# Do carbon blocks remove/neutralise Chloramine ?



## tubamanandy (8 Jun 2016)

I use a pre-filter & 2 carbon blocks for pre-filtering water when doing water changes.

Will they remove or neutralise Chloramine and most other nasties in my water ?

Luckily, I'm blessed with very soft water


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## xim (8 Jun 2016)

They will block the chlorine part in chloramine, what is left is ammonia/ammonium.


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## ian_m (9 Jun 2016)

Some carbon filters, if the water flow is slow enough, will remove chloramine. They break chloramine down to chlorine and ammonia, the chlorine is readily absorbed and the ammonia as well. You are looking for pre-filters with "chlorplus" name.

http://www.ro-man.com/shop/replacem...s/chlorpuls-chloramine-removal-cartridge.html

Otherwise normal carbon will let any ammonia pass through if chloramine was present. Note that ammonia will also pass through RO units as well, so you should always test your RO water or use dechlorinator like Prime which will neutralise ammonia.


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## Martin in Holland (23 Aug 2016)

Prime will neutralize Ammonia only for 12 to 24 hours as it binds it and forms Ammonium which slowly turns back to Ammonia. It's good for a quick fix, but the only ways to remove Ammonia  are with a good biofilter and water change.


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## ian_m (23 Aug 2016)

Martin in China said:


> Prime will neutralize Ammonia only for 12 to 24 hours as it binds it and forms Ammonium which slowly turns back to Ammonia.


No so. The consumed ammonia bond with prime is not reversable thus permenantly removes the ammonia from your system. The resulting compound can be digested by your filter. You are confusing with Prime which generally only lasts about 24hours once in the tank.


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## rebel (23 Aug 2016)

ian_m said:


> No so. The consumed ammonia bond with prime is not reversable thus permenantly removes the ammonia from your system. The resulting compound can be digested by your filter. You are confusing with Prime which generally only lasts about 24hours once in the tank.


? @ian_m I think there is a mistake in this paragraph but I am not good enough to figure out which one....


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## ian_m (23 Aug 2016)

Seachem state that Prime will only last about 24hours in the tank due to reacting with chemicals in the tank and general break down of the Prime once out the bottle.

Once Prime has reacted with ammonia will not release it back into the water, it would be a crap dechlorinator/ammonia remover if it did release it. The reacted Prime compounds are bio avaliable to bacteria and will be removed from the system in you filter, gravel & bio film.


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## rebel (23 Aug 2016)

ian_m said:


> Seachem state that Prime will only last about 24hours in the tank due to reacting with chemicals in the tank and general break down of the Prime once out the bottle.
> 
> Once Prime has reacted with ammonia will not release it back into the water, it would be a crap dechlorinator/ammonia remover if it did release it. The reacted Prime compounds are bio avaliable to bacteria and will be removed from the system in you filter, gravel & bio film.


Now I understand. Thanks. Serves me right for skimming.


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## Manuel Arias (23 Aug 2016)

The topic is funny. Checking Seachem information, they confirm that Prime is able to neutralize nitrogen in practically any form, but they do not know why... It seems to be a kind of side effect they found by accident, but confirmed both by Seachem and users:

http://www.seachem.com/support/forums/forum/general-discussion/1803-prime-questions?amp;postcount=2

Cheers,

Manuel


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## Martin in Holland (25 Aug 2016)

Manuel Arias said:


> The topic is funny. Checking Seachem information, they confirm that Prime is able to neutralize nitrogen in practically any form, but they do not know why... It seems to be a kind of side effect they found by accident, but confirmed both by Seachem and users:
> 
> http://www.seachem.com/support/forums/forum/general-discussion/1803-prime-questions?amp;postcount=2
> 
> ...


This discussion also stated that Prime only hold on to Ammonia for 24-48 hours


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## dw1305 (25 Aug 2016)

Hi all, 





Manuel Arias said:


> Checking Seachem information, they confirm that Prime is able to neutralize nitrogen in practically any form, but they do not know why...


<"Amquel"> had a patent <(*"Method and Product for removal of chloramines, chlorine, and ammonia from aquaculture water"*. Kuhns, John Farrell US Patent #4,666,610; May 19, 1987.)>, and I'd be fairly confident that "Prime" works in a similar way.

Best guess would be that the reaction product is H2NCH2SO3Na, an aminomethanesulfonate salt, but what happens to that in the aquarium isn't fully known, but presumably it is microbially decomposed.

This is a useful article <"Chloramine and the Reef Aquarium">.

<"Fixed nitrogen"> is a scarce resource in evolutionary terms, so it would be surprising if a nitrogen rich compound just sat there.

cheers Darrel


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