Sodium Thiosulfate

[Elcid]

Hi:

I've noticed a lot of people spend good money for water condtioners. Has anyone any experience of making their own solution with sodium thiosulfate?

thanks,
Sandeep

[Kenny's Discus]

If only I know how to make my own solution which will remove Chloramines from my tap water......:-(

Kenny

[Cosmo]

Hey Sandeep,

Actually went looking for that stuff the other day... couldn't find it though I hear pool suppy companies carry it. Also heard it's the main ingredient in a lot of dechlor products... have you made your own?

Jim

[bikhu]

Hi
I have been using ST for years quite effectively. You can get it from a place called Dharma Trading company. They sell it to remove bleach from fabric in the process of tye dying.
Here is the address
www.dharmatrading.com/html/eng/620804-AA.shtmlr
Copy and paste that address into your address bar and it will take you right to the product.
I mix 1 ounce of the powder into a gallon of water and then 1 drop of that solution per gallon of tank water that you add. It has been working great for me. It DOES NOT remove chloramines. Only chlorine.
Let me know how you make out.
HTH
peter

[tpl*co]

Hmmmm, this might be what I need to remove chlorine from when I regenerate my Purigen or clean my fine HOT magnum filters (and save my Prime for water changes, LOL!).

Tina

[ronrca]

Ive looked at the same however from what I can remember and correct me if Im wrong, it only deals with chlorine I believe. I have chloramines in my tap unfortunately.

[tpl*co]

It still would be good, since you have to use bleach to clean some items and I always worry about getting it in my tank so I dump in a bunch of prime to neutralize it. If I use this first and rinse, I would have to use less prime before reusing the equipment

[bikhu]

You are absolutely right. ST only neutralizes chlorine. For those of us fortunate enough to have just chlorine it is a very low cost alternative to the products marketed to the hobby.
peter

[pcsb23]

Sorry guys, let me post a word of caution here.

If you use Sodium Thiosulphate as your only dechlorinator AND your tap water has chloramine in it, ut will break the Chlorine/Ammonia bond that makes up Chloramine. The result will be a massive ammonia spike.

hth,
Paul.

[ronrca]

So it does break the bond though? The ammonia spike will happen regardless though however prime binds the ammonia and detoxs where ST doesnt.

[Elcid]

Paul:

You are right but how much ammonia spike depends on how much chloramine is in the water and how much water change (dilution is the solution to pollution). If you are doing small water changes (25%) this ammonia production is not very high and will soon be taken care off by ur filter. I read that it is commonly used in ponds for koi to remove chloramine and so long as they don't change a large quantity of water there is no problem.

BTW, like Paul says ST will break down chloramine to chlorine and ammonia and then subsequently remove the chlorine, No? Check that link I posted in one of Marie's threads!

Here's the link:

http://www.koi.com.my/forum/KOI_Talk..._water_P33514/

The reason I bring this up is someone I know used to sell Dechlorinator at $1 per gallon. He told me he added 1 tsp of ST per gallon of water

What's the chemical they use to bind the ammonia in Prime etc? I donno, I don't want any of these chemicals in my water

take care,
Sandeep

[jim_shedden]

I have been using it for years...........well 3 anyway. I had Home Depot bring it in for me. It is very inexpensive compared to Prime and the like but as mentioned it will not remove chloromines.

Jim

[ronrca]

Paul:
What's the chemical they use to bind the ammonia in Prime etc? I donno, I don't want any of these chemicals in my water

lol! However you'd still have a chemical such as ST in your water but not whatever Prime uses. One chemical or the other chemical. Perhaps its the known that is discomforting. Thats fine with me however I would think it purdent to perhaps find out rather than dis it without knowing. Dont get me wrong, Im not knocking ST! Just it seems ironic.

I will look into this ST and how it affects my tap with chloramines. As mentioned, it will depend on the lvls. Thanks for the info and heads up. Any method of help to save money will be worth it.

[pcsb23]

had a quick search in my lunch break the ones that completely deal with chloramine probably contain Sodium hydroxymethanesulfonate, try saying that after a few beers!!!

I used to use ST years ago but when the water co's started adding chloramine instead of chlorine I just got probs in my tanks Am to NO2 to NO3 unstable conditions, algae etc....

If you don't need to soften your water then I'd recommend using an HMA filter, sometimes called metalex filters, basically a 5 micron prefilter and a 5 micron carbon filter - no waste just clean mineralised water.
hth,
Paul.

[ronrca]

Thats a good idea, using carbon prefilters. In my fishroom, I fill a 250G storage tank to age my water. I suppose I could use a pump to circulate the water thru the prefilters or I could pump it thru the prefilters and then into the tanks. The only carbon filters Im aware of is RO type with 1/4" connections. There must be other filters with larger connections and flow rates. Can anyone help me out with that?


The consideration is still cost though. If adding carbon filters, you would need to calculate that aspect in as well. Perhaps the cost rising to equal using conditioners such as prime. Btw, how much does ST cost and the dosages?