chloramine Question

riche · Mar 7, 2016

I know a ro/di unit's removes all the bad stuff but I was reading a article and a lot of water departments are adding Chloramine to there water systems.

So after researching its says that the carbon in the ro/di filter will remove the majority of this stuff but I am starting with new everything

So My question is adding prime to my water after mixing it or using it for top off a good thing.

Prime claims to remove chlorine, chloramine and ammonia.

I have used it in my freshwater tanks and just add it between water changes or when I start up a tank

With s/w should I add prime to the tank when I fill it, when I top off and do water changes?

Cory · Mar 7, 2016

Are you thinking of using tap water to top off your evaporation? If so id use prime.

If your question was about being worried if an ro/di will remove chloramine, yes i think the carbon block removes the chloramine. Otherwise it would destroy the membrane and tds would go way up.

riche · Mar 7, 2016

No I will use ro/di water for top off. Im just thinking prime is good at removing this stuff, so I guess it wont hurt.

Just wondering if I should put it in the mix tub(salt and ro/di water or direct into the tank

Cory · Mar 7, 2016

I wouldnt both adding it at all. Ro/di shouldnt have any chloramine. Salt mix shouldnt either.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 8, 2016

IME, and in my survey of lots of reefers, most RO/DI units adequately remove chloramine. Mine does.

If you are concerned, I'd get a cheap chlorine kit and test the effluent from your system and see if anything special is needed (a special carbon block, etc.).

I discuss it here:

Chloramine and the Reef Aquarium - Reefkeeping.com
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-11/rhf/feature/index.htm

acidtablockshifty · Mar 8, 2016

thread hijack,...Randy I have a bottle of flourish for fresh water and I would like to use it to add some trace elements, instead of just tossing it. The bottle says it has 1.15% chlorine, can i just add some of this to a bowl of top off water and let sit for a few days and then be safe to dose it. Maybe mix a little bit of prime in there. Trying to get my macro algae back after it never really came back from the last trimming. I have tried iron, other levels like mag should be fine, have nitrates, could use new bulbs.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 8, 2016

Despite the wording, there is no chlorine (Cl2) in Seachem Flourish. It is chloride, which is exactly what you'd want as the counterion to the positive charges (like potassium) in the product.

acidtablockshifty · Mar 9, 2016

So is that okay or will it form into something else. I have already used the stuff before just wanted to make sure it was alright. When i used it last i had a lot of things going on with the tank in a short time period, so I really couldn't tell you what the outcome was except that I'm pretty sure the chaeto loved it. Trying to make changes much slower now unless its required immediately. I remember doing a water change calculator and the amount of water to make the whole system new was just ridiculous, so i can see how the trace elements just get depleted and how much water you would have to religiously change to bring them back up, not to mention if the salt mix has just enough to make an initial batch good.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 10, 2016

acidtablockshifty said:
So is that okay or will it form into something else. I have already used the stuff before just wanted to make sure it was alright. When i used it last i had a lot of things going on with the tank in a short time period, so I really couldn't tell you what the outcome was except that I'm pretty sure the chaeto loved it. Trying to make changes much slower now unless its required immediately. I remember doing a water change calculator and the amount of water to make the whole system new was just ridiculous, so i can see how the trace elements just get depleted and how much water you would have to religiously change to bring them back up, not to mention if the salt mix has just enough to make an initial batch good.

I worry that you may not need or want as much of some of the ingredients (such as copper) as are present, but I have no idea how much they add.

None of the inorganic ingredients will go bad. The amino acids (from the protein) in it may slowly degrade, but I doubt they will hurt anything.

It probably also contains a little phosphate from the hydrolyzed protein, so if you see a problematic rise (you may not), keep that source in mind.

These are the ingredients:

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Flourish.html

Derived from: Potassium Chloride, Calcium Chloride, Copper Sulfate, Magnesium Chloride, Ferrous Gluconate, Cobalt Sulfate, Magnesium Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Boric Acid, Sodium Molybdate, Zinc Sulfate, Protein Hydrolysates.

tigÃ©21v · Mar 12, 2016

I add it to the finished water. One of our local club members lost almost everything a few years back when her RO/DI system was compromised. Prime is cheap enough, and Safe (powder form of Prime) is even cheaper. I figure it's inexpensive insurance.