[Killietalk] Re:Water

[PB1212BBA at aol_com]

    Hi Duane,

    I am amazed at the bad reputation that has been attached to tap water. 
American municipal supplied water is the safest in the world. For PEOPLE. The 
bad rep comes from (surprise!) home water filter salesmen. Chlorine and 
Chloramine are seperate issues.
    Chlorine is volatile and can usually be removed from water in 24 hours by 
simple aeration or instantly by the addition of sodium thiosulphate (hypo). 
If your tap water only contains chlorine you are indeed very lucky. However, if 
your source water is high in organics, chlorine may react with them to form 
certain compounds that are thought to be potentially carcinogenic.
    For the reasons stated above the current trend is for cities to add 
ammonia to the water to make a longer lasting disinfectant, chloramine. The 
chloramine bond is harder to break and may last up to a month, but is a slightly 
weaker disinfectant (still does the job, though) and does not form the same 
compounds with organics. Simple aeration will not remove chloramines, but the bond 
can be broken chemically with sodium thiosulphate (hypo) which strips the 
chlorine. The problem for us as fishkeepers is that once the chlorine is removed, 
the ammonia is left in the water. Which is one of the reasons why we are 
changing water in the first place.
    Ammonia is very hard to remove from water, but carbon filtration will do 
it. Some conditioners will change the form ammonia takes, but will not 
actually remove it. Once in the aquarium it is best removed by biological means( 
sponge/corner filters, wet/dry filters, live plants, etc. ).
    Perhaps a greater concern is the hardness of the water, and which killies 
you keep depend more on this factor. Some need water that is close to pure 
H2O while others need seawater. Some will do just fine in most tap water. If the 
water is too hard for a certain species, they may live healthy happy lives 
yet never lay eggs, or else lay tons of eggs that never hatch. I will leave 
discussion of this subject to others who have more knowledge than I.
    You can find hardness and other information out by calling your local 
water plant and requesting a water analysis report. They should have one on hand 
and should be happy to send you one. I believe this information is mailed once 
a year in your water bill but most people don't bother saving it. If you have 
problems with red tape, make sure you have the number for the water plant and 
not the billing office, and request to speak with a water plant operator.
    I hope this helps clarify a complex subject,
        
Richard Arline
Hollywood, Florida

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