The Water Our Crabs Use

[Nicole]

From Jedi Master Thrash:I had an old post somewhere about the "letting water sit" method of dechlorinating. Letting it sit for 48 hours can be effictive at dechlorinating. However, just as dangerous as the chlorine is the heavy metal impurities, and just letting the water set doesn't reduce them to levels that are safe for fish. And supposedly, chloramine is even more dangerous than chlorine, and "letting it sit" does nothing to remove chloramine from the water. Something like aquasafe removes chlorine, chloramines, and heavy metals.The reason I suggest leaving it set after using the dechlor is that some older dechlorinators required that it set in order for all the chemicals to evaporate away. However, most that you find these days are of the "instant" variety, and basically should be ready instantly. However, I still let it sit, because after you use a dechlorinator, the water gets a foam at the top, where all the impurities are being carried away in gasses, and I figure it's just save to let all those gasses evaporate first.As for Kosher salt, I assume this is intended for food, and is thus nearly pure salt. Ocean salt is more than just salt. It contians a complex mixture of hundreds of different trace elements that are found in ocean water. True ocean salt will try to match the concentrations of these trace elements to actual ocean levels. Some of these impurites are important to animals that live in the ocean, and for the rest we simply don't have enough research yet to tell, but better safe than sorry.Even minute concentrations (less than 1 part per million) of particles in water can have a dramatic affect on its chemical properties. Think about with air too. Just 200 parts per million of carbon monoxide is enough to give you a headache, and 800 convultions.So you can see the we try to take no chances with the water our crabs depend on.