Best way to remove chloramines?

[kavin2845]

Started putting together pieces for my new fish room(buying central pumps, tanks etc.) and was originally planning on running a drip system to reduce the need for water changes
My original plan was to just run an RO/DI unit directly inline from my supply to a central pipe in the room and install drip emitters to the tanks. But I don’t want to remineralize the RO/DI water plus Remineralized RO/DI water might be overkill for my application, not to mention the waste RO/DI water produces.

What are some ways you guys removed chloramines from your water supply? I would prefer a way to filter it inline and supply directly to the tanks, don’t want to deal with a storage container, pumps, dosing pumps etc. but I will if I have too lol!

Any ideas?

 

[nzafi]

I use the carbon block filters from BRS that are designed to address both chlorine and chloramines. You run two in-line. Reputable aquarium supplier and they have a video on how they tested their product versus other products.

If you want something that is more long term do a search for chloramine filters for posts from Charney. He purchased a much more expensive chloramine filter (~$700) but lasts for a ridiculously long time and might be cheaper in the long term.

 

[squint]

Catalytic carbon will break the chlorine-ammonia bond in chloramine but it still leaves ammonia behind. RO/DI can clean up most of it but then you have to remineralize. It'd be difficult to automate remineralization.

I would avoid RO/DI unless absolutely necessary.

If it were me, I'd have an IBC or other large storage container and just use a dechlorinator to deal with chloramine. Heat up the water and then use a system of pumps and hoses to do water changes.

 

[kavin2845]

Catalytic carbon will break the chlorine-ammonia bond in chloramine but it still leaves ammonia behind. RO/DI can clean up most of it but then you have to remineralize. It'd be difficult to automate remineralization.

I would avoid RO/DI unless absolutely necessary.

If it were me, I'd have an IBC or other large storage container and just use a dechlorinator to deal with chloramine. Heat up the water and then use a system of pumps and hoses to do water changes.

Yeah it’s a tricky situation, the issue with the chlorine blocks is that they don’t remove the ammonia, wondering if there is a way to medicate the water inline, I’ve seen neoprodigy’s thread where he used a water powered dosing pump to medicate prime to the water,

Has anyone done anything similar to this? My issue would be the reliability of the pump, Neoprodigy said his first pump died in one year, which sucks considering those pumps are $200+

 

[squint]

If you were going to rig some kind of auto doser it might as well be dechlorinator for tap water.

Alternatively, you could dose dry powder to remineralize RO/DI water.

However, it would be more dangerous if the dechlorinator failed to dose rather than remineralization.

RO/DI is kind of a hassle and even more so if you try to automate it.

 

[nzafi]

Correct if I’m wrong, but wouldn’t the introduction of ammonia be the same as your fish generating ammonia? If you have enough bio, your filters should convert it the same way.

 

[squint]

I don't know how much ammonia fish produce but I think it could be researched or calculated from nitrate increase over time. Then it could be compared to tap water levels.

My ammonia is usually 0-0.04 mg/L but tap water is around 0.2 (I rarely bother testing tap water). The question then is if that 0.2 or so is reduced before exposure to it becomes dangerous.

There are also spikes ~2 hours after feeding that might actually be higher than that from a water change.

If bio filters could take care of it, why did we need second generation dechlorinators like Amquel or Prime? The Amquel/ClorAm-X patent covers the history of dechlorinators and claims prior methods of dealing with chloramine were inadequate.

 

[nzafi]

RD. I think you’re the resident expert on this. Thoughts?

 

[RD.]

I'm no expert, but will share what I have posted on this subject in the past.

The toxicity of free ammonia is highly dependent on both temperature, and pH, so this can vary GREATLY from one hobbyists tank to another.

A good read on the toxicity of ammonia and fish can be found in the following article posted on the krib.

http://www.thekrib.com/Chemistry/ammonia-toxicity.html

Experiments have shown that the lethal concentration of free ammonia for a variety of fish species ranges from 0.2 to 2.0 ppm.

Experiments have shown that exposure to un-ionized ammonia concentrations as low as 0.002 ppm for six weeks causes hyperplasia of gill lining in salmon fingerlings and may lead to bacterial gill disease. At higher levels (>0.1 ppm NH3) even relatively short exposures can lead to skin, eye, and gill damage in some species.

Obviously free ammonia (NH3 ) is toxic to fish. How long that toxin will remain in one’s tank, and how toxic it will be, will be dependent on a number of factors. Temperature of water, pH value of water, planted tank vs non-planted, size of biological filtration, whether the biological filters are well established, or not, size/volume of water change, species of fish, age of fish, etc.

IMO NH3 is very much along the same line as second hand smoke, something that my generation ignored for several decades.

 

[nzafi]

Still not clear to me. Is the small amount of ammonia that is created from the chloramine a problem or can the B.B. in the filters handle it like ammonia produce by your fish.