Carbon Filters for Water?

Well, here's an evil thought:

Mount a toilet flush tank over the aquarium, with an air bubbler or two inside it. The chlorate (ClO3 ion) content will dissipate in a day or so with air circulation, then it's safe to add that water to the aquarium. In the normal fashion, using the convenient chrome lever.

Couldn't see Jim's original post, sorry to hog yours here:

We have a disgustingly high chlorine level in our tap water, I've seen up to 2ppm on the test kit. Like pool water. Yuck. So I installed a carbon cartridge filter. Measured the outcoming water for chlorine: Zip, nada, zilch, gone.

It's one of those Sears deals, the filter was around $20 around 1999 or

2000. Plus some copper piping, shut-off valve (needed to change the cartridge) and the cartridges themselves. The cartridges were around $6 and ours are rated for 4500 gallons or so. [...]

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Regards, Joerg

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That is true up until the point where the filter runs out of active carbon and then the output chlorine level will rise quite quickly. Also it may not take out dissolved chloramine as effectively and either of these in the output water will be bad very for live fish.

You might want to interlock the pump to an ion selective electrode for total chlorine to avoid end of life problems for filter and fishes eg

Unwise to use copper pipe for water with fish in too.

Regards, Martin Brown

Yes, that's why there is a gallon limit on the cartridges. IME it's a fairly conservative limit but best to test. A chlorine test is quick, easy and cheap.

If there are chloramines in the water that would be an urgent reason to call the water utility, I'd think.

That would be a major problem in the US because the lines in most houses and also the line to the meter at the street is copper. Nowadays there's sometimes PVC, for cost reasons and because thieves rip copper out of just about anything to make a buck.

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Regards, Joerg

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Can you "recharge" them at home by baking them out?

Thanks, Rich

No idea. At $6 a pop for 4500 gallons I'm not gonna bother. Plus it contains plastic parts, not so cool.

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