Garden Hose Chlorine Remover

[thurmanrd]

I refill my tanks after water changes with a garden hose. I know that most people just add Prime or something as the tank is refilling or immediately after the tank refills. But our tap water has a lot of chlorine and it always makes me nervous that the fish will be exposed to too much during the refill process. Recently, I learned that there are hose attachments that remove chlorine and heavy medals sold to organic gardeners. There are a number of brands online. None of the adds mention aquariums (one mentions ponds), but I'm wondering it it might be safe to try. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

 

[AbbeysDad]

I haven't heard of it but would feel it's safer to use a dechlorinator intended for your aquarium. I Like Seachem Prime or Safe as it will also neutralize ammonia in a pinch. However, there are other good conditioners out there.
Always add dechlorinator just before refilling and read the directions as some recommend adding an amount for the entire tank volume, not just the amount of fresh water being added.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I have never heard of that before, so I don’t suggest using it.

Just use a liquid, or power, de chlorinator.

 

[Byron]

Stay with aquarium dechlorinators. Add the amount needed for the fresh water volume being added, just before you begin to re-fill. If you are only dealing with chlorine (I have this only in my source water) the best conditioner you can use is API's Tap Water Conditioner. It is concentrated so you use less than what is recommended by any other product for chlorine and that means less chemical entering the tank and the fish.

 

[Colin_T]

If you can provide us with a link we can check it for you.

If it's safe for ponds it might be ok for fish tanks.

Do you have chlorine or chloramine in your tap water?
Chlorine comes out easily but chloramine is harder to get rid of.

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A note on garden hoses. They have a chemical in the hose that helps keep them soft and flexible. The more flexible the hose, the more chemical it contains. This hose softening chemical is poisonous to fish, birds, reptiles, animals and people.

If you use a garden hose to fill the tanks, turn the hose on and let water run through it for 5 minutes before using it to fill the tanks. This will flush out any old water and chemical that has leeched out of the hose.

More chemical is released from the hose during hot weather, and less during cold weather.

 

[thurmanrd]

If you can provide us with a link we can check it for you.

If it's safe for ponds it might be ok for fish tanks.

Do you have chlorine or chloramine in your tap water?
Chlorine comes out easily but chloramine is harder to get rid of.

-----------------
A note on garden hoses. They have a chemical in the hose that helps keep them soft and flexible. The more flexible the hose, the more chemical it contains. This hose softening chemical is poisonous to fish, birds, reptiles, animals and people.

If you use a garden hose to fill the tanks, turn the hose on and let water run through it for 5 minutes before using it to fill the tanks. This will flush out any old water and chemical that has leeched out of the hose.

More chemical is released from the hose during hot weather, and less during cold weather.

That is great to know about the garden hose. Thank you. Mine stays cool because I use it in the basement.

I have chloramine as well as chlorine in my tap water.

Here are two of the devices I was mentioning. It looks like they use carbon.

CLEAR2O® GARDEN & PET WATER FILTER - Reduces Chlorine, Lead, Heavy Metals CGF3001

1 Micron solid carbon block filtration level. Promotes healthy plant nutrition and growth by returning the natural balance to your soil, compost or mulch. Protect the health of your home, garden, lawn and pets. Easily threads onto any 3/4” hose - no tools required. Eliminates foul tastes and...

www.clear2o.com

Boogie Blue Water Filters

Before you build your soil, plant your organic crops or prepare to welcome pollinators , consider the local quality of water when cultivating your growing area. The Boogie Blue Basic filters will last for 10,000-15,000 gallons of spray volume while the Boogie Blue Plus filters will last for...

www.arbico-organics.com

 

[seangee]

In-line carbon filters will do the job. If your tap water contains chloramine double check that it deals with this. You may need to run at a reduced flow rate for it to be effective - check the instructions on the packaging. When I filled a big tank with a hose I used to just dose the tank with Prime and turn the tap on. Today I do the same with my outdoor pond although I use a more concentrated product.

 

[Colin_T]

I have chloramine as well as chlorine in my tap water.

Chloramine is a combination of chlorine and ammonia. It remains active and kills things for longer than chlorine does.

Make sure you follow the directions on the bottle of dechlorinator and use the dose rate for chloramine. It is usually one dose for chlorine and a double dose for chloramine.

 

[StevenF]

I would not trust the filters. The filter might absorb the chlorine for a time but you won't know when it stops working and needs replacement.

 

[AbbeysDad]

I would think that the filters are only effective if there's a trickle flow through them. And then there's the question of how many gallons before it is exhausted...and how do you measure that??? Again, I'd stick with the dechlorinator made for aquariums. In-line filters may seem cost effective until you lose a tankful of fish.

 

[thurmanrd]

Thank you all for the input. I wasn't looking at the filters as a way of replacing dechlorinators; I was merely looking for a way to lessen the exposure of fish to chlorine during water change refills. I have read that some forms of filtration are actually bad for freshwater fish, and was wanting to ascertain whether or not these were safe.

 

[Colin_T]

I wasn't looking at the filters as a way of replacing dechlorinators; I was merely looking for a way to lessen the exposure of fish to chlorine during water change refills.

The best way to reduce the fish's exposure to chlorine/ chloramine is to dechlorinate the new water in a container before adding it to the tank.

Fill up a container with tap water.
Add the required amount of chlorine/ chloramine neutraliser.
Aerate for 30 minutes and then use the water for the fish tank.

 

[thurmanrd]

The best way to reduce the fish's exposure to chlorine/ chloramine is to dechlorinate the new water in a container before adding it to the tank.

Fill up a container with tap water.
Add the required amount of chlorine/ chloramine neutraliser.
Aerate for 30 minutes and then use the water for the fish tank.

That works great with a small tank, but that takes a lot of containers and effort for a large tank. But your point is well taken.

 

[seangee]

Thank you all for the input. I wasn't looking at the filters as a way of replacing dechlorinators; I was merely looking for a way to lessen the exposure of fish to chlorine during water change refills. I have read that some forms of filtration are actually bad for freshwater fish, and was wanting to ascertain whether or not these were safe.

To answer your question a carbon block filter will do no harm, and while its working it will do a lot of good.

 

[Colin_T]

That works great with a small tank, but that takes a lot of containers and effort for a large tank. But your point is well taken.

A friend of mine used a 200 litre plastic wine barrel to hold water in his fish room. Another friend had a 20,000 litre rainwater tank for his fish room. One of the guys in fish club uses a couple of plastic wheelie bins to hold water for his tank. I had 3 tier stands and used the top tanks to hold water in my fish room.

If you use a plastic bin/ container, just have a small water pump and hose to pump the water out of the container and into the tank.

If you have triple tier stands like I did, you simply have a syphon hose in the top tank and drain water into the tanks below it. Then refill the top tanks with tap water via a hose.