Chlorine V.S. Chloramines

[dalto]

Originally Posted by mr_X

As stated in the second link I posted, you'll have to do a few more steps and with a more comprehensive test kit than the one you have. I would just call the water company and see what they use. You may just be seeing chlorine.

They definitely use chloramines here. They have for many years.

[mr_X]

Then according to BRS, you must be going through carbon blocks frequently and perhaps letting some chloramines slip by.

[dalto]

Originally Posted by mr_X

Then according to BRS, you must be going through carbon blocks frequently and perhaps letting some chloramines slip by.

Since I have always had chloramines in my water I don't have any way to compare the speed I go through them now vs the speed I would go through them if I didn't. However, my current carbon block is over a year old.

Also, the results from the second link you posted seem to contradict the BRS video. Those results show that even using an 11 month old carbon block there was only a negligible amount of chloramines coming through.

[mr_X]

Well, I'm no chemist. I'm simply passing on information I have found on the internet, and it's up to you if you want to take it seriously.
I can tell you that I have seen countless threads started where folks can't figure out why their corals are declining, and despite water testing, are hitting brick walls and losing a lot of money and marine life.
Since it allegedly doesn't show up on a T.D.S. meter, it's worth a moment of consideration.

[aqua_holic]

Man I'm glad I'm strictly FW

[Andy Sager]

Please catch me up as I have been a little behind the times in saltwater aquarium water chemistry. Back in the 1980s, we started having chloramines added to the city water and Kordon came out with the product Amquel that was supposed to break the chlorine/ ammonia bond and remove or detoxify both chemicals. I understand that there is now Amquel Plus which continues the same processes adding other properties to help make water safer for fish and invertebrates ( fresh and salt). Is anyone still using these products and if so, would it help to use it then run the treated water through the RO or RODI filter to get a cleaner water more easily? Yes, it's one more step ( a 2 second maybe? process) but removes the ammonia portion that the RO filter doesn't?
Thanks for any clarification.

[mr_X]

The popular consensus is that the less additives you add to a coral/invert tank, the better off you are. If it's not in natural sea water, you don't want it in the aquarium.

If you were going to use the prime, it would probably be added at the very end. The water running through the filter is pressurized. A tough time adding it before the RODI, plus, why would you want to put yet another element(s) in the water you are using expensive filters to clean?
FYI, I go through a carbon block about every 2 months and sediment filters about every 3 weeks. I change the sediment out when it's brown, and the carbon I go by the TDS meter.

[dalto]

Originally Posted by mr_X

FYI, I go through a carbon block about every 2 months and sediment filters about every 3 weeks. I change the sediment out when it's brown, and the carbon I go by the TDS meter.

How much water do you think you pull through the unit per month?

[mr_X]

Well, it's a 150 gpd unit, and I have a booster pump on it for maximum efficiency, and I yeild about 100 gallons a week. Not sure how much waste that makes. Maybe 3 times as much?

[treemanone2003]

And then the waste is just as it sounds ? Down the drain and into the sewer ?


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium advice.

[mr_X]

Yes. Some use it to water plants, or do laundry. I do not.

[Andy Sager]

Originally Posted by mr_X

The popular consensus is that the less additives you add to a coral/invert tank, the better off you are. If it's not in natural sea water, you don't want it in the aquarium.

If you were going to use the prime, it would probably be added at the very end. The water running through the filter is pressurized. A tough time adding it before the RODI, plus, why would you want to put yet another element(s) in the water you are using expensive filters to clean?
FYI, I go through a carbon block about every 2 months and sediment filters about every 3 weeks. I change the sediment out when it's brown, and the carbon I go by the TDS meter.

I'm not very familiar with the specifics of RO or RODI filters, just the concepts. Would ammonia alone or chlorine alone be removed by these filters? If yes to one but not the other, wouldn't it be beneficial to break the chlorine ammonia bond prior to filtering?

[dalto]

Originally Posted by mr_X

Well, it's a 150 gpd unit, and I have a booster pump on it for maximum efficiency, and I yeild about 100 gallons a week. Not sure how much waste that makes. Maybe 3 times as much?

That is almost exactly the same as me. I wonder if my carbon lasts longer because my unit is after a water softener.

[dalto]

Originally Posted by Andy Sager

I'm not very familiar with the specifics of RO or RODI filters, just the concepts. Would ammonia alone or chlorine alone be removed by these filters? If yes to one but not the other, wouldn't it be beneficial to break the chlorine ammonia bond prior to filtering?

This would be very difficult to do as the unit requires quite a bit of pressure to work.