Water Treatment and Chlorine
Water treatment can be an important matter for your fish and it can be hard to appreciate what more they could possibly need than regular water changes and frequent food, until you understand more about how the quality of their water affects them.
Many people who keep fish and build aquariums often wonder about treating their water and how affective that treatment can be.
Before laying out any money on a dechlorinator, there are a few things you may want to know.
One important factor relates to how your local water company treats your water.
Water filtration and pruification procedures often use a range of various different methods and chemical medias to filter water that is used by humans.
A very common chemical used in water purification is chlorine, as is chloramine (a combination of chlorine and ammonia).
A dechlorinator will simply neutralize the chlorine in your tank if the water has been treated with that, however, if chloramine has been used then the both the chlorine and the ammonia need to be individually locked down.
This can be vitally important to your aquarium as ammonia is the starting block of the nitrogen cycle, leading to more nitrites and nitrates.
Chloramine is used with increasing frequency today, as it is regarded as being safer than chlorine for humans.
In addition to this form of water treatment, if your water has a high percentage of heavy metals it is worth investing in a heavy metal neutralizer.
This can be hard to judge as the quality of your water supply wildly varies depending on where you live in the world.
Minerals, vitamins and electrolytes can also be used in water treatment.
Generally speaking, tap water and bottled water will contain vitamins such as magnesium, calcium and zinc in trace amounts.
It is not strictly necessary to add extra vitamins to your water unless you suspect that for some reason your water supply will be low in them.
Extra negative electrolytes do however have the effect of binding "free radicals" which has a healthy effect on most living organisms as it slows or prevents oxidation.
So, is additional water treatment necessary? I would say it very much depends on the supply of water you are using and where you are located in the world.
If you have no way of knowing the quality of your water and you would like to provide the best for your aquarium, the easiest way would simply be to look for a dechlorinator that specifically states it deals with chlorine, chloramine and ammonia.
Many people who keep fish and build aquariums often wonder about treating their water and how affective that treatment can be.
Before laying out any money on a dechlorinator, there are a few things you may want to know.
One important factor relates to how your local water company treats your water.
Water filtration and pruification procedures often use a range of various different methods and chemical medias to filter water that is used by humans.
A very common chemical used in water purification is chlorine, as is chloramine (a combination of chlorine and ammonia).
A dechlorinator will simply neutralize the chlorine in your tank if the water has been treated with that, however, if chloramine has been used then the both the chlorine and the ammonia need to be individually locked down.
This can be vitally important to your aquarium as ammonia is the starting block of the nitrogen cycle, leading to more nitrites and nitrates.
Chloramine is used with increasing frequency today, as it is regarded as being safer than chlorine for humans.
In addition to this form of water treatment, if your water has a high percentage of heavy metals it is worth investing in a heavy metal neutralizer.
This can be hard to judge as the quality of your water supply wildly varies depending on where you live in the world.
Minerals, vitamins and electrolytes can also be used in water treatment.
Generally speaking, tap water and bottled water will contain vitamins such as magnesium, calcium and zinc in trace amounts.
It is not strictly necessary to add extra vitamins to your water unless you suspect that for some reason your water supply will be low in them.
Extra negative electrolytes do however have the effect of binding "free radicals" which has a healthy effect on most living organisms as it slows or prevents oxidation.
So, is additional water treatment necessary? I would say it very much depends on the supply of water you are using and where you are located in the world.
If you have no way of knowing the quality of your water and you would like to provide the best for your aquarium, the easiest way would simply be to look for a dechlorinator that specifically states it deals with chlorine, chloramine and ammonia.
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