Nitrates in tap water

[jecolaco]

Hello everyone,
I have this nitrates in tap water problem, Nitrates refuses to decrease inspite of several water changes and live plants like pothos, duck weed floating plant and hornwort.

As of June 15th, 2022,
High range PH: 7.4 ppm
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrites: 0 ppm
Nitrates: 40 - 80 ppm

Please let me know if you guys have any solution to my problem.
Like adding de-nitrates, RO water etc.

 

[Aiken Drum]

Is that a test of your tap water or water from your tank?

 

[jecolaco]

Is that a test of your tap water or water from your tank?

That's my aquarium tank water....
I tested my tap water too... Same results.... Its been the same right from the start.....

 

[m.j.gomez]

That's my aquarium tank water....
I tested my tap water too... Same results.... Its been the same right from the start.....

Hello, have you thought of using terrestrial plants on top of tank. I use sweet potato vine for tanks w/ high nitrates because they grow really fast & golden pothos plant(smaller leaf) on the other tanks.
On sweet potato you can use a shower caddy as a planter(in pic). Once vine grows & root system established you simply pop off potato & hang from lip of tank or keep in caddy. Some simply wait for potato to rot then toss out & start again. The fish like hiding in & eating roots(safe).
Pothos is easier, prettier but doesn't grow as fast as sweet potato. Simply rinse off & trim roots which promotes growth & hang in tank. Fish don't eat but do hide in roots. Warning keep other pets away because pothos plant may cause mouth irritation if eaten.
There are other plants that people use but not experienced w/are spider plant & peace lilly.
Also there's a product from api but no experience w/is nitra-zorb I've heard good things about. Hopefully this helps you!!!!!

 

[Aiken Drum]

50ppm is the limit on nitrate in UK tap water. So you are at the top end of that. You could check your water parameters online, all the UK water companies should provide that. Their test results will be more reliable than your own. You have a home test kit, whereas they have professional tests available to them. I wouldnt expect it to be significantly different though. I test my tap water nitrate at 5 to 10, Severn Trent says its 7ppm.

Generally you want to keep nitrate at 40ppm at the top end. But, many fishkeepers keep fish at much higher levels than that just fine. Its up to you. If you arent seeing issues with fish then you could just live with it. Nitrate reducing media "may" help, although ive never used it and never really heard of anyone using it with noticable effects. If you try that it would be interesting to see results you get with it.

The plants you have tried are the ones i would suggest. You would need the plants under good quality lights to get the growth rates up and the nitrate down.

After that RO or spring water would be the sensible next step. If you went down that route i would get your own RO filter installed rather than purchasing it by the bucket.

You could try setting up your tank specifically to promote nitrifying bacteria which would take the nitrate and convert that to nitrogen gas. Its a technical solution, that would take some time and effort to produce results.

Here is a thread discussing the kind of set ups needed to produce this nitrifying effect.

https://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f15/anoxic-filtration-378784.html

 

[Autumnsky]

Along the same vein of plants taking up the nitrates, BBradbury provided his experiences and advice here
https://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/reducing-nitrates-367971.html

 

[Autumnsky]

And this is similar
https://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f24/house-plants-as-supplemental-water-filters-367570.html

 

[jecolaco]

Thanks for all the important info....