# Chloramine



## szl (Sep 18, 2015)

Good evening ladies and gentlemen.

After speaking with 311 and confirming that Toronto does treat their water with chloramine, I was wondering does anyone treat for chloramine specifically? I have a chloramine blaster from Aqua FX but Im not sure whether its worth using, because I would have to remove my carbon to put it in. 

I have read a few conflicting reports on whether RODI removes chloramine. The illustrious Randy Holmes-Farley claims that with "good" DI resin it will remove it. However, I am not sure what "good" entails.

Is it safe to use prime on my RODI water before I add salt? 

Any tips?


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

chloramine dissipates after 24 hours.

Just mix your water and wait a day. It's what I do


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## blunthead (Jan 24, 2011)

do they use chloramine and chlorine


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## bbgobie (Oct 13, 2016)

The threads in RC are saying chloramine will get through you carbon and destroy your do faster. I read the water report for Mississauga, and it did not say Chloramine was added. 

There's a guy in RC who went from something like monthly Di changes to 2 years with a Chloramine buster? That was in front of his other carbon blocks.

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## Patwa (Jan 30, 2014)

altcharacter said:


> chloramine dissipates after 24 hours.
> 
> Just mix your water and wait a day. It's what I do


got them mixed up, chief

chloramine is much more persistent than chlorine. Water conditioner removes chlorine (as does aerating the water overnight) much better than it does chloramine.

best bet if you need to use tap water in a pinch, aerate it overnight and use tap conditioner, or have a backup bucket of tap water that was been aerating all the while in the corner for emergencies like this, OR go to your nearby water store.



blunthead said:


> do they use chloramine and chlorine


yes

Anyone having this issue? just use RO+DI....if you can't fathom investing that kind of money to provide clean enough water for your animals, you're in the wrong hobby!

OP: you don't need to use Prime for RO+DI water...just feed into your top-up reservoir


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

Just read this from the EPA website....

The removal of chloramine is not necessary from a public health perspective; however, some
customers may choose to remove chloramine for aesthetic reasons. Placing a few slices of fruit
(e.g., orange, lime, lemon, mango, strawberries) or vegetable (cucumber) in a water pitcher will
effectively dechlorinate the water within a few hours. A peeled and sliced medium size orange
can be used for a 1-gal water pitcher and will completely dechlorinate the water in 30 minutes.
The fruit can then be removed from the water. The water pH will become closer to neutral or
acidic (if lime or lemon is used). The ammonia will not be removed but most of the fruits
contribute some or more ammonia than the drinking water.


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## Patwa (Jan 30, 2014)

altcharacter said:


> Just read this from the EPA website....
> 
> The removal of chloramine is not necessary from a public health perspective; however, some
> customers may choose to remove chloramine for aesthetic reasons. Placing a few slices of fruit
> ...


^^^ that's fine and dandy for humans and other human-related consumption issues, but we're talking about chloramine as it relates to *aquariums* (fish, plants, benthic animals, and corals) right?

Chloramine is toxic to fish, etc...one should always strive to provide the best for the animals, not the bare minimum. Remove chloramine as best you can, or move to RO+DI.

If you consistently use water with elevated levels of chloramine, you won't be doing your fish or any of the biota in your tank any favours, especially with sensitive marine animals (besides, tap water never hurt a silly goldfish or freshwater betta!). They will be weakened over time and I can guarantee you mortality rates overall will rise.


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## bbgobie (Oct 13, 2016)

Patwa said:


> ^^^ that's fine and dandy for humans and other human-related consumption issues, but we're talking about chloramine as it relates to *aquariums* (fish, plants, benthic animals, and corals) right?
> 
> Chloramine is toxic to fish, etc...one should always strive to provide the best for the animals, not the bare minimum. Remove chloramine as best you can, or move to RO+DI.
> 
> If you consistently use water with elevated levels of chloramine, you won't be doing your fish or any of the biota in your tank any favours, especially with sensitive marine animals (besides, tap water never hurt a silly goldfish or freshwater betta!). They will be weakened over time and I can guarantee you mortality rates overall will rise.


But Chloramine can blow through the carbon blocks and destroy your di.

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## bbgobie (Oct 13, 2016)

There's some interesting info here and also threads on RC about it. https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=lDkzTYUbdNQ

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## Patwa (Jan 30, 2014)

So what?

dealing with chloramine via a RO+DI filter is the preferred method reefers all over the world use. With a respectable RO+DI unit filtering standard tap water (at least in Peel, Toronto and the surrounding urban areas) you will *NOT* be exhausting your carbon blocks or DI stage any more or less than the next person who also uses that same method to clean their tap water.

If you're worried about the rate of exhaustion of carbon blocks and DI resin because of chloramine, you're definitely worrying too much. Reef tanks are costly; upkeep of a RO+DI system 24/7/365 is costly....no one ever said keeping a reef tank is cheap.

FWIW: my carbon block stage lasts 6 months easily. I replace my DI about every 4-6 weeks. I've been doing it this way for over 12 years - with Mississauga tap water.

I run TWO 1 micron carbon block stages.....that's one mod I would suggest to anyone running a single block stage on their RO+DI.

z


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## bbgobie (Oct 13, 2016)

As I posted earlier, the peel at least Mississauga water report says no Chloramine was added. If it is being added in your area though check the RC thread. There's a guy that went from something like Di exhausted in weeks to over a year from getting a Chloramine blocker. Maybe your hobby doesn't have e to be as expensive. You can do it however you want. 

I'm just posting info that suggests Chloramine is not being stopped by your 1 micron carbon filter. Read/believe it or not is up to you.

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## Patwa (Jan 30, 2014)

bbgobie said:


> As I posted earlier, the peel at least Mississauga water report says no Chloramine was added. If it is being added in your area though check the RC thread. There's a guy that went from something like Di exhausted in weeks to over a year from getting a Chloramine blocker. Maybe your hobby doesn't have e to be as expensive. You can do it however you want.
> 
> I'm just posting info that suggests Chloramine is not being stopped by your 1 micron carbon filter. Read/believe it or not is up to you.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk


Trust me, there's chloramine in your tap water if you live in the GTA. I work with government drinking water quality scientists (not a scientist myself, though)

There are ways to make this hobby cheaper  for sure! but, IMO, trying to cut corners on water quality should not be one of them. Placing 'saving $$' in front of the health of the animals in your tank is a total dick move.

Believe what you will. I have over a decade of personal experience with my RO+DI, tap water, and my aquariums ...and I know for a fact my two carbon blocks in my RO+DI removes chloramine.

EDIT: I have a feeling you think DI is the main stage where chloromine is removed (apologies if im wrong on that) ....that's not entirely true...it's essentially only the carbon blocks that does that job. If your carbon blocks are crap, or haven't been changed out, then the DI will go much more quickly (and you'll damage the RO membrane in the process).


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## bbgobie (Oct 13, 2016)

Have you read the thread or watched the video? I have never mentioned cost or not running rodi, you keep saying it. All I have ever said is there's strong evidence Chloramine gets through carbon filters and provided evidence of such. 

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## Patwa (Jan 30, 2014)

youtube is blocked at my work...you only posted a youtube video.

I really don't pay much attention to anecdotal evidence like what you'll find on RC threads. "John bought this and this happened over X amount of time" so it must mean that "this must be true and this must be false". That's *not science*, that's not fact....it's just interesting reading.

I rely on 1) years of solid science that says a 1micron carbon block plays the role of chloramine remover in a good RO+DI ....and 2) experience that says #1 works 100% (and in my case, my personal experience can't be ignored by me...hell no)


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