How long does it take for dechlor to kill chlorine ?

[CHOMPERS]

...Google around a little bit, you'll find what you need as I don't know at what level you would like to start at.

I don't know, but I have heard of people dying from Googling their own information.

And I think it would be easier to instill common sense into some people by writing "Common Sense" on a big stick, swinging really hard, and...well, maybe that's a bad idea.

 

[CHOMPERS]

Wow great post thanks !

Nope. Very bad post.

 

[duke33]

I will change my water change habits. Thanks.

 

[tcarswell]

Nope. Very bad post.

seemed informative..... The mind always wants to take the shortest route. I am gonna definitely keep lugging my perfectly dechlorinated water in buckets. But ill be damned if I don't at least vacuum with a python but fill with buckets

 

[Diogenes]

I always add my prime first then fill up the bucket with proper temperature water. I feel this helps stir up the de chlorinator. But I usually also let it sit for 15 minutes before adding it to the tank. Is this over cautious ? Anyone know how long it takes for the stuff to work ?
Thanks fellas , and ladies,

Taylor

sodium hydroxymethanesulfonate like Amquel and I believe Prime, or even good ol' fashioned sodium thiosulfate works instantly. As soon as the molecule of Amquel or Prime comes into contact with a clorine or chloramine molecule the chemical reaction occurs and it is rendered inert. To speed up the process just stir, this increases the surface area of the reaction, and speeds up the dechlorinating.

 

[tcarswell]

sodium hydroxymethanesulfonate like Amquel and I believe Prime, or even good ol' fashioned sodium thiosulfate works instantly. As soon as the molecule of Amquel or Prime comes into contact with a clorine or chloramine molecule the chemical reaction occurs and it is rendered inert. To speed up the process just stir, this increases the surface area of the reaction, and speeds up the dechlorinating.

Thanks! yeah that is what I have been doing since the first page of this thread. Whisk stirring and allowing a good 15 minutes then adding the water to the tank

 

[CHOMPERS]

In the US EPA Guidelines require a minimum of at least .2 ppm of chlorine in all drinking water. It can be as high as 1 ppm and in rarer cases higher. (4 ppm is dangerous to humans.

The minimum is at the last home on a pipeline, not at the treatment plant.
My tap water is frequently 4ppm and above. I’m gonna die. It is typical for swimming pools in Florida to be over this amount as well. However I imagine this is for only drinking water but dogs frequently drink out of pools (and kids too).

Exposure to .2-.3 ppm chlorine will kill most fish "fairly rapidly”

Long term exposure or greater than 30 minutes of .003 ppm can have negative affects over time

Short term exposure or less than 30 minutes of .05 ppm can affect fertility over time

Interesting information. I didn’t know the effects were so drastic at such low levels.

Chlorine does burn the gills of fish

I’m glad that’s confirmed. It doesn’t take much of a stretch of the imagination to see this. If you still have the links from your research, it would be a treasure trove.

I also learned that the aerator on your faucet alone is enough to disperse nearly all of the chlorine

Big time false. Unfortunately you happened on some bad information on the way. I tested my water aerated and non-aerated and they tested the same. From my tests, it takes four to six hours (depending on the Cl2 levels) to fully dissipate by aeration.

The python does the same thing when the water splashes into the tank and actually removes some of the chlorine NOT all of it. They claim you don't need to add more chemicals if you don't want to and even recommend just adding dechlorinator to the stream as you refill the tank if you choose too.

Bad, bad, bad. Python has to do preemptive damage control as part of their marketing. Always take information from a company with a grain of salt. In this case, make sure that grain is Rock Salt.

Also aerating water with JUST chlorine will remove all the chlorine in usually under 24 hours. NOTE: This does not take care of any harmful metals in the water that some dechlorinators will remove.

Yep!

Chloramine

Even though chloramine is much harder to disperse from water than chlorine it's not as good at killing algae and other bacterias.

OUCH!!! Monochloramine (what you get in tap water) has an oxidation reduction potential far greater than plain chlorine (hypochlorous acid). That comment probably was written pertaining to polychloramines, which do infact have a low ORP in comparison to hypochlorous acid. Polychloramines is the end result when monochloramines can no longer oxidize organic compounds. This is found in dirty swimming pools, not tap water.

Usually a water plant that uses chloramine keeps the levels typically around 1 ppm.

Also if they add it at 1 ppm at the plant it's probably at about 1 ppm when it reaches your house.

That makes sense. However, I have detected chloramines levels in my tap water at .02ppm. I normally don’t have it in my water, so when they add it, it becomes a major issue. (To be explained later.)

Chloramine is made by combining chlorine with ammonia. If your water conditioner breaks down chloramine but doesn't neutralize ammonia to give the filters time to break it down to nitrate every water change your basically introducing ammonia to your tank.

