Who Does And Who Doesn't

[Westwood]

As i said i dont use it, but i do have a bottle in case of emergencies, i have never had a problem so i don't see the need to use it.

 

[Harlequins]

I use it,my water has lots of chlorine in it ...

 

[james_fish]

I use it.

Leaving unconditioned water to stand will remove chlorine but what about heavy metals? Wouldn't risk it.

James.

Well not all water conditions remove heavy metals anyway. Also if you have plants they could use those heavy metals. I run densely planted tanks half of which get EI fertilizing. Heavy metals are not all bad. There are considerable amounts in the fertilizers I add to the tank. Because when it comes down to it a lot heavy metals are important trace minerals for plants and fish. Iron is probably the most important heavy metal. Deficiencies in iron can be crippling to plants, fish, and humans. I've dealt personally with it before, being anemic is no fun at all. Low iron=thin blood=inefficient oxygen transport= things like just standing up can make your vision swim and flicker so badly its almost borderline passing out. Iron overdoses can be worse, but iron is also very insoluble. Other heavy metals like lead are bad for you and the majority of heavy metals that are bad for our fish are bad for us. So luckily there are pretty strict regulations on these materials in public drinking water in the US. For those of use with wells its up to us to pay for lab testing to make sure the water is safe. Things like lead are limited at very low quantities. In the US lead can only be present at 0.015 PPM max, otherwise your water company is required to notify you. My well contains traces of copper, iron, and lead which is pretty common for this region. My trace fertilizers add other heavy metals like zinc and maganese as well. I've never had a problem keeping fish or inverts.

Good post, very informative

James.