Brisbane City Council - Chlorine & Flouride

[redclaw]

I've just purchased a balcony kit and was wondering if the Flouride in the BCC mains is going to pose a problem for the fish?

Additionally, does anyone know how the chlorine is added to the supply (i.e gas or liquid)?

I've read that the commonest additive is chlorine gas and if the water is left to stand it will disperse and that adding aeration can speed it up. However some water companies are now adding liquid chloramine which does not disperse naturally, in which case, a water conditioner is required. Does using a water conditioner affect the fish or plants?

Thanks Greg

[GaryD]

Hi Greg,

I've just purchased a balcony kit and was wondering if the Flouride in the BCC mains is going to pose a problem for the fish?

Aside from giving them stronger teeth, I can see no likely issue with fluoridated water. Adelaide has been on it for decades.

I've read that the commonest additive is chlorine gas and if the water is left to stand it will disperse and that adding aeration can speed it up. However some water companies are now adding liquid chloramine which does not disperse naturally.....

It would pay to check with your particular water authority since it varies from place to place. I live near Ipswich and the water is treated with chloramine. I would guess than Brisbane Water would be doing the same thing.

Gary

[jack@badflas]

Chloramine does not dissipate with any amount of aging or bubbling. That is why they use it. Cheaper and more stable than chlorine. It must be neutralized or it will kill your critters. Fish can deal with a little. Crayfish can deal with none of it. I lost more than half of my crayfish when the town switched over and I didn't know. They published the change in the local newspaper, when I do not subscribe to.

Chloramine is not neutralized by chemicals that do not say so. Those that can deal with it take about 2 minutes per half life to convert it. That means you must add your water treatment 10 minutes before adding the water to the tank. Not doing so resulted in a loss of over half of my stock.

I live near Ipswich and the water is treated with chloramine. I would guess than Brisbane Water would be doing the same thing.

Gary

[nick]

i top up my tanks straight out of the hose and they do fine.
I think the amount of biological material in the tanks helps to break down the chloramine in a very short time.

[GaryD]

Hi,

If you sense that your chloramine levels are an issue, here's a removal method that I found on Wikipedia.....

“Chloramine can be removed from tap water by treatment with superchlorination (10 ppm or more of free chlorine, such as from a dose of sodium hypochlorite bleach or pool sanitizer) while maintaining a pH of about 7 (such as from a dose of hydrochloric acid). Hypochlorous acid from the free chlorine strips the ammonia from the chloramine, and the ammonia outgasses from the surface of the bulk water. This process takes about 24 hours for normal tap water concentrations of a few ppm of chloramine. Residual free chlorine can then be removed by exposure to bright sunlight for about 4 hours.”

Some water authorities dose more heavily than others. In Brisbane, the water starts off in much better shape than some other places so it probably requires less chloramine than others. In my former home state of South Australia, the water is revolting so they hit it pretty hard with disinfectants.

Personally, I'm pleased that I have plenty of rainwater.

Gary

[Crusty]

Sodium Thiosulphate will break the chlorine and ammonia bond and neutralize the chlorine. Your filter will deal with the remaining ammonia. Cheap as chips and you can not overdose it and kill your fish.

[jack@badflas]

It won't deal with chloramine. You need to know what they use, and you need to know before they change chemicals.

Sodium Thiosulphate will break the chlorine and ammonia bond and neutralize the chlorine. Your filter will deal with the remaining ammonia. Cheap as chips and you can not overdose it and kill your fish.

[Crusty]

It will deal with chloramine - you need to treat at 7:1 which is higher than chlorine treatment. Depending how far you are from the treatment plant will determine how much trace chloramine is coming out of your tap. Most waters are treated between 1 and 2mg/L (ppm) though by time it gets to taps it can be as low as 0.1ppm. In general terms treat at the higher rate to be sure. eg: 14mg sodium thiosulphate per liter of top up water. Been using it with chloramine water for years with no loss.

Further I have used chloramine water from the tap for my crayfish and again never lost one of them, however fish have a very low tollerance to it (eg 0.2ppm will kill fish). And then again I use chloramine T for biosecurity maintainance from 20 to 50ppm detpending on what I am dealing with, again no losses. The fish do however suffer from some burnt gills at 50ppm and recommended to stick to 20ppm for most species of fresh water.

But that said, I could be all together wrong as you suggest Jack.

[redclaw]

Thanks for the tips on removing chloramine, i think a rain water tank is next on the budget for our place.

i got this info from bbc website.
In Brisbane these chemicals are present in the water supply:

aluminium sulphate (alum) is added to combine with dirt and bacteria particles in water so that they settle and can be filtered out during the treatment processes. These processes leave only a fraction of the alum. Alum dosing makes the water slightly acidic
lime is added to reduce acidity so water doesn't corrode the city’s water mains
ammonia and chlorine are added to form chloramine, which kills bacteria. Chloramine is maintained in the water to ensure bacteria do not re-grow in the distribution system and the water remains disinfected
Thanks Greg