Rinse with tap water - Dumb?

S

SeaDude

[I've been known to rinse things - fish nets, mixing cups, etc - with tap water and then let them dry before using them in the tank again. I figured if it dried, that all the "bad stuff", like chlorine, is gone.

Of course, it could just be that there is now a dried residue that gets dissolved and added to the tank the next time I use it.

Is this a bad idea?

Any opinions?]
 
[The only thing you might pick up by doing that are a few trace minerals (heavy metals, etc..). Nothing major. The chlorine is in solution and will dissipate as the water evaporates. I rinse everything of mine with tap water then rinse with RO because I don't like spots. :rool eyes:]
 
[My only consideration is the phosphates, and ammonia. I don't think that both of these can total dissipate.

I use tap water to rinse out my filters / sponges, but then give a quick rinse in RO/DI, too.

Of course, I have horribly bad tap water, which even when filtered, has phosphates and ammonia, so maybe I am paranoid! :p]
 
[I don't think you have much to worry about. Let's say for example you leave 1 ml of tap water on your net. Also assume the tap water is really bad and has 1000 mg/l (ppm) of compound X in it. For argument let's assume all the compound X stays on after the water dries, (not likely for most things we would worry about). You then dip the net back into your tank which is around 100 gal. and compound X free. Your tank now has 2.5 ppb (that's parts per billion!) of compound X in it.

Now look at a real compound. Chlorine in drinking water should be around 0.3-0.5 mg/l (could be as high as 2 mg/l). Thus under the same conditions the chlorine introduced would be around 1-2 parts per trillion!

So rinse away and just shake off any excess water.

The Real Dr. Phil :D]



Edited By the3dwizard on 1097467087
 
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