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Is there any such thing as a dechlorinator that can remove chlorine and choramine without fixing ammonia or nitrites?
I don't like that if I add Seachem Prime to my water, I cannot see how much ammonia my ADA Tropica soil is releasing (ammonia test reads 0 ppm). My tank is new (just a month old, no livestock except tadpole snails that hitched a ride on my many plants and hatched in the tank). For water changes I normally use either rainwater or water from the outside hose (I tested chlorine at 0 ppm, probably off-gassed). The day before yesterday, I did a huge water change using water from the inside faucet, and the next morning my ammonia was at 1 ppm and nitrites at 0.25 ppm. I checked the chlorine in the tap and it was 1 ppm, so I had killed off some of my bacteria colony. That night both ammonia and nitrite were already back to 0 ppm. I'll avoid using my tap water in the future...but the experience made me think that it would be nice to have a dechlorinator for emergencies...one that would not impact my ammonia readings.
Another question: can plants uptake the "fixed" ammonia when you use dechlorinators? More importantly, can bacteria still use the "fixed" ammonia or will using dechlorinator in a tank with no livestock starve the bacterial colony?
Last question: do Tetra Easy Strips test for chlorine only, or also chloramines? How can I test for chloramines in my water? I don't see "chloramine" anywhere in my county's water quality report.
Thank you!
I don't like that if I add Seachem Prime to my water, I cannot see how much ammonia my ADA Tropica soil is releasing (ammonia test reads 0 ppm). My tank is new (just a month old, no livestock except tadpole snails that hitched a ride on my many plants and hatched in the tank). For water changes I normally use either rainwater or water from the outside hose (I tested chlorine at 0 ppm, probably off-gassed). The day before yesterday, I did a huge water change using water from the inside faucet, and the next morning my ammonia was at 1 ppm and nitrites at 0.25 ppm. I checked the chlorine in the tap and it was 1 ppm, so I had killed off some of my bacteria colony. That night both ammonia and nitrite were already back to 0 ppm. I'll avoid using my tap water in the future...but the experience made me think that it would be nice to have a dechlorinator for emergencies...one that would not impact my ammonia readings.
Another question: can plants uptake the "fixed" ammonia when you use dechlorinators? More importantly, can bacteria still use the "fixed" ammonia or will using dechlorinator in a tank with no livestock starve the bacterial colony?
Last question: do Tetra Easy Strips test for chlorine only, or also chloramines? How can I test for chloramines in my water? I don't see "chloramine" anywhere in my county's water quality report.
Thank you!