Many water companies are switching from chlorine to chloramine. Chlorine worked well as a disinfectant but was unstable in the distribution system (pipes) and also contributed to the formation of cancer causing trihalomethanes (THMs). Chlorine reacts with organic compounds in water, forming THMs. Chloramine is much more stable in the distribution system and does not form THMs. Chloramine (NH2Cl) is a compound formed by mixing ammonia and chlorine in water. Higher levels of chloramine are required to the same job as a lower dose of chlorine. In the past, aquarists used to let tap water "age" a few days to let the chlorine dissipate into the air. Chloramine, however, is very stable and can not be easily driven off, even by heavy aeration. Chloramine is very toxic to fish. Chloramine, unlike chlorine, passes through the gill tissue causing little damage. Chloramine then enters the bloodstream and binds to iron in the hemoglobin in the red blood cells. The blood is unable to carry oxygen, resulting in a condition called methemoglobinemia, similar to nitrite toxicity. Fish become lethargic, sitting on the bottom or near the surface. At low chloramine concentrations a few fish will die every day. Higher chloramine levels can cause all fish to die within 24 hours.
My municipal water company has started adding chloramine to my water. Will a carbon filter attached to my faucet remove it?
Yes and no. As we have discussed, chloramine (NH2Cl) is a combination of ammonia and chlorine. Passing chloraminated tap water through activated carbon gives us this reaction:
Activated Carbon (AC) + NH2Cl + H2O ---> Ammonia (NH3) + H+ + Cl-
As you can see, the chloramine compound is destroyed. So yes, the filter removed the chloramine. But the ammonia is still present in the water!
Will a dechlorinating water conditioner remove chloramine?
Yes and no. Regular dechlorinators remove the chlorine part of chloramine but leave the ammonia in the water. Technically speaking, the chloramine is removed, but the water is not safe for fish. Some manufacturers of water conditioners state their product removes chloramine, but fail to tell you that the ammonia is still present in the water. In addition, many regular dechlorinating water conditioners are not strong enough to completely neutralize all of the chloramine. This results in both free ammonia and chloramine in your aquarium. You should use a water conditioner formulated especially for chloramines, such as Ammo-Lock.
Will Ammo-Lock remove both the chloramine and the ammonia?
Yes. Ammo-Lock will neutralize chloramine and make the ammonia non-toxic to all aquarium life. The term "ammonia remover" is somewhat misleading. No liquid ammonia remover actually removes ammonia from the aquarium. These products claim to make the ammonia non-toxic or convert it to something else. Even though some ammonia tests kits may read zero after adding liquid ammonia removers, you can (in laboratory tests) track the conversion of the ammonia to nitrite, then to nitrate, by the biological filter. Let me explain.
Under sterile conditions where no biological filtration is taking place, we add a few ppm of ammonia to the aquarium. We then can watch certain ammonia removers make the ammonia disappear after one or two doses. The ammonia test kit reads zero. After a few days, the liquid ammonia remover begins to break down and the test kit reads positive again. The same amount of ammonia that was in the water before adding the ammonia remover is back again!
The ammonia was never gone; you just could not read it on the ammonia test kit. Ammo-Lock does not cause ammonia kits to blank out. If your test kit showed 1.0 ppm ammonia before adding AL, it will show 1.0 ppm ammonia after adding AL. When the test kit is blanked out, you cannot see if the biological filter is working. How will you know if the ammonia level is going down, going up, or just sitting there? With AL you can watch the development of the biological filter and see if the ammonia is being biologically converted to nitrite and nitrate.
How do you know that Ammo-Lock makes the ammonia non-toxic?
Ammo-Lock required over five years of research, culminating in several United States patents. Our research showed that freshwater and marine fish and invertebrates were not harmed, even in high ammonia levels, when Ammo-Lock was added to the water. Computer modeling suggested that the ammonia was changed into something other than ammonia. Another theory suggested that Ammo-Lock simply acts as an antidote to ammonia toxicity. Independent testing was conducted by Dr. Phil D. Lukert and Dr. John B. Gratzek of the Department of Medical Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia. The test was designed to determine the effectiveness of Ammo-Lock in protecting live fish cells from toxic levels of ammonia.
The first part of the test was to prove that Ammo-Lock caused no adverse effects to live fish cells. Under controlled conditions, live fish cells were exposed to a 10 times dose of Ammo-Lock. The results showed that Ammo-Lock is not disruptive to normal cell metabolism. This substantiated our earlier observations with freshwater and marine fish.
The second stage of the test was to prove that Ammo-Lock protected live fish cells from ammonia. Under controlled conditions, live fish cells were exposed to 5.0 ppm ammonia. Some of the cell cultures were treated with ammonia. Others were treated with ammonia and Ammo-Lock. The test results showed that the cells exposed to ammonia died while cells treated with Ammo-Lock were protected from the toxic effects of ammonia. These independent tests proved that Ammo-Lock protects fish from the toxic effects of ammonia. After all the results were in, Dr John Gratzek noted,
"I am personally delighted with the results of this test because it represents the development of a quantitative and reproducible test to support the inferred claim that the commercially available product, Ammo-Lock can protect cells from the toxic effects of ammonia."
Ammo-Lock is the only product of its kind to be tested and proven to work with live fish cells.