Can't Find Water Without Nitrate In It

[Coltrane9]

This has been a problem for some time now, as my tank is about 18 months old....

Problem is, my tap water has an Ammonia level of like 3-4PPM and the PH is around a 9-10.
There's also a slight hint of Nitrate in it.

So when I do a water change, I don't like to use the tap water because it's got so much Ammonia in it.

I've tried the gallon jugs they sell at Walmart; 0 Ammonia but the Nitrate is 40+
I've gone to Saltwater stores and tested their R/O water, and it's always 20+ on Nitrates.

My tank is around 60PPM I'd say, and it's like there's nothing I can do to drop it...
I've tested Aquafina and such, and it's all 0s, BUT in order to do a 20G WC we're talking like 160 of the 17oz bottles.
That's ridiculous.

I've seen saltwater products that claim they gradually reduce Nitrates just buy adding their product over a period of time, would that work?
Any other Nitrate reducers that actually work?

 

[blackmolly]

IMO plants are one of the most reliable nitrate reducers out there... what test kit are you using?

 

[Coltrane9]

API Test kit.
Pretty new

I do have plants in the tank, but I've noticed no change good or bad with them over the year+
I've taken plants out, added new ones, etc.

 

[blackmolly]

interesting, how densely is it planted?

 

[Coltrane9]

Well not amazingly populated.
I'd say I have about 6-7 plants in there that are around the size of a baseball glove.

I actually took 2 out this afternoon as I siphoned because they were pretty brown.

I used a Marineland LED Double Bright with the 2 stock lights, so it's a little difficult to get the plants to really grow

 

[blackmolly]

that probably explains why the plants weren't doing a considerable amount... the more densely planted, the more nitrates get absorbed. it might be a good idea to upgrade to a more plant friendly light and try to get some more plants in there.

 

[Coltrane9]

I'd imagine that the lighting is good enough to keep plants, right?
I know that most places will tell you that you can do "Hardy" plants with the stock lighting; and then I have the LED on top of that.

My problem is, locally, it's like 3-4 plants only.
Anacharis, Wisteria, "Assorted Potted Plants", and Sprite.
Some places have some other cooler plants, but it's expensive for one or 2 little shoots of plant.
And not know if they'll really grow that much, I pass.

It'd be real nice if my tap water wasn't gross, and I could just do WCs to dilute the Nitrate.

 

[Cornstar]

What conditioner do you use? I know that Prime neutralizes ammonia and nitrate without harming any bb. Also they are much more worth it compared to other conditioners since 5ml of Prime treats 50gallons of water

 

[kelbaker79]

I'm interested in finding out info on your question too. I'm having the exact same problem, except I can not get my NitrAtes below 80ppm!!! My tap water is loaded with ammonia so its worthless to do water changes to help with it. I have 11 tanks set up currently, and they are all the same. They are all planted tanks, some with plant lights, some without. Been set up for a year, some longer. I use prime to help with it, but have found no change in anything I've done. I've tested water from lfs, local breeders and friends' tanks and they are all the same, between 40-80ppm. Makes me want to pull my hair out :/

 

[aqua_chem]

It sounds to me like your test kits are bad. Do you know anyone else that can also test your water?

RO/DI water will have concentration of 0 ppm by definition. That makes me think something is up.

 

[00youknowit00]

Well not amazingly populated.
I'd say I have about 6-7 plants in there that are around the size of a baseball glove.

I actually took 2 out this afternoon as I siphoned because they were pretty brown.

I used a Marineland LED Double Bright with the 2 stock lights, so it's a little difficult to get the plants to really grow

In freshwater, leds don't really do anything for plants.

 

[kelbaker79]

It sounds to me like your test kits are bad. Do you know anyone else that can also test your water?

RO/DI water will have concentration of 0 ppm by definition. That makes me think something is up.

See, that's what I thought too, so I went and bought all brand new liquid tests, and they all read the same as the old ones?!

 

[FreshwaterFishJunkie]

Nitrate problem

Could you enlighten me on the filtration that you are using? Also in your filtration tell me what mechinacal,. chemical and what type of biological media are you using?

Once we know your filtration we will be able to help you out more.

 

[FreshwaterFishJunkie]

Lighting

Plants should use the nitrates unless you have alot of ammonium in the water. The plants that you said were decaying could be do to bad fertilizer/ no fertilizer and the marineland LED lights. If you want to grow plants you should move to a highter end LED light system thst produces the correct light spectrum/Temp for growing plant. Or I would move to a T5 lighting fixture with the correct light spectrum/temp light bulbs.

