Roughly 98% of all municipal water supplies in the US have chlorine or chloramine added to the water. This chlorine is added to kill bacteria in the water. If this wasn’t done, people would get waterborne diseases. The author spent several weeks close to death after brushing his teeth with poorly chlorinated water from a municipality in the “undeveloped” world, so he will tell you chlorination is a very good and necessary thing.
This chlorine and chloramine are poisonous to fish in even very small quantities (> 0.05 ppm). It is important to use something called a “conditioner” to neutralize this chlorine and chloramine. Note that NONE of these conditioners even temporarily “detoxify” ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. NONE, not even Seachem Prime. More can be found on this topic in this article:
5.5.3. Conditioners
Chlorine Removers or “Conditioners”
My recommendation with conditioners is simple:
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Buy ONLY Conditioners that say “Sodium Thiosulfate” on the Bottle in the Ingredients List. Then use 5X the Recommended Dosage.
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If the tap water has chlorine or chloramine the water can typically be treated with a conditioner in the water change bucket. Then it can be added to the aquarium. Alternatively, the conditioner can be added to the tank before the change water is added. Dosage should be based on the amount of change water. The amount should NOT be calculated based on the tank size.
When a water system is on chloramine. the chlorine pulses need to be frequent. Depending on the water quality it might be as often as weekly. This is why some suppliers of conditioners recommend five times the level of conditioner for chloramines that is used for chlorine.
Note that for discussion purposes chlorine and chloramine are identical. All conditioners which neutralize chlorine also neutralize chloramine with equal efficiency. There is just some subtleties about treating chloramines (having to do with the ammonia in the chloramine) which require a separate discussion.
For more information on chlorine and chloramine click on the following:
5.5.1. Chlorination in Depth
5.5.2. Chloramine in the Aquarium
5.5.3. Conditioners
5.5.4. Stress Coat Products
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