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Section 3. TROUBLE SHOOTING
TAP WATER
Tap water is a subject we could write volumes about, but for the
purpose of this brochure we will keep it relatively short. The first
golden rule do not put tap water directly into your tanks, you must
remember that tap water is produced to EEC standards for drinking
and not for us to keep fish in. As to whether it's fit to drink
or not is another matter, but IT IS MOST CERTAINLY NOT TO BE
TAKEN FOR GRANTED that just because it's clear fresh water, that
it's O.K. to use directly for fish keeping. To comply with the
above drinking standards various things are added to the water to
ensure they meet set levels. Some of these additives we know about
for example chlorine, which we use a dechlorinator to remove, but
some areas don't use chlorine and have moved onto an alternative
disinfecting products such as Chloramine or Hyper chloride that
are just as toxic to fish and dechlorination on its own will not
remove. We use this as basic example, but there are many others
that are present that need removing as well.
Ideally we want to remove as many of these nasties as possible in
one action, the best basic product to achieve this is activated
carbon. This is a relatively cheap product that will do an enormous
amount of work for you. ALL of the water that we use ourselves
is passed through activated carbon before we do anything else to
it. It removes a whole host of toxic chemicals, including pesticides
that may be present. We recommend that all tap water intended for
fish use is filtered through activated carbon BEFORE use,
and then treated with a good quality water conditioner. Carbon will
remove most toxic substances but in the case of hyper chloride this
must be neutralized with a substance called Theosulphate. This substance
is found in most good quality water conditioners and it is for this
reason that a conditioner must be used.
Just a quick word on carbon. There are two basic types 'standard'
and 'activated' we stress the use of 'activated' as it is a far
superior product that has a higher absorption capability than the
standard form. The carbon over a period of time will become saturated
with the chemicals etc. that it has absorbed and must be change
as it reaches the end of its useful life. There are now test kits
available that you can test how much use there is left in your carbon.
This is very useful as it gives you the maximum use out of your
carbon and avoids the chance of your carbon becoming saturated and
allowing chemicals to pass by it unchecked.
Such a kit is listed along with all the others on our stock
lists.
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