ammonia in tapwater-best product to remove other than RO?

[Electrokate]

Hi,
I live in Portland OR where USUALLY the water is great for my reef and freshwater tanks. Recently had trouble and lost fry (killifish) due to ammonia in the tap water. Called the city, they are adding extra ammonia "because of hot weather". My API test kit says it's at .50 ppm. I confirmed they use sodium hydroxide as a buffer as well. Since the tap water has a minuscule amount of phosphate I am tempted to buy a canister filter and pre-filter the tap water with absorbers and then add the salt. (ESV B-Ionic reef salt).
I've worked fish store retail a number of years and heard numerous complaints about bottled ammonia/chlorine neutralizers, but this was from people who were also pretty bad about their tank maintenance, so maybe just shocked their fish when they actually did a yearly water change. Never considered using one myself before.
I am not willing to get an RO unit til I have a drum to redirect the waste water to my garden or otherwise use it. Our water bill is already through the roof. Also usually I don't need RO quality water.
Suggestions? Or is there truly a low waste RO unit out there?
I have a bad back, can't haul water from a shop. Tempting though.
Thanks,
Kate

 

[subielover]

Get an RO/DI unit and a 20 gallon rubbermaid container on wheels

PRIME is a product that removes ammonia, I believe Seachem makes it.

 

[beaslbob]

seems to me like if you did a 10% water change that would result in an ammonia level in you tank of .05ppm. I think the aerobic bacteria and plant life would consumer that is short order.

Plus salt mixes have ammonia locks as well.

my .02

 

[sowellj]

I would save yourself some potential headaches and go ahead and get an RO/DI. What you could do for wastewater is plumb it to your washing machine and use it fill your washer before doing a load. Unrelated, but I used to live in Corvallis.

 

[AZDesertRat]

What you utility uses is chloramines, its a combination of free chlorine and ammonia which as a residual disinfectant last longer in the distribution system and does not have as many harmful byproducts when it eventually breaks down and chlorine may have.

Its tough to remove without a good RO/DI and its really the DI or deionization portion that does the removal not the RO. You can use RO only and the ammonia will still be present and most low end RO/DI systems are not effective either due to poor DI design and low quality carbon blocks or granular carbon products.

There is one true low waste RO/DI available today with a proven track record but they are not cheap, I own one myself and at $800 its not for everybody. Others have tried but they do not last long since they flush with tap water which contains the very contaminants you are trying to remove.

A good choice of RO/DI systems that will work wonders on the chloramines is the CSP-DI found on sale at $100 off retail here:
SpectraPure Customer Appreciation SALE! 20% - 50% off

 

[Yellowtang]

Amo chips will do it for ya.
What I've done for delicate babby fish is do water changes from the display tank.
A properly cycled tank is probably the best method to get rid of ammonia and its free.
Chemicals rob the biological filter from their food source. Especially if over dosed.
Thats why people have problems with chemicals removing ammonia. HTH

JR

 

[Electrokate]

Thanks for the tip on the efficient RO/DI unit. At 800 bucks I will really have to ponder that one a while, but the ones that waste 10 gallons for every one they make will eat up 800 bucks one way or another. One nice thing is our water in most ways is in pretty good shape, no drugs, industrial chemicals or farm runoff and ph 7.2-7.4, so the membranes last a while. Our water bills are quarterly and average 200 bucks already, so am not at all keen on adding to it. Especially since I have not had a job in a couple years... I can theoretically make the hobby pay for itself as it is now.
I got a used HOT magnum which I have been wanting anyway, and put phosphate absorber by Seachem in it and ammonia zeolite. Glad I did put both in separate bags, as one or the other is leaching phosphate. Been testing the barrel (it's freshwater til treated, ammonia zeolite does not work in saltwater) every hour or two, and the phophate is doubling each time. Am thinking this free bucket of phosphate absorber was worth every penny It's been passed around a lot, maybe it was already used. Oops. Or could a zeolite for ammonia leach phosphate?

I did start using water from an established tank for the fry. The fry I have are particularly rare, delicate and valuable-if I can get them to reproducing size. Nothobranchius flammicomantis Kisaki TAN 95-5. In case anyone on this list knows killifish... also got N polli and A elberti, rare strains. If I can get them breeding I can afford an 800 dollar RO/DI unit.
Thanks,
Kate

 

[AZDesertRat]

Operating a normal RO/DI unit at the recommended 4:1 waste ratio (not 10:1) averages about 5 cents per gallon of treated RO/DI water you produce. That nickel includes average water and sewer rates, taxes and tariffs as well as the replacement costs for prefilters, carbons and DI resins. It may be even less for some people. I wish my water was $200 a quarter, I pay over $100 a month in Phoenix in the summer with the highest rates and still over $60 a month in the coldest winter months and thats not including the sewer rate. The $145 unit is more than adequate in most cases and has the advantage of having a capillary tube type flow restrictor you trim for an exact 4:1 waste ratio based on your specific water conditions, pressure and temperature. Most vendors supply a fixed restrictor which is where you run into excessive waste. Even then the waste has many uses like landscape watering, laundry, filling a pool etc.

Aluminum based phosphate removal products do release phosphates when they are exhausted unlike granular ferric oxide based products which do not release it no matter how full they are. I think the Seachem products I have seen were white colored aluminum based products, I has some at one time and gave it all away in favor of Phosban type GFO products.

Your water utility may be feeding orthophosphates or polyphosphates in to the distribution system too for corrosion control, this may be part of your problem too. Many communities do some form of corrosion control after the EPA enacted the Lead and Copper Rule for drinking water. Another reason to consider a good RO/DI system since phosphates are weakly ionized and not the easiest thing to remove either.