# how do you dechlorinate



## firebelliedfreak (Nov 3, 2008)

cos im gettin bored of using aquarium dechlorinator 

does boiling work???????????????/:2thumb::2thumb::2thumb::2thumb:


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## ilovetoads2 (Oct 31, 2008)

I use bottled water from asda or tesco. it is between 15-17p for 2 litres


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Just to put the cat amongst the pigeons...:whistling2:

Some labs that breed frogs commercially leave the chlorine IN, on the basis that it cuts down on bacterial infections. Just saying...



An alternative that might go down better is to leave tap water in an open bucket overnight- most of the chlorine will evaporate.


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## rob-stl-07 (Jun 3, 2007)

i leave to stand as i use 3 rotating bottles if you see what i mean?


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## TIMOTHY AND MATILDA (Oct 31, 2008)

Can you use rainwater?


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Two problems with rainwater: 1) It is short on minerals (as is reverse osmosis or distilled water)- this can cause problems for the amphibians in terms of the water/mineral ratios in their body and 2) With all the crap that is present in the atmosphere, the water has a good chance of being quite toxic, over time.


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## CoinOperatedGirl (May 7, 2009)

Quick question: how is boiling water less hassle than adding a few drops of dechlorinator?


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## joeyboy (Jul 19, 2008)

Ron Magpie said:


> Two problems with rainwater: 1) It is short on minerals (as is reverse osmosis or distilled water)- this can cause problems for the amphibians in terms of the water/mineral ratios in their body and 2) With all the crap that is present in the atmosphere, the water has a good chance of being quite toxic, over time.


...surely in the wild...they'd get rainwater?:Na_Na_Na_Na:

Anyway personally I have no phibs but for my inverts I either by supermarket brand bottled or boil it. Then distilled for my plants.


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Yeah, they do- but the chemicals (fertilizers, pesticides, smog residue, etc etc) are diluted with ground water. All this stuff is pretty concentrated in rain in industrial Europe. As for distilled/RO water, it tends to bloat frogs because the salt concentrations in their bodies are much more concentrated- so it messes up their rate of water uptake. Depending on the source, bottled water should be ok, I'd think.


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## mariedeery (Nov 27, 2009)

I use exo terra Aquatize conditoner - 2 drops to a litre and swirl it. Leave it for half hour and done, quicker than boiling the kettle and saves on the electricity too


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## llamafish (Aug 19, 2008)

some water companies, add a extra chemical (chloramine maybe) that boiling or standing overnight does NOT remove

sorry for the lack accurate info, i forgotten the details

just check water report from the your local suppler

Personly i mix my water in a gallon dump to save the time


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

mariedeery said:


> I use exo terra Aquatize conditoner - 2 drops to a litre and swirl it. Leave it for half hour and done, quicker than boiling the kettle and saves on the electricity too


Not to mention the carbon imprint!:lol2:


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

llamafish said:


> some water companies, add a extra chemical (chloramine maybe) that boiling or standing overnight does NOT remove
> 
> sorry for the lack accurate info, i forgotten the details
> 
> ...


Yep, I'd forgotten about chloramine. There's a lot of fuss about it in fish-keeping circles.


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## Adam98150 (Jan 12, 2009)

Boiling the water rids it of oxygen. What do your fish breath? Lmao.


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

I think the conclusion is probably use either the commercial removers or bottled water lol.


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## llamafish (Aug 19, 2008)

I would keep mixing your own but in large volums as i wouldnt trust the supermarkets either....


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Yep, that's why I said something about 'depending on the source'. Some bottled water has been the source of scare stories for the crap that's actually in it 'naturally'.


EDIT: Hehe, I'm talking MYSELF back into the old tried and tested treatments! ;-)


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## bigeyedfrog (Sep 13, 2009)

yeah use some water from asda its really cheap and safe or leave your water out for a couple of days till it stops smelling of chlorine oh and try not to fill it up on sat or sun thats when most water comp flush lots of chlorine down the pipes to clean them.


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## mariedeery (Nov 27, 2009)

As I live on a farm and our water is partially from a spring in the back field i ws always told to run the tap for a minute before filling my glass or using for cooking etc. You could use the same logic? run the tap for a minute to flush the pipes?

When i got my fish they made sure i had the tank water standing for over 72 hours before they'd sell me the fish. but tbh the fish have never had a problem with me standing for few hours with tap safe in it... 

I feel safer using aquatise for my froggies though!


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## jamesh (Jul 3, 2009)

chloramine is used to old the chlorine gas into the water by bonding it with ammonia its has been said it can take upto 6 weeks to evaporate from the water i very much doubt its this long but its a considerable length of time longer 


if you go on anglian waters website it says about if you dont like the taste of the chlorine in the water you can put it in the fridge for a few hours to get rid of the taste!!!

not sure how this would work as water takes in more oxygen when its cold so maybe it has something to do with that.


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## Sundog (Nov 18, 2009)

joeyboy said:


> ...surely in the wild...they'd get rainwater?:Na_Na_Na_Na:
> ... Then distilled for my plants.


Indeed, but I think the rainwater near the Equator is a lot cleaner and free of polution than in Northern Europe. I can't think of many places in the UK that would have polution free rainwater - I am near the Firth of Forth so we have Longannet Powerstation within 8miles. It also rains heavily but the cars and velux windows still develop a lovely sheen of soot over the year. My rain water is from roof/shed run off however which another poster on the forum said will likely remove some of the waterborn particles. I only collect from the water butt after heavy rain - ie 1-2 days which should have cleaned much of the muck that can get washed in.

