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Re: Chlorine
>>>>> Cliff Lundberg <cliff at noevalley_com> (here: "CL"),
>>>>> on Sat, 31 Oct 1998 16:05:44 -0800,
>>>>> pondered the meaning of life, then wrote down:
CL> From: IDMiamiBob at aol_com
>> It is intended to use with tap water, and works safely
>> only because the chlorine evaporates out overnight, and
>> the 25% level dilutes it enough to be harmless until then.
CL> Does chlorine only dissipate though evaporation? I always
CL> presumed a lot of it combines with stuff in the tank water.
That's what you *don't* want. Chlorine does quite a number on fish gills
and sometimes snails. Plants can recover from the damage, a lot of fish
can't. High chlorine levels can also kill beneficial microorganisms.
You should take Bob's 25% number with a grain of salt. It might work in
his tank(s), but it may not work in yours. It certainly doesn't in mine.
I can only get away with 15-20% straight-tapwater change before I start
losing cardinal tetras.
I've learned the hard way not to trust my tapwater too much and unless the
change is really small, I always use a dechlorinator. In my case, it's the
chloramine that's more important, and that doesn't evaporate very easily.
Carlos E. Munoz
<cmunoz at crystal_cirrus.com>