Tap water has nitrates!!!

[Fishobsessed7]

Ok so, I tested my tap for nitrates with the api master kit and it says I have 5-10ppm. Is this something to worry about?


Fishobsessed7

 

[dylan p]

No tap water has a bunch of stuff in it.


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[PB_Smith]

freshwater fish, naw, no big deal
saltwater fish, again, no big deal
coral and some inverts, could be a problem, but unlikely. (ideally you wouldn't be using tap for a reef anyway)


main issue is that when doing a water change, you are adding the primary thing you want to remove, so it's kinda counterproductive.

 

[jlk]

Nitrates in tap water is a fairly common issue. I would not be too concerned but just realize that keeping your nitrate levels under control will take a bit more work than someone using tap water with zero nitrates.

My city water runs at an average of 7ppm nitrate (under the EPA legal limit of 10ppm) thus I change more water, more often.


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[1998golfer]

That is unfortunate that you have any nitrates in your water, but 5-10ppm is not enough to throw off too much. Just remember that instead of halving your nitrates when you do a 50% water change, you are only lowering nitrates by much less of an amount. For example, lets say your 20g tank has 40ppm of nitrAtes and you figure, you must do a 50% water change to bring levels down to 20ppm. However, in a case with 10ppm in tap water, you would have to do a 75% or so water change, or 2x 50% water changes, to bring the same result.