

SeaChem Prime has its place in emergencies, non-established aquariums, etc. But, give me years old carbon in mine.

 
WinstonCourt said:
...... Plus, this biological regeneration also has the microorganisms creating salts and various other, benign, salts from the chlorine, etc., such as sodium chloride, potassium chloride, etc........
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checked your salinity recently then , and all we was saying is it would be cheaper and EASYIER to just use declor or even better RO/DI
 
Was not finding fault.

flossyfloofloo said:

checked your salinity recently then , and all we was saying is it would be cheaper and EASYIER to just use declor or even better RO/DI
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I tend to agree with you, whole heatedly in fact. It might well be cheaper and easier. I find no argument with what you present. That is for others to determine.

Here, you can buy about a lifetime supply of simple dechlor, would be fine on chlorine based systems. 1gm in 1 liter would give you a 1% solution: http://cgi.ebay.com/Sodium-Thiosulf...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19bbcc1daa

On ammonia and the ammonia contained in chloramines? I find this:
Why Not Just Use an Ammonia Remover or Ammonia Detoxifier?

Using a chemical to bind, take up, neutralize, or block ammonia, is not only unnecessary and undesired, but it is counterproductive and will be harmful to the stability of your tank in the long run. Additionally, using these chemicals can be misleading.
These chemicals will bind the ammonia into a form that is not going to be bothersome to your fish, but also is unavailable to your biological filter. This means that your biological filter will not have the nutrients it needs to stay viable and it will deteriorate. Then, when the chemical has absorbed all the ammonia it can, the ammonia will begin to build up in the tank in a form that is dangerous to your fish and will cause ammonia stress. Since your biological filter has been being starved, it is unable to process this waste and your tank will begin to cycle again.
Also, these chemicals often do not bind the ammonia away in a manner that makes the ammonia undetectable by standard ammonia tests, so it will still appear that your tank has a high ammonia level if and when you test the water for ammonia. In addition, some of these chemicals will even read as ammonia themselves on some tests, so you may get a reading for a much higher ammonia level than in is the tank. This can be very misleading and confusing, and it is all because of the use of an unnecessary chemical treatment.
Though ammonia removing chemicals can be helpful in the short term for dealing with a crisis situation, their regular use should be strongly discouraged.


From here:
http://www.firsttankguide.net/ammonia-removers.php

This is one of those things I just find to be a matter of personal taste and preferences in aquarium keeping.

The salinity in my tank results from being in an area where salt water intrusion happens. I have never seen burning of the plants from an excess of sodium. Perhaps you are referring to the exchange that is taking place in the zeolite? Where sodium ions are being exchanged? Yes, that must surely occur, but doesn't seem to affect plant growth or health. Luckily, sodium is one element required for plant growth. But, some very non salt tolerant plants are best left alone, you are correct.
 
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I use bulk thiosulphate and have chloramine in my source water. Water changes of 50% weekly cause no issues with ammonia. I actually tested it once and found the slightest trace of ammonia in the tank immediately after a change. An hour later level was zero again.
 
And, yet, another 'style.'

SubRosa said:
I use bulk thiosulphate and have chloramine in my source water. Water changes of 50% weekly cause no issues with ammonia. I actually tested it once and found the slightest trace of ammonia in the tank immediately after a change. An hour later level was zero again.
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I live at the head of the water distribution system. Chloramine levels are high here. Across town, through miles of pipeline, chloramine levels are much lower. When there is a levee break, and some contamination of drinking water occurs, they go to max levels of chloramine. They have even employed iodine in the system, another element carbon is hungry for and is necessary to some biological life and open to bio-regeneration of the carbon.

If it works for you, who is to fault you?
 
Carbon does not regenerate by it self...take a few hundred degrees of temp to free up the bond...Prime is much easier..
 
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