Evaporation, drought, chloramines

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Our pond system is about 1,100 gallons and the main body of water has been in place for two months. I have not dechlorinated any water yet. The initial water was in the pond for 3 weeks before fish were added, aerated mechanically and in a 30' stream.

We experienced an ammonia spike a week or so ago due, in part, to plant fertilizer being back flushed into the pond while rearranging things. Today the feeder goldfish seem okay.

We replace 30 gallons a week due to evaporation. Usually a mix of rainwater and tap water. Due to the lack of rain (30% of normal) we are going to rely on tap water this summer. Chloramines are present in the system:
The annual median chlorine residual in the Distribution System was 1.42 mg/L (Table 8). The lowest monthly median was in October and November (1.33 mg/L) and the maximum monthly median was in May (1.55 mg/L) (Figure 39).

Do I need to worry about dechlorinating the top up?
 

JRS

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I admit to topping my ponds up without treatment, letting it splash down the side of a turtle tub first. I use chlorine remover if I do a large amount but I do not have chloramine.

Chloramines are more persistent in the water than just chlorine, necessitating the use of a product such as Amquel to be on the safe side. If you just dechlorinate, it leaves the ammonia for the filter to handle. Ammonia toxicity can vary depending on your pH.

 
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I don't worry about chloramines on small top-ups either. The safe level for chloramine in drinking water is a few ppm, so if you are changing under 10% of your water, you are looking at adding under 1 ppm of ammonia.

I top up with about 1% of my water volume twice a day (on a timer). The chlorine should be promptly neutralized by all the biomass in the pond and the ammonia is probably fraction of what the fish put out.
 
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To be on the safe side I would add it slowly or with some type of diffuser to avoid areas of concentration.
 
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We have both chlorine and chloramines in our water. I don't completely trust out water system.....I've read where they've added extra things on some occasions. Due to my concerns I always add liquid Pond Prime whenever I add water to our pond....just peace of mind for me.
 

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