# Tap water for water changes



## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

I write this post because I visited a discus breeder last night that premixes tap water and a good dechlorinator (Cloramex).

He has a large and very expensive activated carbon in-line filter. About 5 ft. tall housing. The same thing that ADG uses for all their tanks. But he told me that some time ago the water company did a flushing of the pipes. Apparently that is a procedure that cleans the pipes and is conducted on a regular basis (once a year or something). When the water company does this flushing the water gets completely messed up. He lost 1/2 of his stock during a routine maintenance like that. The activated carbon could not keep up with the pollutants that were in the tap water so he quit using the carbon.

All of us have had issues with their tanks that we could not explain. You do your usual thing and for some reason the tank gets slightly murky, or the fish gasp for air, or the plants grow much faster or deteriorate a bit. I'm inclined to attribute all these things to the changes of the tap water parameters.

I'm not completely sure how one can handle that variation of the tap water chemistry. A good approach would be to change as little water as possible. But that's not practical in some cases.

One thing that I do know for sure is that most aquarists run the tap water in the tank and add the dechlorinator to the tank too. That never made sense to me. How can we expect the dechlorination to take place immediately and for the chlorine to not get to at least part of the bacteria in our tanks? So for starters - try to premix your tap water before adding it to the tank. I personally use both an activated carbon in-line filter AND dechlorinator, plus I do frequent but small water changes. Once again - that is not a foolproof guarantee for anything. In the last few months I've had a few occasions when after a water change things went wrong in a few tanks. I belive the water company adjusts the water treatment in relation with the weather (among other things). So decide for yourself what you feel most comfortable with. To me if a guy breeding expensive fish has decided to pre-mix his tap water that's the way to go if you can do it.

--Nikolay


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## CrownMan (Sep 12, 2005)

I change 50% of the water weekly in 3 of my tanks by just adding Prime when I switch the python over to fill. I only pay attention to trying to match the water temp during the fill phase. I have never lost any fish or shrimp by doing this. Also these 3 tanks are CO2 injected and the ph goes from 6.5 to 7.4 and back to 6.5 after the water changes. 

I guess I've been lucky but then I don't keep really expensive or difficult fish and the only breeding I'm doing are cherry and yellow shrimp which are in heavily planted tanks that I don't change the water in very often. I do try to maintain good circulation in all my tanks which helps to circulate the prime while filling and my city water is not very hard.


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## JAXON777 (Jan 4, 2007)

The only tap water issues I have seen here in hurst have been changes in PH it seems in the fall/winter the water is lower in PH and in the summer its close to 8.0. I have been breeding Turqoise Rainbows and the angels have spawned almost every w/c. I have been doing the major w/c's every week since I got into planted tanks which was over three years ago. I wonder if it depends on city?


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## Cocobid (Jan 26, 2007)

Our pipe water is really seasonally effected. In the winter the street pipes frequently rapture, in the process of repairing the lines city adds additional water purifying chemicals upon repair completion. This is the only time that I can actually see my fish suffer. We will get really high ammonia and my guess chlorine. I must say I'm with Mike, just checking the temp. I do 80% Goldfish tanks, all the planted tanks get 40-50 each week. Our water is delivered through very old pipes. Our neighborhood was developed in the 1910's so your guess is as good as mine. I have following street pipe rapture filled a large trash can with water and run a carbon only HOB to remove some of the junk from the water. If I had the space I would try to install some sort of carbon filter for water changes. 

With regard to shrimp tanks, we use tap water but will draw the water and allow it to sit for several hours with dechlorinator added to it and then add to their tanks.

Nico is there a suggestion of how to construct a carbon filter that would deliver a large amount of water quickly during a water change. Last weekend we had one of the water heaters in our attic develop a hole (we are replacing floors) but just attempting to install a whole home purifications system would be a nightmare technically and financially.


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## northtexasfossilguy (Mar 6, 2009)

It takes me a while, but I just mix my water changes in buckets, add dechlorinator and bacterial supplement, then slowly add and drain water with a small 3/4" tube. I do about 5 gallons at a time. I agree with Niko in that I'm actually slightly scared to just run plain tap water into my tanks, then add the dechlorinator, that seems like it would be inaccurate in measuring and in the time it took to react it might interact in a harmful way with the tanks creatures as he said. I typically add the chemicals to an empty bucket, then fill it to ensure that its properly mixed. I check the pH in some of it also for the low pH tanks I have. 

I think if the chemistry varied in the tap water as far as trace elements are concerned and for the Mg/Ca ions or other interchangeable things like that, for live plants that might be a good thing?


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

Cocobid,

You can just buy the big, 5' or so, tall housing and fill it with activated carbon. Attach one hose to run the water from the tap to the filter. And a second hose to go to your tank. That's it. Cost will be about $500. 
http://www.frequencyrising.com/images/water_filter_clark_wall2.jpg

That's how ADG has been doing it for years and that's what that discus breeder I mentioned did it before. With the tall housing you can run the water as fast as you want.

You can find these tall housings at Home Depot or Lowe's if you want to look at them. Of course you can buy the small housings ($30) but you can't run the water through them very fast, some chlorine will pass through in that case. Compare the size, the white housings are the $30 kind:
http://www.frequencyrising.com/images/water_filter_clark_wall2.jpg

Once again - decide if you want to lug long hoses across the house. If the housing with the carbon is in the garage then you will probably need a pretty long hose to get to the tanks.

And for those that don't know how many "other" things could be in the tap water here's a partial list of what activated carbon could remove should it make it to your tap:
http://www.frequencyrising.com/water_wholehouse_filter_WP.htm

--Nikolay


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Niko - that's a pretty incredible list! When I was down at ADG Mike Senske showed me the large tank that they run their water through. He didn't tell me it was a huge charcoal filter. He did say he never changes it. That's pretty amazing as I thought that after a while activated charcoal lost it's effectiveness. They have their's on a dolly and just wheel it though to the water source and then a hose out from there.

I have had danios die in a water change. I believe there was something in the water that they were sensitive to. I have had nothing else affected. I do the straight hose to the tank after I dump in the Prime. It is pretty instantaneous as it binds right away. If you have bleach on your hands and put a drop of Prime you can feel and smell that it is immediate in handling the chlorine. O course that doesn't answer the other nasties that sometimes get through.


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## Philosophos (Mar 1, 2009)

If your city isn't telling you when they flush their lines, I'd recommend making one massive stink. The crap that comes out of the tap after a line flush, in my experience, would not pass water quality standards anywhere in North America. The water turns a touch brown or yellow, and it usually has some interesting smells; a touch of hydrogen sulfide perhaps.

I use RO on the tanks that matter because I'm paranoid. If I weren't for that, I'd probably prefilter with carbon before adding the water to the tank. I don't like carbon IN my tank; good things get taken away too.

Dechlor in to the tank is something a lot of people do. Some of them are very reputable individuals. Exposure time is the danger here, and it won't kill your fish or plants right away. If you do your water change with the filter off, the harm to your bacterial colonies are also reduced. At worst, you're forcing your nitrifying bacteria to hang around in your filter. For some, this is desirable. I've stopped caring personally; substrate overhauls mean tons of comparably more painful upheavals anyhow. 

-Philosophos


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## WhiteDevil (May 7, 2009)

im just outside of chicago and my tap water is around an 8.2-8.4 Ph, doesnt harm my fish at all, my LFS is on the same water and his discus are HUGE and vibrant, he breeds em in his shop.


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