++ Oddly we also get sand sometimes! Sirocco or just Dalgetty Bay getting blown away again...++

As for plants (especially orchids) Distilled/RO water use is a no no as it has all natural minerals and buffers removed. Try adding liquid fertilizer to it and the stuff just drops out of solution. 

Personally, it seems that for both plants and amphibs perhaps a mix of full flushed rainwater with cheap Spring water from the Supermarkets is the way to go ??


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## firebelliedfreak (Nov 3, 2008)

hi guys thanks for the great response 


just to tell you boiling is just easier beacause i could hijack on my mums teas lol
but i will stick to declorinator i think


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## jamesh (Jul 3, 2009)

boiling distructs the carbonates which will lead to unstable ph so when waste enters the water it will swing the ph


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## Adam98150 (Jan 12, 2009)

Chemical dechlorinators usually work instantly, so I don't leave it to stand. Not sure why some of you guys do?


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## ilovetoads2 (Oct 31, 2008)

Sometimes it says to do so on the bottle.


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## Slinkies mum (Jul 15, 2008)

I use the cheap supermarket bottled water for all my critters (not the dog/cats) and never had a problem. I use tap and a declorinater for my BTS but only because it also contains a calcium supplement.
I used to use tap water for my stick insects when I first got into them but I noticed that they danced frantically when I sprayed them and I was told that was down to the chlorine??? Anyway thats when I changed to bottled.
Just out of interest does anyone know if they still put flouride in tap water or has that been stopped now???


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## ilovetoads2 (Oct 31, 2008)

I have been doing some research on the flouride thing...and have found that it varies depending in what district you belong to.

Bottled water though (as said in a previous post):

The companies are responsible for labelling if one, the bottled water is treated the same as tap water and is therefor just tap water

Or two, they have any ingredients added to their water. 

Flouride should be labelled as there are people who can not/will not drink it. 

In America, lots of places add flouride as they believe it is beneficial to growing children.

However, it is not as widely used in the UK as we have a general belief that we should get to chose what is in our water. There are theories that it adds to the risk of cancer. Even toothpaste must state how much flouride is in the tube, ppm.

I have found that there is not lots of information out there. I read labelling laws, that are full of amendments and acceptions, and I read on our water board sites, that seem a little bashful about telling us. 

But after checking other bottled waters that do have ingredients listed, I am happy that the cheap and cheerful brands are safe to use. I think it is a case of making up your own mind. :2thumb:


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## jennlovesfrogs (Jan 22, 2009)

I use aquatise and also rotate 5 bottles, soooo it also sits for about a 4 days or so. so hopefully it's as good as it's going to get.


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## Slinkies mum (Jul 15, 2008)

Cheers ilovetoads2. I know there was a bit of a caffuffle about flouride a few years ago but TBH I don't know what effect it would have on phibs. The bottled water does list what's in it but again I wouldn't really know if something was harmful unless it was glaringly obvious. At the end of the day I have been using bottled now for 2 years and it's been fine. Also I think that if you take into account the cost of de-chlorinators it really isn't a great expense to use bottled ( I think Asda sdmart price is 13p for 2ltrs) and saves faffing about standing water and rotating bottles.
I know I'm going off topic but is there a safe disinfectant for phibs??? I use a reptile one for my BTS and snakes but don't use it on my phibs or invert enclosures.


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## jennlovesfrogs (Jan 22, 2009)

I use F10   (disinfectant)


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## Slinkies mum (Jul 15, 2008)

jennlovesfrogs said:


> I use F10   (disinfectant)


Never heard of it, may I ask where you get it. I always feel better knowing things have been disinfected :lol2:


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## jennlovesfrogs (Jan 22, 2009)

you can buy it on ebay


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## titwillow (Dec 7, 2009)

*Pond Water*

I have two largish ponds in the garden one that has frogs and newts in it in the summer and the other that has loads of goldfish in it. Would it be ok do you think to use some of this water to add to bottled water for firebellied newts ?? I reckon the water must be ok as nothing seems to die from it.


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

In a word, no. The local beasties could be carrying all kinds of bugs that they are used to, but your pets likely won't have any resistance to. I'm not always against using 'natural' materials- I use 'live' leafmould in some of my tanks for example- but it's a bad idea to use anything from where you KNOW native amphibians live. Even if the goldfish stop the amphibians actually breeding in their pond (by eating the eggs and young, lol), the adults are likely to have been in and out. It really is too much of a risk.


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## titwillow (Dec 7, 2009)

Thanks Ron. I'm looking forward to getting some firebellied newt eggs soon, so need to know all there is on these guys. Only want what's best


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Of course!:2thumb: it's just there have been so many issues in the last few years with amphibian-to-amphibian infections, that it does pay to be cautious. I'm one of those that believes a 'totally' sterile environment is pretty harmful in itself, as 'phibs kept that way don't get a chance to build up ANY kind of resistance, but some things are too risky to try.


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## Slinkies mum (Jul 15, 2008)

About 20 years ago I found an adult froggie living quite happily in my kitchen drain. How he survived all the bleach and detergents I'll never know, anyway I took him to the local park pond and set him free there I'm sure it was much healthier for him :lol2:.


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