Annabelle

Ok, here is a question for you all. Our stupid council is considering making the very bad move of adding flouride to our water. Grrrr! I know for a fact that too much is bad for people and that having it in the water ensures we will have too much. What I would like to know is how it might affect my fish. I dont reckon it'll go them much good and im trying to find some way of removing it now before they put it in the water so i'll be ready. Has anyone had experience in this area? Any ideas on how it will affect the fish and how to remove it? I'll be so annoyed if they go down this road as I have many pets whose water I will have to process to remove the flouride not to mention the fact that they will willingly do this to thier populace without even caring what they have to say on the matter (no one actually wants it). If I can at least find a way to get it out of the water for consumption and for my fishies I can be less stressed about it.

Dino

In my experience, flouride does not harm fish.
I will email a vetranary icthyologist I know, and ask her, in case I am mistaken.

Dino

I have not heard back from my friend, so I did a little research myself.
BTW, I have a BS in biology and am 4 hours short of a minor in chemistry.
From what I could find, for the amount of flouride found in most city waters, there is no harm to fish.

There are a few studies that show accumulation in the eggs of softer water fish, but no study of what this will result in.

Annabelle

Well thats a big relief! Cause having to filter all that water could get expensive. Thanx Dino.

bigfoot-daniel

I dont know if it helps, but i think pretty much all of the UK adds flouride to its domestic water supplies. I know that the county i live in adds more than anywhere else in the country (or atleast thats what local papers reported a couple of months ago). I guess Lincolnshire folk are just too lazy to brush our teeth. lol. Whilst this isnt a scientific approach... judging by the number of fishkeepers in the UK that use ordinary domestic tap water, Im hoping/assuming that flouride doesnt have any detrimental effects to fish.

Just my 2p. lol.

sirdarksol

I've got fluoride in my water supply, and have had only two fish deaths that I'm not sure what caused them. One of them was a cory who was alone in a community tank. The other was a betta who seemed to be too small for his fins.

The fluoride thing is a touchy subject. Studies are showing that folks who drink mostly bottled water are having more cavities, so it's pretty likely that the fluoridated water sources are helping tooth health. However, fluoride can cause harm to the nervous system in large enough amounts (my brother has familial tremors, and there was concern that fluoride was making these worse because he doesn't spit his toothpaste or mouthwash out. A fluoride-free month disproved this, but it was a legitimate concern).

Annabelle

I really dont see why everyone has to be punished just because people are too lazy to look after thier teeth. Flouride in the water not only goes in through the ammounts you drink, you absorb it through your skin every time you come into contact with it, that is way too much in my opinion. Not to mention that im sure they havent properly studied possible environmental effects of having that much flouride going through the system and into the ground water. Plus, you dont even need flouride to look after your teeth. I know people who have used herbal toothpaste for years and thier teeth are fine.

Im just glad that my fish most likely wont die on the spot if I have to used flouridated water.