nitrates in tap water

[lornajane89]

Hi idid post this on another thread but had no response. I have been trying to get my water quality right and have managed to get my results to

Ammonia -0 ppm
Nitrites -0 ppm
Nitrates -80ppm

Ive been doing daily 25% changes and its not dropping. I tested my tap water this morning and found nitrates at 40ppm after softening which cant be helping our situation. We had plants in our tank which seemed to be declining in health. They have now been removed. I cant find seachems prime in our lfs so am looking to order some online now. Should i continue with the pwcs is there anything else i can do in the mean time? And is it worth replacing the plants? Ill look to see if i can find a low light species can anybody recommend a good supplier our local store didnt have much advice for plants tbh

Thanks

 

[Fishguy2727]

The plants should like that nitrate. What test kit are you using? Try again and run the tap for a few minutes before taking the sample, don't take it right away.

Prime is not the only dechlorinator that can remove nitrate along with ammonia and nitrite.

Yes, continue with the water changes, 40ppm is better than 80ppm.

 

[lornajane89]

Using api master kit. I did run the tap a while i prepared a bucket earlier and treated it with nutrafin. I tested it before and after and there was no difference. Ill try running it a few minutes next time.

One of the more grassy sort of plants is doing well im but the other 2 leafier ones were dying slowly. I think they needed more light.

 

[Fishguy2727]

Yes, it sounds like lighting or some other issue.

Make sure you are doing the test carefully. The nitrate test is complicated and if not done properly. Usually you come out with 0 if not done properly, but adding too many drops, waiting too long, etc. could all produce falsely high test results.

 

[eco23]

Hopefully this is an incorrect test result. If not, there's a health issue completely unrelated to aquariums. The maximum containment level set by the EPA is 10ppm of nitrAte. We've had members contact their health department due to excessive nitrAte levels in the tap.

If the test is being performed correctly...check out this link-
http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/basicinformation/nitrate.cfm

 

[lornajane89]

Ill check that out and carry out another test. Unfortunatley were in the uk so the water board can probably get away with 40ppm in our supply but i will check that and follow it up if neccesary.

About the nitrates test. We are adding 10 drops of bottle1 to a sample. Mixing it a little then shaking Bottle 2 for 30 secs then adding 10 drops. Mixing that then waiting 5 mins for the reading

I understood this was the procedure we try to be very careful.

Thanks

 

[lornajane89]

Yeah i found that our regs say nitrates have to be below 50ppm..
so we are just gonna have to deal with it im afraid

 

[Fishguy2727]

After you add the drops from bottle two you need to shake the test tube for a full 60 seconds.

 

[BillD]

Prime does not remove nitrate, nitrite, or ammonia. If your tap water as 40ppm of nitrate, I would consider the use of Purigen. I haven't used it but others swear by it. It is supposed to remove nitrate and can be recharged for reuse. This seems to be an issue in the UK. I probably would avoid drinking that water.

 

[Fishguy2727]

I'm sorry, detoxify. From Seachem's site:

"Prime® removes chlorine, chloramine and ammonia. Prime® converts ammonia into a safe, non-toxic form that is readily removed by the tank’s biofilter. Prime® may be used during tank cycling to alleviate ammonia/nitrite toxicity. Prime® detoxifies nitrite and nitrate, allowing the biofilter to more efficiently remove them."

 

[Ickletas]

Prime does not remove nitrate, nitrite, or ammonia. If your tap water as 40ppm of nitrate, I would consider the use of Purigen. I haven't used it but others swear by it. It is supposed to remove nitrate and can be recharged for reuse. This seems to be an issue in the UK. I probably would avoid drinking that water.

The current regulatory standard of 50 mg/l nitrate is derived from the standard in the European Union's Drinking Water Directive. The EU standard is based on the World Health Organisation's guideline value for drinking water, which is also 50 mg/l. That standard is intended to ensure that drinking water will not cause methaemoglobinaemia (blue baby syndrome). There is absolutely nothing wrong with drinking UK water, I mean 60 odd million people drink it every day. Although I have to say in my area, where the water is so hard it's almost solid when it leaves the tap my nitrates are at about 20ppm.

