Effect of chlorine on fish?

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Big Business

Gambusia
MFK Member
Sep 6, 2005
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What exactly does chlorine in diluted amounts (like tap water) do to fish?

For the longest time I had been aging my water before adding it to my tanks, until I spoke to a guy at my lfs who changes the tank water. he said he pumps the water in directly from the tap and his fish are extremely healthy.

So for the past few months I have added water directly from the tap (making sure the temp was the same) with no ill effects. I just add some dechlorinator while it’s filling up and the fish don’t seem stressed at all
 
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fishmaven

Feeder Fish
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Sep 9, 2006
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www.fishmaven.net
What exactly does chlorine in diluted amounts (like tap water) do to fish?
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In order to give a proper answer I have to qualify my statement. Chlorine and chloramines are two entirely different substances. While one can be eliminated easily (chlorine) the other has to be neutralized (choramines).

From my experience, low levels of chlorine do little to effect fish in an aquarium. In the past some aquarists actually purposely left chlorine untreated when doing water changes. I find that practice risky and unadvised. Dechlorinator is priced so inexpensively there's no reason NOT to use it.

Chloramines are an entirely different matter. Low levels of chloramines have been linked to the death of fish even several days after a water change. Several products are available to neutralize chloramines and when used properly work sucessfully. Inexpensive accurate test kits are readily available and can eliminate the question of how much and when. Simply test rather than chance losing your fish pets.
 
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stotty

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 12, 2005
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fishmaven;585242; said:
In order to give a proper answer I have to qualify my statement. Chlorine and chloramines are two entirely different substances. While one can be eliminated easily (chlorine) the other has to be neutralized (choramines).

From my experience, low levels of chlorine do little to effect fish in an aquarium. In the past some aquarists actually purposely left chlorine untreated when doing water changes. I find that practice risky and unadvised. Dechlorinator is priced so inexpensively there's no reason NOT to use it.

Chloramines are an entirely different matter. Low levels of chloramines have been linked to the death of fish even several days after a water change. Several products are available to neutralize chloramines and when used properly work sucessfully. Inexpensive accurate test kits are readily available and can eliminate the question of how much and when. Simply test rather than chance losing your fish pets.
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:iagree: Well you asked this is spot on but I will add.

chlorine, present in most tap water, is toxic to fish. Chlorine affects the gills and can causes death by asphyxiation.

A good water treatment will remove both chlorine and chloramines

In the United States, regulations require that all municipal be treated with chlorine to limit bacterial growth. However, water treatment companies may choose to use either chlorine or chloramine.

In recent years, water treatment plants have turned to chloramine as an alternative to chlorine. Chloramine combines ammonia with chlorine, which gives it the advantage of being more stable than chlorine by itself. Using Chloramine makes it easier to attain the legal level of chlorine in the water.
:D
 
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fishmaven

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 9, 2006
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Houston, Tx
www.fishmaven.net
In my first response I forgot part of your question about what chlorine does to harm fish. I've been told it burns away the gill filaments disabling the ability to get oxygen. I have examined fish thought to be killed in this manner using a microscope and found gill filaments destroyed.

I've also found this resource for water quality questions:
http://www.epa.gov/safewater/mcl.html/ unfortunately this website must have been built by Microsoft because you can't get there from here directly. This is how I found it: Google Search -"water quality fed standards" then when offered choices choose "drinking water standards", you get the link I just listed.

Be sure to check out the FAQ section. Then just explore...
 
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meetzohaib

Feeder Fish
Sep 22, 2013
1
0
0
Abu Dhabi
I recently purchased 3 goldfishes here in Abu Dhabi and used tap water with some anti-chlorine. In the beginning everything seemed fine but the next morning I noticed one of the fish was dead and the other two were in bad condition. I was too upset because of this but was not able to understand why this is happening. Finally I had this idea of shifting the fish to drinking water and there I managed to save one. My experience with tap water even after adding anti-chlorine was horrible so I will not suggest others to use it.
 
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skjl47

Goliath Tigerfish
MFK Member
May 16, 2011
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Tennessee
meetzohaib said:
I recently purchased 3 goldfishes here in Abu Dhabi and used tap water with some anti-chlorine. In the beginning everything seemed fine but the next morning I noticed one of the fish was dead and the other two were in bad condition. I was too upset because of this but was not able to understand why this is happening. Finally I had this idea of shifting the fish to drinking water and there I managed to save one. My experience with tap water even after adding anti-chlorine was horrible so I will not suggest others to use it.
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Hello; Might it be possible that there is something in the tap water in addition the chlorine? Here in the USA many things have been reported in tap water such as caffeine, antibiotics and other medications. Water will pick up stuff from the environment and much is not removed by most current water company treatment methods.
 
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