RE: [APD] Microwaving water for water changes a bad thing?

[Wright Huntley <whuntley at verizon_net>]

> Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2005 13:43:54 -0500
> From: "Wise, Nicholas" <Nicholas_Wise at lgeenergy.com>
> Subject: RE: [APD] Microwaving water for water changes a bad thing?
> To: "aquatic plants digest" <aquatic-plants at actwin_com>
>
> The reason chloroamine is added instead of chlorine is that chlorine is
> easily driven out by aeration.  Chloramine is mush more stable.

That is a strictly secondary benefit. It was discovered that chlorine 
combines with organics in the older water pipes to form carcinogenic 
trihalomethanes, like chloroform. Chloramine started being phased in to 
the larger water systems with higher risk about 10 years ago, with the 
timing dependent on the size of the system and the hazard level.

A few big systems like SF haven't had to do it until the last year or so 
because their water was so pure and free of organics from agriculture, 
etc. They get pure snow melt from the Sierras by way of the Hetch Hetchy 
system. Smaller towns still may be using chlorine, and the cancer threat 
is real, so carbon filtering water to make it potable (and harmless to 
fish) may be a very good idea.

Amquel was originally developed because many midwestern towns had enough 
ammonia from agriculture that was combining with the chlorine and 
forming chloramine, naturally, that aeration and standing didn't work. 
The half-life of agitated water containing chloramines can be 5 weeks or 
more. You can do the math yourself to see how it gradually builds up 
with even quite small water changes.

Amquel, Prime, Ammo Lock 2, etc. are good solutions for the display 
aquarium or community tank. The ammonia is available to the plants but 
doesn't harm the fish.

For the serious breeder, they are a potential disaster. Small baby fish 
depend (more than many think) on micro-critters we call "Infusoria." The 
formadehyde-like compounds used to tie up the chloramine is deadly to 
many living creatures up to the complexity of Daphnia and Hydra. The 
breeder should be aware that his protection of the adult fish could be 
starving their babies and slowing growth, stunting them, etc.

He/she should use two carbon filters in series, with a tap between and a 
valve to assure very slow flow through the filters. Testing between can 
catch the eventual tendency for "punch through" and let the first 
cartridge be replaced with the nearly unused second one, while a new one 
is placed in location #2. Chlorine and chloramine read the same on any 
cheap pool test kit (or the expensive identical one from the LFS). Test 
to be sure flow rate is slow enough, for chloramine is not easy to 
filter and requires somewhat longer contact time than many other 
contaminants.

Wright

--
Wright Huntley - Rt. 001 Box K36, Bishop CA 93514 - whuntley at verizon_net
                      760 872-3995

...frontier society offered ‘the most civilized type of association’ 
because it had ‘the absolute minimum of external regulation’ and 
therefore ‘the maximum of voluntary civility and morality.’
      ------ Isabel Paterson

               http://www.libertarianism.com/

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