 

[lornajane89]

Ok done another pwc today been out and bought nitrasafe which i think is the same as what u mentioned it goes in the filter and is rechargable with salts. Im not entirely sure where to put it tho i have a cannister filter that goes up to a spray bar onto 2 sets of sponges the lfs said to remove one of our sponges and put the sachet in its place. Is that the best method as i said there are 2 sets of sponges should i put it in the last one (closest to the outlet).

Sorry if im sounding a bit dim ill learn some proper names in time im sure.

With regards to our tap water we did another test to day running the water a few mins and testing considering your advice. The reading id say was about 20-30 so still high but hopefully this new product will make the difference

 

[Fishguy2727]

Put the nitrasafe after everything else, including your biomedia. It should be the last thing the water goes through before going back into the tank.

 

[lornajane89]

Thats what i did just put it in the box part above the duckbill outlet. Been in over night now so will test soon and see what i get. The fish have seemed alot happier the past few days so we must be doin sumfin right.

 

[Fishguy2727]

Any pics? This setup doesn't sound familiar.

 

[lornajane89]

Sorry you must think im a right muppet lol i just dont know the proper names for our set up but here are some pics.

 

[BillD]

Interesting that Prime claims to detoxify nitrate so the biofilter can remove it. I don't want to sound like a nitpicker, but things seen on the internet get repeated as fact, so we need to try and be precise, and separate fact from opinion. This can be tough to do sometimes, as we all have things we believe to be true, even with no hard evidence.

 

[lornajane89]

Tested the tank earlier ammonia and nitrites are up a little but nitrates have halved over night. Ill do a 50% change in a minute see if i can get everything down but its seems to be getting better gradually

 

[BillD]

The current regulatory standard of 50 mg/l nitrate is derived from the standard in the European Union's Drinking Water Directive. The EU standard is based on the World Health Organisation's guideline value for drinking water, which is also 50 mg/l. That standard is intended to ensure that drinking water will not cause methaemoglobinaemia (blue baby syndrome). There is absolutely nothing wrong with drinking UK water, I mean 60 odd million people drink it every day. Although I have to say in my area, where the water is so hard it's almost solid when it leaves the tap my nitrates are at about 20ppm.

I would suggest that if the nitrates are high, there are other chemicals in the water, that you may not want to drink. Over here, where we have an seemingly infinite source of drinking water, and we don't have large nitrate numbers, every chemical and drug known to man can be found in Lake Ontario, the fifth of the great lakes. Water filtration methods don't remove most of these and they aren't even testing for them. So, when you drink tap water you may be also drinking Prozac, estrogen, lipitor, as well as trace amounts of many toxic substances. The long term effects aren't known, but my guess is that in the future, it will be found that some ailments will be directly linked to long term exposure to traces of certain chemicals and or drugs. Autism continues to increase for some unknown reason, from what was once about 1 case in 5,000 births, 20 or so years ago, to about 1 case in 110 births. I don't think it is too much of a stretch that a link will be found that relates to toxins in the environment and/or food, some of them legal.

 

[Ickletas]

I would suggest that if the nitrates are high, there are other chemicals in the water, that you may not want to drink. Over here, where we have an seemingly infinite source of drinking water, and we don't have large nitrate numbers, every chemical and drug known to man can be found in Lake Ontario, the fifth of the great lakes. Water filtration methods don't remove most of these and they aren't even testing for them. So, when you drink tap water you may be also drinking Prozac, estrogen, lipitor, as well as trace amounts of many toxic substances. The long term effects aren't known, but my guess is that in the future, it will be found that some ailments will be directly linked to long term exposure to traces of certain chemicals and or drugs. Autism continues to increase for some unknown reason, from what was once about 1 case in 5,000 births, 20 or so years ago, to about 1 case in 110 births. I don't think it is too much of a stretch that a link will be found that relates to toxins in the environment and/or food, some of them legal.

One of the biggest factors in the rise of Autism rates is that it now being correctly diagnosed whereas in the past it was just "naughty" or "wierd" children, the same for ADHD and many other disorders. The nitrates are within the WHO guidlines and there are plenty of other laws relating to other substances found in tap water. We are talking about the UK here not a third world country where you have to trek for 3 days to get water from a dubious well or river. I think that there are bigger fish to fry (pardon the pun) if you want to talk about public health and food and drink, we could start with McDonalds and work all the way up to Coca-Cola. Anyhoos, this has wandered into the realms of off-topic. Glad you seem to have found a fix for the nitrates Keep us posted