Which water treatment chemical do you use?

I just went to check and realized that I'm fresh out! But I believe it is Aqua plus.

Will chloramine evaporate in standing water? If so, how long till it is deemed safe? I am having a hard time getting a readout of what is in our water, so I am not sure if I am dealing with chlorine or chloramine.
 
I think I read somewhere that chlorine will evaporate from standing water, but chloramine will not (please, anyone, correct me if I'm wrong).

I use Bio-Safe from Marineland. It's supposed to remove chlorine, chloramine and de-toxify ammonia. The only thing that I find confusing is on the bottle, it says "for use in new tanks or water changes of 50% or more". Yet it gives instructions of "10 drops per gallon". Also, this is what the LFS recommended for water changes (not that I can rely on their advice for everything - thats why I have you guys ).

:D

I have been using it for 25% changes and haven't seen any detrimental effects from it.
 
Nothing you add can remove something. It may bind it. It may oxidize it. It may neutralize it in one way or another.

Knowing the what and the how underlies our decisions. Water conditioning is mostly water chemistry. The rest is brand loyalty, part of our cultural obedience training.

For instance, a layer of polymer coating the gills might not be what you're really after. On another tack, some artificial chelating agent, such as EDTA, might be very useful.

Hearsay just isn't a safe basis for guessing whether you are dealing with chlorine or chloramines. Please-- anyone-- correct me if I'm wrong!

C'mon gang, get some information. You're on the Web. This thread sounds like www.fishgeeks.com !
 
Ive used a whole load (depends where I get it as to whats available), and, although they basically all produce the same results, I would have to say that Aqua Plus is best.
 
Chloramine does not evaporate from what I know. This is the main reason why I am continuing to use chemicals right now. (I guess it's time for me to pick up the phone and find out what our city adds to our tap?)

So if I want to go the cheapo way, I should be fine with using WD's Chloro-Out for regular water changes and ocasionally use one of the other products that removes metals etc... I want to keep chloro-removal chemical since ocasionally, I may not have a chance to let the water sit for 24 hours or more...

Just curious, what do Python users use? Are they pumping chlorine-filled water directly into the tank? Also, what do they do with the temperature difference? I guess you have to attach it to the tap that has both hot and cold water? (Don't like it since hot water tank often contains additional metals...)
 
Wetman, you have forced me off of my lazy butt to look it up for myself ;) Shame on you!

This is from the web pages of the San Diego Koi club:

CHLORAMINE

Chloramine is a compound of chlorine and ammonia that is also added to tap water to control bacteria. It can also be formed by adding water containing free chlorine to a pond containing ammonia. If any ammonia is present in a pond, be sure and treat it before adding any tap water containing chlorine. To determine if chloramine is in your tap water, fill a 5 gallon bucket with tap water, add the proper amount of chlorine neutralizer, and then test the water for ammonia using your ammonia test kit. Chloramine is present if a positive indication of ammonia is found. Chloramine is difficult to measure quantitatively in low concentrations, and particularly when a combination of chlorine and chloramine is present.

Now not all of us have ammonia in our water to test for chloramine so it is a reasonable argument that if we add ammonia in a measured amount, add our de-chloramine product and then test for ammonia, the results should tell us if we have chloramine in our water. Unfortuately, I am out of de-chlorinator at the moment and it is Labour day so I can't perform the test myself. If there is a flaw in my understanding, please correct me.

Acceptable concentration 0

Chloramine does not decrease concentration nearly as fast as chlorine when exposed to air. It produces the same general effects as chlorine but is usually found in the lower concentrations that result in long term damage to the fish. The same treatment actions as for chlorine apply except that the ammonia remains after neutralization. A "healthy" bio-converter will take care of the ammonia or a chemical treatment may be used. Some commercial products incorporate treatment to both neutralize the chlorine and bind the ammonia components at the same time. Check the manufacturer's directions.

Also, the few links to chloramine I checked varied greatly in the length of time that chloramine would dissapate naturaly in standing water, from a week to a few weeks. Does anyone have a firm understanding on this?
 
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