# High nitrates...



## halffrozen (Sep 24, 2011)

So in my 40gallon breeder, my levels were fine 2 days ago, PH 7.2ish, AM 0ppm, NO2 0ppm, NO3 20ppmish.

Today, while testing my water, my Nitrates were 40ppm, quickly, I did a 15gal WC. Retested 20-30min later, Nitrates still looking like 40ppm...

Tank inhabitants: 2 Bolivian Rams with about 50 wigglers, and 4 oto's.

Got a Fluval C3 power filter, with two air stones.

I noticed my sand was getting dark in some areas, possibly algae, so I gravel vac'd most of the gravel while removing about 15 gallons.

Just curious why its still so high...


----------



## BioG (Oct 12, 2008)

Algae probably coming fro the nitrates... You might check your local annual water analysis, being in AZ I wouldn't be surprised if they were messing with the water at the source.

Nationally, water treatment tends to shift, intentionally, in spring and fall. Our water gets harder right around this time of year because we go to deep water wells in the winter :thumb:

I would follow up with a couple more water changes and if it doesn't make a dent, I'm betting it's a source issue.


----------



## halffrozen (Sep 24, 2011)

I have an RO/Soft Water system on my house, everything gets that water except my front yard.

I am thinking I just need to do water changes daily till it goes down... if I can ever ACCURATELY read the API water kit. lol


----------



## halffrozen (Sep 24, 2011)

So tested my tap water, API said it was 30ppm... O.O

I always use Prime when adding in new water, should I just double the dosage??


----------



## BioG (Oct 12, 2008)

30ppm is very high for city water. I wonder if the test has been contaminated some how? Is it a dip strip or a drop in a vial type test?

Nitrates could be leeching from the water softener, I'm not very familiar with softeners as I keep Tanganyikan cichlids in my fish room thus I enjoy the super hard Utah water for my tanks.

I don't think more prime is the answer.

I think if you can't gat it down to 10 or less with daily water changes you should maybe have your RO unit serviced. I doubt the city is allowing 30ppm into the system?

Do a search for the "Annual water Quality Report" in your area. The city is required to post this so It shouldn't be too much trouble. It reads like a store bought test so it's pretty comprehensive for us aquarists.

You can also call your water treatment facility and report your nitrate findings, they can easily tell you if it's your source or their's which is causing it.

Are the fish noticeably reacting to it?

Only other thing I can think of is over-feeding. If you can't solve the problem you can add plants which should bring it down.

Are you having algae problems?


----------



## reflexhunter (Jul 25, 2009)

Well it won't remove the nitrates it does claim to neutralize it though.

My 55 tang tank is generally around 40ppm and I do 25-50% water changes weekly, fish are doing well, would like to get it lower but really not stressing over it to much.

Was thinking about trying some purigen to bring it down some more.

There was something else that one of the local guys from our club uses, going to try to find out what it is called.


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I'd be on the phone to my water supplier and the board of health. :thumb:


----------



## halffrozen (Sep 24, 2011)

Yeah the Maximum allowed Nitrate level is 10ppm.

My RO unit is maybe 5-6 months old, I wouldn't think that would be the problem.... I think. lol

My test tubes are cleaned in VERY hot water for around 5 minutes, dried, and then used.

I am using the test tubes(chemical master test kit).

Fish look to be fine. As do the fry! My Bolivian Ram babies are swimming today! They look good!


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

If the tap water is that high in nitrates then I would plant the tank with something fast growing.


----------



## BioG (Oct 12, 2008)

and drink bottled water!


----------



## BelieveInBlue (Jul 17, 2011)

This is why I love BC, cuz my water parameters are

pH 7.0
GH 0
KH 0
nitrates 0
ammonia 0
nitrite 0

 its almost like RO water ^^


----------



## cdavitt (Apr 4, 2011)

FWIW. I live in North Phoenix. No RO System. Water from my tap is 0/0/0 and 8.4 hardness.


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

New Jersey within one hour of NYC. Tap is 0/0/0 and pH=7.8. Yes! :dancing:


----------



## Pizzle (May 24, 2011)

Try testing the water that goes to the front yard since earlier you said that it was not on the RO system. If it doesn't have the high nitrates then it must be the RO unit that is causing the nitrates. If the front yard water does test that high then I would suspect that there is something wrong with the tests.


