# To RODI or not? Darned chloramines!



## Bombay (Mar 5, 2004)

Long story short. My municipal utility district recently started using chloramines instead of chlorine in the tap water. Other than that issue, my tap water is pretty well suited for African cichlids. Now every time I do a water change my ammonia level shoots up...and then nitrites... The chemicals (like Prime) on the market break the chloramine bond (chlorine and ammonia), but only the chlorine ends up getting removed. The ammonia hangs around. The chemicals supposedly detoxify the ammonia and nitrites while the bio filter eventually consumes them. However, my fish act strange until the ammonia and nitrates get back to 0 which can take a few days. This constant "up and down" cant be good for the long term health of the fish.

I looked into carbon block chloramine removal systems, but those also only break the chloramine bond and you are left with chlorine (which it removes) and ammonia which the carbon block does not. With this carbon block system, I would still have to use Prime or some other chemical to neutralize the ammonia. We are kind of back to square one. I could add an RO membrane and DI resin...but then all of the minerals are lost and I would need to add them back in the form of a buffer.

Is there any added benefit of me going the RODI route and adding back minerals versus just using Seachem Safe or Prime?

Life was so easy when they only added chlorine to the tap water.
How are you guys dealing with chloramines?


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## Bombay (Mar 5, 2004)

Any thoughts, opinions, and experiences with RODI are appreciated...

It seems like a lot more work (and expense) to RODI filter the water into a tub, attempt to mix in salt/calcium/etc to get the mineral saturation levels where they should be, and then pump that water into my tank for each water change, but if there are alot of other benefits of RODI for the fish other than the removal of chloramines then I will continue to consider it (vs tap water).

I need to make a decision fairly quickly.


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## oyster dog (Jul 2, 2013)

Prime handles chloramines, but ammonia readings will appear to be high. Their FAQ's address this: http://www.seachem.com/support/FAQs/Prime.html


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## Kanorin (Apr 8, 2008)

First thought: You may need to use slightly more Prime than usual to achieve chelation of all of the extra ammonia (I think you can go up to 5x dose with no ill effects on fish).

Second thought: If you have the time, perhaps several 25% water exchanges per week would help even out the "up and down" that you're talking about.

Third thought: Obtain a large tub or garbage pail and fill it with tap water plus prime a day or two before your water exchange. Use this water to add to your tank. Maybe some extra time with the prime will help.


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## Bombay (Mar 5, 2004)

First thought: You may need to use slightly more Prime than usual to achieve chelation of all of the extra ammonia (I think you can go up to 5x dose with no ill effects on fish).
That might help.

Second thought: If you have the time, perhaps several 25% water exchanges per week would help even out the "up and down" that you're talking about.
I already have a full time job.  

Third thought: Obtain a large tub or garbage pail and fill it with tap water plus prime a day or two before your water exchange. Use this water to add to your tank. Maybe some extra time with the prime will help.
I am not sure that a wait time with tap water and Prime would do anything. There would be no bio-filter or beneficial bacteria in the tub, so I dont know how waiting would help. Can you further elaborate?


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## Kanorin (Apr 8, 2008)

Bombay said:


> Third thought: Obtain a large tub or garbage pail and fill it with tap water plus prime a day or two before your water exchange. Use this water to add to your tank. Maybe some extra time with the prime will help.
> I am not sure that a wait time with tap water and Prime would do anything. There would be no bio-filter or beneficial bacteria in the tub, so I dont know how waiting would help. Can you further elaborate?


You're right, I was thinking of chlorine, which can be removed through evaporation.


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## Bombay (Mar 5, 2004)

I guess the main question is whether it is worth it to do RODI for a African tank? Are there added benefits of RODI vs just straight tap water?


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

What percentage of water are you changing and how often? What are the ammonia/nitrite readings when they spike? I can't see them being very high?
According to Seachem, Prime detoxifies ammonia/nitrite for ~36 hours. That should be plenty of time for your ammonia/nitrite oxidizing bacteria to consume them. You should be seeing 0ppm within 24 hours for both ammonia and nitrite.


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## Bombay (Mar 5, 2004)

So I am guessing that not many African cichlid keepers use RODI?

I was changing about 40% per week...but have stopped until I figure this out. I will have to look at the test kits again to see how high they spiked, but they did stay that way for several days.

I understand and believe that Prime and others do what they say they do, but it just seems like a better idea all around to avoid these chemicals that lock up this and detoxify that. How about just avoid the need to detoxify heavy metals, chlorine, chloramine, ammonia, and nitrites by removing them from the water in the first place?


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