[Moebius]

I have had glass shrimp and Amano shrimp for several months and lost none due to my weekly 40% water changes. Now that I have changed brands of Chlorine/Chloramine removers, I find several dead shrimp the day after each water change. I have very few left. I realize freshwater shrimp are very sensitive to ammonia.

First, I change my water directly from the tap using a python. RO water is not an option I want to pursue. I then add the chlorine remover as it is being filled. My tap water has chloramines in it.

My old chlorine remover: Wardley's Chlor Out
New Chlorine remover: Jungle Insto Chlor

Both are advertised to remove chloramines. Anybody have any experience with such a problem?

 

[GDominy]

I have experienced similar losses when doing water changes if my dechlor dose was incorrect for Chloramines.

Check to make sure you are dosing the correct leves for chloramines... Usually its about 2 x normal dose

I use Aqua Plus for my water changes as I can buy it in 2 litre bottles (I have to change 250 gallons a week)

 

[Moebius]

The past two weeks I have been putting 2-3x as much dechlorinator as recommended...just in case. I hope I have not gone the other end of the spectrum and been putting too much in...

 

[Rex Grigg]

I use Seachem Prime and it works great. And it comes in 2 liter bottles! I have found that Seachem products are usually the best way to go, the exception being the Flourish Potassium.

 

[RogerL]

Out of interest - what's wrong with the Flourish Potassium?

 

[Rex Grigg]

Nothing is "wrong" with it. But the recommended potassium level in a planted tank is 10-20 ppm. It takes a lot of Seachem potassium to get to and maintain those levels. Say a whole 100 ml bottle for the initial dose on a 55 gallon tank.

 

[Guttboy]

My Two cents but....my LFS says that they like Aqua Plus the best.

They also said something that struck me as very very odd....they said that if I were to run the tank for a few days all the chlorine and chloramine would be gone....is this true?

No plants or fish in it yet but I thought Chloramine stayed in the water???? :?:

Mike

 

[GDominy]

They are very, very wrong. Chlorine will simply outgas in a few days. Chloramine is Chlorine bound to an ammonia molecule so it stays stable for much longer (weeks to months). When you add a dechlorinator it breaks the bond of Chlorine to ammonia so the outgassing can take place normally. This process also releases small amounts of ammonia into the water column so you may notice a minor spike if your bacteria or plants arent established well enough to take care of it.

 

[Guttboy]

Thats what i thought.....glad I use the aqua plus!

 

[m.lemay]

I don't have any shrimp, but I haven't used dechlorinaror in years and I'm talking about 50% water changes weekly. With municipal water. Maybe my fish have just grown accustomed to it. I think I lost more fish with dechlorinator than without. Come to think of it, I haven't lost a fish since I stopped using the stuff

 

[GDominy]

Your lucky! The chloramine count is really high here. If I dont use enough dechlor I can kill off an entire tank of fish in under 12 hours