Yes, this is true for chemically treating the water. For those using carbon filters to remove chlorine, carbon filters will let the whole chloramine molecule pass. Large carbon filters and carbon block filters will remove chloramines though. I have measured equal levels of chloramines coming out of my "Home Depot Special" carbon filter as went in.

Also it works in reverse: If you do a water change and don't add a dechlorinator to your tank and your water contains chlorine it could combine with any ammonia in the tank and create chloramine

Yep. Dr. Joe can tell everyone a story about one of my tanks that went berserk recently.

Chloramine does not burn the gills of fish but actually passes into their blood stream causing them to be deprived of oxygen. It's almost the same as nitrite poisoning.

Considering the ORP of monochloramine, I think the author got his information pertaining to polychloramines. I can vouch for the information on tissue damage. I had harvested some eating size turtles from a green swimming pool that was lake side. The pool had been treated with chlorine to levels in excess of 30ppm. The high levels of DOC pretty much guaranteed high levels of polychloramines. The turtles were alive when I removed them from the pool but their muscle tissues were bleached white indicating that they were severely anemic.

A fish affected by chloramine poisening will appear sluggish and "breath" heavily

Yep, seen it at .02ppm!!!

Oddly chloramine hasn't been proven to be deadly and is actually in a study being added to fish hatcheries to controll bacterial gill disease.

I lost over a thousand dollars in fish within 15 minutes because of chloramines and it happened right before my eyes. The first time it happened, I lost a silver aro and two really nice pbass. Both times there wasn’t any free chlorine, it was all chloramines.

I couldn't find anything on the affects of long term exposure of chloramine on fish

Mine are dead. I think that is about as long term as it gets.

My grand conclusion is if your water contains chlorine and you use a python with the addition of a water conditioner your fish should be fine…

But you just said:

Chlorine does burn the gills of fish

Exposure to .2-.3 ppm chlorine will kill most fish "fairly rapidly”

Long term exposure or greater than 30 minutes of .003 ppm can have negative affects over time

Short term exposure or less than 30 minutes of .05 ppm can affect fertility over time

My conclusion with chloramine is pretty much the same except from what I've read I don't feel like you have to be as carefull.

 

[packer43064]

May I suggest one thing..............don't use light blue. My eyes are straining like a M FK.

 

[tcarswell]

The minimum is at the last home on a pipeline, not at the treatment plant.
My tap water is frequently 4ppm and above. I’m gonna die. It is typical for swimming pools in Florida to be over this amount as well. However I imagine this is for only drinking water but dogs frequently drink out of pools (and kids too).



Interesting information. I didn’t know the effects were so drastic at such low levels.


I’m glad that’s confirmed. It doesn’t take much of a stretch of the imagination to see this. If you still have the links from your research, it would be a treasure trove.


Big time false. Unfortunately you happened on some bad information on the way. I tested my water aerated and non-aerated and they tested the same. From my tests, it takes four to six hours (depending on the Cl2 levels) to fully dissipate by aeration.

Bad, bad, bad. Python has to do preemptive damage control as part of their marketing. Always take information from a company with a grain of salt. In this case, make sure that grain is Rock Salt.

Yep!


OUCH!!! Monochloramine (what you get in tap water) has an oxidation reduction potential far greater than plain chlorine (hypochlorous acid). That comment probably was written pertaining to polychloramines, which do infact have a low ORP in comparison to hypochlorous acid. Polychloramines is the end result when monochloramines can no longer oxidize organic compounds. This is found in dirty swimming pools, not tap water.

That makes sense. However, I have detected chloramines levels in my tap water at .02ppm. I normally don’t have it in my water, so when they add it, it becomes a major issue. (To be explained later.)

Yes, this is true for chemically treating the water. For those using carbon filters to remove chlorine, carbon filters will let the whole chloramine molecule pass. Large carbon filters and carbon block filters will remove chloramines though. I have measured equal levels of chloramines coming out of my "Home Depot Special" carbon filter as went in.

Yep. Dr. Joe can tell everyone a story about one of my tanks that went berserk recently.

Considering the ORP of monochloramine, I think the author got his information pertaining to polychloramines. I can vouch for the information on tissue damage. I had harvested some eating size turtles from a green swimming pool that was lake side. The pool had been treated with chlorine to levels in excess of 30ppm. The high levels of DOC pretty much guaranteed high levels of polychloramines. The turtles were alive when I removed them from the pool but their muscle tissues were bleached white indicating that they were severely anemic.

Yep, seen it at .02ppm!!!

I lost over a thousand dollars in fish within 15 minutes because of chloramines and it happened right before my eyes. The first time it happened, I lost a silver aro and two really nice pbass. Both times there wasn’t any free chlorine, it was all chloramines.


Mine are dead. I think that is about as long term as it gets.


But you just said:

LMAO well said Chompers Helped me make sense of that rant

 

[NOLAGT]

There's some good info in here! I think I am going to do water changes on the 240 im setting up with my python and a 55gal garbage can like I posted a few pages back. I used to just fill and add a lil as I go...not no mo.