Fish Pond & Aquarium Owners

Fish also take chloramines directly into their bloodstream. Therefore, chloramines should be removed from water used in fish tanks, ponds, and aquariums. Individuals or businesses that keep fish or other animals in tanks, aquariums, or ponds should ask a pet supply company about removing chloramines. Restaurants and grocery stores with lobster tanks must take special precautions to treat the water also.

Protect Your Fish, Amphibians, & Reptiles
Chloraminated water passes through gills, directly entering the fish, amphibian and reptile bloodstream. Chloramines must be removed because they bind to iron in red blood cell hemoglobin causing a reduced cell capacity to carry oxygen. Just like chlorine, chloramine will need to be removed from water for fish, amphibian, and reptile use.

The following examples verify that there are several products and methods that can be used to remove chloramines from aquariums and fish pond water:

• Treatment products (drops or tablets) can remove both ammonia and chlorine. There are also many water conditioners and biological filtration boosters that remove chlorine and ammonia, as well as chloramines. Consult with pet store personnel about which brands are most effective.
• High-quality activated carbon filtration and reverse osmosis have been seen to remove chloramines under optimum conditions, but they are expensive and must be closely monitored to ensure their effectiveness.
• A test kit with the correct active agent for ammonia can be helpful for monitoring purposes. Aquarium owners will want to test their water for ammonia concentrations in addition to chlorine.

Chloramines are toxic to both fresh and saltwater fish. Drinking water used with artificial sea salts for makeup water in saltwater fish tanks must have the ammonia and chlorine removed first. Chloramines should ideally be removed from water before being added to a pond, used either for fish or aquaculture.