Total Chlorine

msderganc

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So, I read Randy's article from 2003 on Chlorine / Choramine (Chloramine and the Reef Aquarium by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com) and it made me paranoid about my RO/DI water. I know Houston uses Chloramine in the water, so I initially purchased BRS's 6 stage Chloramine RODI unit a long time ago. Since then, I've read from Spectrapure and others that no special carbon is necessary to remove Chloramines, and I recently switched from BRS's cartridges to Spectrapure's. This is what I'm currently running (with two BRS 75gpd membranes that are about 18 months old):

0.5 Micron Carbon Block Filter 10-inch CF-0.5-10
1 Micron ChlorPlus Chloramine Removal Carbon Block Filter 10-inch
0.2 Micron (Absolute) ZetaZorbâ„¢ Sediment Filter Cartridge 10-inch
SilicaBuster DI Cartridge - Color-Indicating SuperDIâ„¢ 10-inch
MaxCap DI Cartridge - SuperDIâ„¢ 10-inch

I swapped to this in July, and I make about 140 gallons of RODI a month, so I've maybe gone through 560 gallons. My TDS into the DI stage is 9-10ppm, and my TDS out of the DI is 0ppm.

Now, here's the interesting point. I recently bought a Hanna Total Chlorine ULR Checker, and it is reading my total chlorine at .05 ppm. Per the article, that could be killing copepods, if I read that correctly. I have noticed that this tank has never had a lot of copepods (it was started in November/December of last year), and maybe that's the reason.

Any ideas? Suggestions?
 

ReeferEric

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Maybe change out the water filters again and then reintroduce pods from one of those websites that sells them.
 
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msderganc

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Second RODI test was .04ppm, and the tank water measured .04ppm as well. My tap water is at 2.85ppm.

A couple of things to note:
  • The first RODI test (.05)was from a small holding container that I use for RODI, and the vial had a very very faint pink color.
  • The second RODI test (.04) was straight from the output of the unit, and had no color.
  • The tank water test (.04) also had no color to it.
  • The tap water (2.85) was a bright pink color .
I'm thinking that this may be a calibration issue, so I've ordered the calibration standard. This was with two different batches of reagent, so I don't think that is the issue. I've also sent Triton a set of water vials for their ICP analysis, so we'll see what they say too.

Anything I can do in the meantime? Maybe use a little Prime?
 
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msderganc

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Maybe change out the water filters again and then reintroduce pods from one of those websites that sells them.

Thanks - yeah, I'm not so worried about the pods as much as I am about the long term effect on the system. I'm wondering if this is affecting my corals (which have browned a bit lately, and I've had some mysterious STN/RTN).
 
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So, I changed the ChlorPlus filter with a new BRS Catalytic Activated Carbon Block, and ran about 4 gallons through the system. Still getting .04-.05. I also preemptively dosed my display with a half dose of Prime. I'm not sure what else it could be at this point other than a faulty reading.

However, when I leave the vials on the counter, they do get a pink tint to them (the first few are noticeably pinker after a few hours, so there must be something there?).
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

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I think the kit must be faulty in the sense that 0.05 ppm seems to be its bottom end based on the tank reading. Even if you were adding 0.1 ppm chloramine to the aquarium in top off, the value there would be substantially lower because of dilution (typically 25-100x each day) and the reaction and breakdown of chloramine in the water due to the organics and the salts, etc. You wouldn't maintain chlorine or chloramine in an operating reef aquarium for very long (not sure how long, but unlikely to be more than a day or two)

So I suspect the whole thing is a false alarm, fortunately. :)
 
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msderganc

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You are not using ozone on that aquarium, are you?

Thanks Randy - I appreciate the response, I was beginning to go crazy. I am not using ozone, no.

That's a pretty big issue if the Hanna tests are off by that much. I'm going to follow up with Hanna and see what they say.
 

Dan_P

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So, I read Randy's article from 2003 on Chlorine / Choramine (Chloramine and the Reef Aquarium by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com) and it made me paranoid about my RO/DI water. I know Houston uses Chloramine in the water, so I initially purchased BRS's 6 stage Chloramine RODI unit a long time ago. Since then, I've read from Spectrapure and others that no special carbon is necessary to remove Chloramines, and I recently switched from BRS's cartridges to Spectrapure's. This is what I'm currently running (with two BRS 75gpd membranes that are about 18 months old):

0.5 Micron Carbon Block Filter 10-inch CF-0.5-10
1 Micron ChlorPlus Chloramine Removal Carbon Block Filter 10-inch
0.2 Micron (Absolute) ZetaZorbâ„¢ Sediment Filter Cartridge 10-inch
SilicaBuster DI Cartridge - Color-Indicating SuperDIâ„¢ 10-inch
MaxCap DI Cartridge - SuperDIâ„¢ 10-inch

I swapped to this in July, and I make about 140 gallons of RODI a month, so I've maybe gone through 560 gallons. My TDS into the DI stage is 9-10ppm, and my TDS out of the DI is 0ppm.

Now, here's the interesting point. I recently bought a Hanna Total Chlorine ULR Checker, and it is reading my total chlorine at .05 ppm. Per the article, that could be killing copepods, if I read that correctly. I have noticed that this tank has never had a lot of copepods (it was started in November/December of last year), and maybe that's the reason.

Any ideas? Suggestions?

Chlorine rapidly reacts with dissolved organic carbon, especially compounds containing a basic amino group like amino acids and peptides. Particulate organic carbon will also react with chlorine. Your copepods aren’t seeing any chlorine.

0.05 ppm is close to none detected. You should measure the chlorine level in a sample of the RO/DI 3 times and average the results.

To relieve your concern, measure the chlorine level in freshly prepared salt water. The test isn’t “rated” for salt water but I have found the total chlorine test chemistry can detect chlorine.
 

Dkeller_nc

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This is an ancient thread, so I suspect the OP has resolved their issue. ;)

To answer Reefaholic's question, the answer is "we don't know", since I don't think anyone's ever done a study by intentionally dosing small amounts of elemental chlorine (probably by means of adding small amounts of bleach) into an aquarium to determine the effects on the inhabitants.

From the standpoint of what you'll tolerate in your RODI water, the answer is effectively "none", or at least below detection limits, because the presence of chlorine/chloramine in the water going to the RO membrane will trash it, and indicates that one has either insufficient carbon cartridges, or that the carbon has been exhausted and needs to be replaced.
 
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