Yikes, yes - not helpful of them.
That's awful!! I am glad to hear they are steadily improving though!
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Hi - bit of a side topic but would you know of any test useful to check if the tap water does change because the water company is flushing or something?
All I could think of was maybe ammonia, chlorine and maybe copper testing of tap water during spring or something?
Every so often here I will go into the lfs and get told there have been tank issues from different owners which might be water related. I've never paid too much to it but now I'm wondering if there was something to it and how to pre-empt it.
Or if using Prime would solve it.
Thank you for the kind words.
Do you mean to say that you get snails in your tap water?
I know a guy here in town who is the relative of a supervisor at the city water treatment plant. I am going to see what I can find out.
Puzzling questions remain.
I wish I had a straight forward solution to this! Unfortunately, water companies are not legally required (in the US anyway) to inform you that they are flushing lines or super dosing any type of chemical treatment or switching water sources or switching disinfectants unless it poses a threat to human health. If it poses such a threat, they will send out a letter. Calling them to inquire about such things usually results in a run around as they are not legally required to answer anything. I think some companies are worse than others though as my municipality is equivalent to having a teeth pulled.
So, where does this leave us? It's good idea to keep tabs on your tap for changes that might indicate water sources have switched (such as big change in ph) or for the presence of ammonia (indicating a switch to chloramine or an increase in its use).
There are decent liquid chlorine tests available but you would need to purchase them from a pool supply store or online. Strip tests for chlorine or copper can at least give a ballpark range for levels (once again, these can be found in pool supply or online).
Beyond this, keep in mind Prime can be used safely up to 5x a standard dose. My tap is generally high in chlorine (you can smell it), so I play it on the safe side anyway and always double dose conditioner (triple dose if it smells particularly strong). Not scientific but considering I always change huge amounts of water, it's been a reasonable safety precaution. I do have liquid chlorine tests and copper strip tests by default as they are needed anyway to keep an eye on pool levels.
Running new carbon for a few hours after a wc would likely be helpful (then replace with your old media). And using an alternate water source (such as RO/DI) would eliminate any guesswork.
Not sure if any of this helps but it's the best I can offer!
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I wish I had a straight forward solution to this! Unfortunately, water companies are not legally required (in the US anyway) to inform you that they are flushing lines or super dosing any type of chemical treatment or switching water sources or switching disinfectants unless it poses a threat to human health. If it poses such a threat, they will send out a letter. Calling them to inquire about such things usually results in a run around as they are not legally required to answer anything. I think some companies are worse than others though as my municipality is equivalent to having a teeth pulled.
So, where does this leave us? It's good idea to keep tabs on your tap for changes that might indicate water sources have switched (such as big change in ph) or for the presence of ammonia (indicating a switch to chloramine or an increase in its use).
There are decent liquid chlorine tests available but you would need to purchase them from a pool supply store or online. Strip tests for chlorine or copper can at least give a ballpark range for levels (once again, these can be found in pool supply or online).
Beyond this, keep in mind Prime can be used safely up to 5x a standard dose. My tap is generally high in chlorine (you can smell it), so I play it on the safe side anyway and always double dose conditioner (triple dose if it smells particularly strong). Not scientific but considering I always change huge amounts of water, it's been a reasonable safety precaution. I do have liquid chlorine tests and copper strip tests by default as they are needed anyway to keep an eye on pool levels.
Running new carbon for a few hours after a wc would likely be helpful (then replace with your old media). And using an alternate water source (such as RO/DI) would eliminate any guesswork.
Not sure if any of this helps but it's the best I can offer!
Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice
I've heard prime mentioned a lot recently on this forum. What is it ? Is it just another water conditioner? I use api stress coat plus for waterchsnges. I'm sorry you lost your beautiful fish. Its made me more aware of my tap water. Ocassionally I have to leave my tap running as its cloudy first if all sometimes. Its been like this recently.
we're gona need a bigger tank (boat).. JAWS ~~~∆~~\o/~~