Chloramine

John G · Post by **John G** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 2:58 pm

Just how dangerous is chloramine to fish and plants? For example, if I replace 2 gal of water which evaporated from my 75 gal tank, do I need to treat it with Prime or something like that? If I change 10 gal of water in a 55 gal? Is there some standard formula that can be used?

rodcon00 · Post by **rodcon00** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 3:22 pm

John

Chloramine is a disinfectant put into many municipal water supplies. It is replacing chlorine use because it is much longer lasting, so it continues to provide a disinfectant action in supply pipes, (chlorine typically loses its capacity to disinfect) it (chloramine) also does not react with organics nearly as readily as chlorine.

Chloramine is formed through the reaction of dissolved chlorine gas (forming hypochlorous acid) and ammonia in tap water. I can not think of two other chemicals that could be more toxic to fish. As for the effect on plants I am not certain.

I would definitely recommend treating with Prime. Also when purchasing a water treatment check to make sure it can treat Chlorine and Chloramine. Some products only treat Chlorine.

Hope this was helpful.

Rodney

John G · Post by **John G** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 4:28 pm

Rodney thanks for the comment. I know that several GWAPA members (Ivo Busko
comes to mind) do slow, automatic water changes, and don't use any treatment like Prime. I'm intersted in knowing just how slow the change must be.

tomterp80 · Post by **tomterp80** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 5:11 pm

My brother has well water, and does large water changes weekly due to a heavy big cichlid biomass. Normally this works quite well, requires no water treatment. However, he had his well worked on once, to repair a pump, and the repair crew evidently tossed a handful of chemicals (choramines?) in to negate the impact of their stirring things up.

Next time he did a water change, lost all his big clown loaches and half the other fish he had. He ran out to the store and poured Am-Quel in, just in time to save the remaining fish who were gasping for life.

Just a cautionary tale for anybody who thinks using well water is without chemical risk.

Jeff120 · Post by **Jeff120** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 6:14 pm

Adding 2 gallons to a 75 I wouldn't worry to much about, but the 10 gal to a 55 I would add dechlor

rodcon00 · Post by **rodcon00** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 7:12 pm

I know this is mainly a plant club but I must say the following.

For small volume water changes you could possibly add the water without treatment but it is important to stress that the amount of chloramine in the water can vary greatly. The water treatment plants occasionally increase the amount of chloramine they use in processing water. I am guessing that long term exposure of fish to any chloramine can not be a good thing. I would liken it to being kept in a room where small amounts of smoke are added without any air filtration. Sure a little bit at a time might not be a problem but over the long haul there is going to be a lot of smoke in the room and eventually it will begin to have physical effects on the occupants of the room. (I have no idea if this is a correct analogy.)

Chloramine is a very stable chemical you can not age it out of water it must be chemically broken with a treatment. Over time the chloramine levels could build up in the tank unless some water treatment is added to break the chloramine. I recommend treating the water for your water changes no matter how small. To me it makes very little sense to risk the health of your fish by playing water change roulette.

halak · Post by **halak** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 9:29 pm

Is there a cheap test kit to measure chloramine?

RTRJR · Post by **RTRJR** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 2:13 am

Doc wellfish makes an easy and quick chlorine & cloramine test kit. I use it routinely.

SCMurphy · Post by **SCMurphy** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 10:29 am

The WSSC does not use cloramines to treat water. I don't know about other areas. We get a dose of chlorine, fluoride, lime and orthophosphates. The WSSC indicates that sometime ammonia levels in the source waters rise and form chloramines which they say are noticable by strong bleachy odors and musty/earthy odors. This usually can happen after a periodof high runoff. So, to avoid chloramines in Montgomery county don't do water changes for 4 or 5 days after a heavy rainstorm, let the system clear.

http://www.wsscwater.com/info/wssc_wate ... report.pdf

From the website.

Due to rain, ice and snowstorms, river conditions can produce strong bleachy odors and musty/earthy odors. The strong bleachy odor is not an indication of increased chlorine. The odor is a result of the combination of the chlorine used to disinfect and ammonia in the runoff water (rain, melting snow and ice) producing chloramines. Chloramines are not harmful and in fact are used by some utilities as the primary disinfectant. However, under certain circumstances, chloramines produce a very strong bleachy odor. There are no adverse health affects from the odor.

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John G · Post by **John G** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 10:40 am

Fairfax County does use cloramine.

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