Also never use a chemical to control any part of the nitrogen cycle in a established/cycled tank. You could throw things off balance and end up killing your plants or BB.

 

[aprlshwrs]

I too am having a tough time keeping my nitrates down. I've started doing daily water changes and that hasn't really helped. So, I decided to test my nitrates out of the tap and they level off at 20ppm from the tap. Also, my ammonia never goes below .25. I can't get it down to save my life and it's driving me crazy. So, I tested the ammonia in my tap water...it also reads at .25. I'm a little stuck on what else to do.

I will be getting more plants and updating my lighting. However, it's a money thing, at the moment. Right now, I have a low light set up with a Floramax T8 bulb by Aqueon. I want to upgrade to T5HO bulbs and add additional plants. Do you think using CO2 will help as well? I'm open to suggestions.

 

[aprlshwrs]

Oh yeah...I'm also using a Marineland Emperor 280 filter that I just installed yesterday and it is running along side of my Aqueon 30 as I acclimate it to the tank. In my Marineland, I am using the cartridge with the activated carbon installed. I'm also using Zeolite as my secondary filter media. The other filter is also using carbon but I usually take the carbon out and just use it without.

 

[kelbaker79]

I will be getting more plants and updating my lighting. However, it's a money thing, at the moment. Right now, I have a low light set up with a Floramax T8 bulb by Aqueon. I want to upgrade to T5HO bulbs and add additional plants. Do you think using CO2 will help as well? I'm open to suggestions.

I upgraded to T5HO lights, added a TON of plants, ALL that good stuff....no change. That's why I'm soooo frustrated!!!

 

[kelbaker79]

Could you enlighten me on the filtration that you are using? Also in your filtration tell me what mechinacal,. chemical and what type of biological media are you using?

Once we know your filtration we will be able to help you out more.

I have 11 tanks, so they are all a little bit different, they all have one or both of the following:

Rena Filstar xp3 or xp4, HOB Marineland 400 or Emporer of same size. (Exact name escapes me right now) The Renas contain filtration pad, microfiltration pad, foam 20ppi, foam 30ppi, bio Chem Zorb, ceramic rings, bio balls (all tanks have bio balls) and the HOB have the carbon premade cartridges, rinsed in tank water....

 

[FreshwaterFishJunkie]

Oh yeah...I'm also using a Marineland Emperor 280 filter that I just installed yesterday and it is running along side of my Aqueon 30 as I acclimate it to the tank. In my Marineland, I am using the cartridge with the activated carbon installed. I'm also using Zeolite as my secondary filter media. The other filter is also using carbon but I usually take the carbon out and just use it without.

Carbon should only be used to remove medication since your tank is planted. Only use mechnincal and biological filtration. Carbon and zeolite will take things out of the water that your plants will need to be healthy. I would use a good water conditioner when adding more water only. Use one that gets rid of chlorine and cholrumine plus binds to heavy metals. If you need a chemical to get rid of amonina or nitrite/nitrate then you have a problem and you should find the soure of the problem (i.e. non cycled tank, to many fish, overfeeding, etc) and then fix he problem.

 

[aprlshwrs]

Carbon should only be used to remove medication since your tank is planted. Only use mechnincal and biological filtration. Carbon and zeolite will take things out of the water that your plants will need to be healthy. I would use a good water conditioner when adding more water only. Use one that gets rid of chlorine and cholrumine plus binds to heavy metals. If you need a chemical to get rid of amonina or nitrite/nitrate then you have a problem and you should find the soure of the problem (i.e. non cycled tank, to many fish, overfeeding, etc) and then fix he problem.

I just went out and bought some Prime today. I'll be switching over to that...however, I don't think that having too much ammonia and nitrate in the water is a problem with the tank. My tank is cycled...that was an extremely long process. Too many fish? I don't know...maybe but that doesn't explain getting the same readings out of the tap. An ammonia reading of .25 and a nitrate reading of 20ppm is what is coming right out of the tap. Maybe my test kit is old? It's dated 2008. Is that too old?

I was planning on removing the carbon and the zeolite after a week. So, I will do that within the next couple of days as well. Thanks for your suggestions as well. I do appreciate them.