Chloramines in local water supply

Pet expert says fish owners will need to adjust treatment- By Kelli Williams E-E City Editor

Area fish owners will need to adjust the dosage of treatment used to declorinate their fish water once the City of Bartlesville begins to add chloramines to its water treatment process, local pet store owner Kathy Keim told the Examiner-Enterprise recently.

Keim, who owns and operates Classic Pets in Bartlesville, said that all water added to existing fish habitats as well as new tanks must be treated for chloramines.

Otherwise, “the fish will die,” she said.

“You need to make sure that you treat any water you add to your fish bowl, aquarium or garden pond because chloramines does not dissipate like chlorine,” Keim said. “You normally would need to either change water treatment or double the dose of what you’re currently using.”

The city is expected to switch its current disinfectant system from free chlorine to chloramines in order to meet EPA regulations.

For the full article, click on the link above.

Comment:
Many municipal water districts are switching from chorine to chloramines due to the stability of Chloramines as compared to chlorine.
Unfortunately the advice given is not totally correct (depending on the product being used). Doubling the dose of a standard water conditioner that is designed to removed chlorine (usually the active ingredient is Sodium Thiosulfate or similar) will not remove the ammonia that makes up chloramines. Chloramine is ammonia and chlorine combined and the standard de-chlorinating product will break this bond releasing the ammonia and neutralizing the chlorine. This ammonia can be removed by bacteria in an established aquarium if water changes are small enough (20%), however this is often not the case in smaller tanks or bowls where larger water changes are the norm. In these cases products such as Prime should be used.

In tanks over 20 gallons, smaller more efficient water changes are the answer as there is less toxic ammonia released in a 20% water changes that cannot be removed by bio filtration. Using a gravel vacuum is an efficient way to remove mulm and water.



For even larger aquariums (over 60 gallons or more) I would also suggest the aquarium cleaning machine as this device can perform an efficient water change, then be set to re-circulate and further vacuumed while the water passes through micron filters that can even trap diatoms and similar size organic debris or contaminents.



For more information about water conditioners, please see this article:
AQUARIUM WATER CONDITIONERS

Or this article about Tap Water:
What should I know about tap water for my aquarium? From Chlorine and Chloramines to Phosphates