Re: Chloramine ??
Karl.
I have been keeping aquariums for many years, where chloromine in certainly
a bain. In large quantities it is capable of killing many a fins and
invertibrate. Indeed killing invertibrates is the reason why chloromine is
added to the water. However I have never heard of chloromine causing
problems to aquarium plants. And, I think, chloromine is not added to the
water all year round. It is added, primarily, in the spring when the
invertibrate eggs are hatching.
I suspect your problem is the hard water. The plants you mentioned (at
least the ones I recognise without checking the books) all grow in acid
soil. The roots of these plants have adapted to adsorb soft, acidic water
from the soil. The roots simply cannot cope with hard water. Do you get
limescale in your washbasin, kettle etc. This is also forming round the
roots of your plants, thus clogging the roots and slowly choking the plant
to death.
Fortunately, you can soften the water and remove the chloromine, simply, in
a single process. Take a container, such as a bucket, watering can, etc.
and quarter fill (approximately) with either peat or a water softening
resin, available at aquarium stores, place a mesh on top to stop the
peat/resin from floating. Then fill with water. Try to circulate the
water. You can get air pumps quite cheaply from the aquarium store.
Circulating the water helps the chloromine to escape into the atmosphere and
passes the water through the peat/resin. After 24 hours or so, you should
have soft, chloromine free water.
Activated carbon, used in aquarium filters, is an excellent medium for
adsorbing nutrients from water (including chloromine). However carbon can
only adsorb a limited amount of nutrients. When this limit is reached, the
nutrients are actually released back into the water. This can be deadly in
an aquarium, and is why carbon is regularly replaced in an aquarium filter.
The carbon is usually replaced every 4-6 weeks.
Hope this helps.
David Field
London UK.