----------



## halffrozen (Sep 24, 2011)

Tested, and it is extremely red even within the time of me shaking it!

Could my new API master test kit be reading wrong??

The ONLY water that is 10ppm or lower is my little 3 gallon drinking water tank under my sink. And that takes hours to fill back up fully.

I was told by the people who installed the system when I had first bought the house that the company that supplies my water pays the fines for it being contaminated, rather then spending money on filtering it properly.

What would another option be for me at this point?


----------



## Pizzle (May 24, 2011)

The easiest thing to do is the obvious answer of using bottled water. A project that you might try, which would take some work is to build some sort of system in a sump that would use up the nitrates. There is a current thread in the DIY forum on here by agirdiron (not sure if I got the handle exactly right) who is building an "Algae Turf Scrubber" in to his sump. Or maybe you could try some fast growing plants that float. Your bolivians would probably appreciate the floating plants in the tank as well. The concept is that the plants or algae suck up the nitrates and then the nitrates are finally removed from the system when you trim down the plants or the algae. But it would take the plants or algae some time to use up the nitrates so it is not a very good solution for your situation.

I obviously don't know how things work in your neighbor hood but in Souothern California, a water supplier would not be able to get away with supplying water that is so high in nitrates. I guess that you live in a very rural neighborhood. I thnk that the problem is not with the API test kit because the problems that I have read about were people that did not follow the directions on the test kit and were registering zero nitrates. Is there a fish store nearby that you can take a water sample to for a second opinion?


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Actually when I planted my tank with Vallisneria my nitrates went to zero in a week.


----------



## halffrozen (Sep 24, 2011)

Pizzle said:


> The easiest thing to do is the obvious answer of using bottled water. A project that you might try, which would take some work is to build some sort of system in a sump that would use up the nitrates. There is a current thread in the DIY forum on here by agirdiron (not sure if I got the handle exactly right) who is building an "Algae Turf Scrubber" in to his sump. Or maybe you could try some fast growing plants that float. Your bolivians would probably appreciate the floating plants in the tank as well. The concept is that the plants or algae suck up the nitrates and then the nitrates are finally removed from the system when you trim down the plants or the algae. But it would take the plants or algae some time to use up the nitrates so it is not a very good solution for your situation.
> 
> I obviously don't know how things work in your neighbor hood but in Souothern California, a water supplier would not be able to get away with supplying water that is so high in nitrates. I guess that you live in a very rural neighborhood. I thnk that the problem is not with the API test kit because the problems that I have read about were people that did not follow the directions on the test kit and were registering zero nitrates. Is there a fish store nearby that you can take a water sample to for a second opinion?


Yeah, which I figured would be a cheaper method then buying a bigger holding tank. lol

My neighborhood is rather new, and is on old farm land, but in a medium sized city, slowly growing. So maybe as time goes on they will HAVE to treat their water better.

I really want to try out live plants, but am not so sure about what kind of lighting and other items will be needed. I have an old scuba tank that was used as our CO2 tank for my old Semi-Pro paintball team back in the day... could get that thing brought back up to date.

I will stop by a Petco tonight to see what they got as far as plants go.

@ DJ

I will look for those!!! 0ppm sounds fantastic! lol

I mean, really though the fish seem fine, but I still want them to be thriving, not surviving(as I have read here before!)


----------



## BelieveInBlue (Jul 17, 2011)

0ppm sounds like a dream, but I have to dose nitrates weekly just to keep up with the freaking plants... :x Oh well... Better than nitrates through the roof I guess  Oh right and the pruning, can't forget the bi-weekly pruning...


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

BelieveInBlue said:


> 0ppm sounds like a dream, but I have to dose nitrates weekly just to keep up with the freaking plants... :x Oh well... Better than nitrates through the roof I guess  Oh right and the pruning, can't forget the bi-weekly pruning...


Yes, plants have their own problems. But even if you throw them away every couple of months and buy more, better than 30ppm nitrates in your tap water.

Yes zero nitrates will not work. You WILL have to add nitrates then. You want at least 10ppm if you have plants.

Once the initial nitrates were gone I did switch to a medium growing plant for a more stable environment. Right now I am liking Hygrophilia difformis (water wisteria).

You don't need CO2 but you could plant them in pots with plant substrate and get some plant lights. I like the pots because then I can switch easily between my nursery tank and the show tank after my fish nibble too much.


----------

