Nitrates at 60ppm FROM THE TAP!

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Wayne487

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Jul 27, 2013
Messages
188
Location
Rotherham, S.yorkshire
I just tested my tap water and the trates are through the roof what can I do to reduce them? Even if I do a water test on my tanks I'm not going To get a good reading I don't know what to do!
 
That seems very high. Mine out of the tap is 10-20 ppm. I planted my 55 gallon tank (about half the tank) and now it stays around 5 ppm. Perhaps heavily planting with anarchis and water wisteria (both reported to be especially good at this) would help. I just used a bunch of inexpensive sword plants. Keep us informed. This is an interesting situation.
 
Contact you water service ASAP. That high of a nitrate means something is really wrong with your water treatment place. It happened hear years ago and they found a dead cow in the reservoir. If you have a well you need to get it checked. Your water has been contaminated some how. In the meantime you need to get filtered water or invest in a filtration system. Even one that goes on your water spigot like a Pure filter may help.
 
So your tank is >60ppm nitrates ? There's not so much thing to do when dealing with 60 ppm nitrates in the tap...

Maybe you can use grocery water ? I heard about products that reduce nitrates, but in your case, it's extreme high !


And yeah, call your municipality, 60ppm is really high.
 
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That seems very high. Mine out of the tap is 10-20 ppm. I planted my 55 gallon tank (about half the tank) and now it stays around 5 ppm. Perhaps heavily planting with anarchis and water wisteria (both reported to be especially good at this) would help. I just used a bunch of inexpensive sword plants. Keep us informed. This is an interesting situation.

I don't know any place by me that sell those plants as a lot of places don't label them, do you have a picture of them so maybe I can look tomorrow at the LFS please?

I had lots of cabomba plants in my biggest tank but they made such a mess and clogged up my filters I removed them for 3x large moss balls
 
So your tank is >60ppm nitrates ? There's not so much thing to do when dealing with 60 ppm nitrates in the tap...

Maybe you can use grocery water ? I heard about products that reduce nitrates, but in your case, it's extreme high !

What's grocery water? Not heard of that one before
 
Since your in the UK is it possible for you to buy or purchase an RO water unit? The water that is filtered through one is pure water with no nitrates. Google the following plants to see pic's but all are ones that would help mop up excess nitrates in your tank water... Water Sprite, Wisteria, Ambulia for planting and Water Lettuce, Water Hyacinth, and Frogbit for floating plants.
 
Update for everyone:


I contacted my water supplier and they said that their tests showed the trates were no higher than 29ppm and that my test was probably wrong as home tests are highly unreliable

I asked for a report on my water and it should be with me in a few days.

I spoke to someone who lives in 10minute walking distance and her test was showing as 5ppm and barely showing that it was between 0-5. Another guy that lives 4 miles away has the water supplier coming out to test his tap water in 2 weeks as he breeds discus and angels and sells them to make his money so as a business he has more reason to

For the next water change I'm going to buy some water from the LFS as I priced up a RO unit and I don't have that kind of money spare at the minute
 
Firstly, if you don't already have an "API Master Kit", that is what you need to buy. Better accuracy than strips, and not expensive.

If you still get shoddy results, you could take a sample of your water and have it tested by a company. Perhaps a local pool shop would be good for that.
 
Firstly, if you don't already have an "API Master Kit", that is what you need to buy. Better accuracy than strips, and not expensive.

If you still get shoddy results, you could take a sample of your water and have it tested by a company. Perhaps a local pool shop would be good for that.

Yeah I have the API test kit although sometimes I do find it hard to decide what the result is as the colour doesn't match anything in the chart

We don't really have any pool shops around here in the UK lol
 
I have the API TEST kit

I have almost all from API: GH, KH, PH, NH3+NH4, NO2, NO3, PO4.

PO4: Can't make a match between sample and color chart
NO2: Never had a reading (maybe I never tested when I had nitrites...)
NO3: Must shake bottle #2 like hell

All others: Accurate.

If your water supplier say you at 30ppm and you read 60ppm, then take your NO3 test reading and always divide result by 2.

29 ppm seems high for tap anyway, I have 0 in my tap.
 
I was going to say 29 ppm seems too high and the fact that it doesn't give them any concern is surprising.
 
Maybe there's a rotten dead cow decaying in their reservoir tank...

Dead cow + heterotrophic bacterias --> Ammonia
Ammonia + autotrophic bacterias --> Nitrates
 
I have almost all from API: GH, KH, PH, NH3+NH4, NO2, NO3, PO4.

PO4: Can't make a match between sample and color chart
NO2: Never had a reading (maybe I never tested when I had nitrites...)
NO3: Must shake bottle #2 like hell

All others: Accurate.

If your water supplier say you at 30ppm and you read 60ppm, then take your NO3 test reading and always divide result by 2.

29 ppm seems high for tap anyway, I have 0 in my tap.

Yeah I will divide by 2 in future but does that also apply to tank readings for nitrates??

As I said on the other reply I've been told the law is no higher than 50ppm before they have to act on it
 
Yeah I will divide by 2 in future but does that also apply to tank readings for nitrates??

As I said on the other reply I've been told the law is no higher than 50ppm before they have to act on it

Yes, divide all your NO3 readings by 2. In the tank too.
 
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