kcb203
11-22-2011, 04:23 PM
I live in Arlington, Virginia. My water comes from the Potomac River, processed at the Dalecarlia water treatment plant that also serves DC and other parts of MD and VA.
I don't yet have discus, but I've got a 75 gallon tank 5 days into a fishless cycle, and a 25 gallon community tank that has been up and running for three weeks having used Tetra SafeStart. I've had some trouble with the community tank because I tested NO2 and saw it at 2 ppm. So I did a 90% water change and it was still at 2 ppm. I tested the tap water, and it was at 2 ppm as well. Arrgh! So far, the fish have weathered the storm, though I'm not too impressed with SafeStart.
I've tested the water in my tap using the API test kit (backed up by Seachem, Tetra, and Salifert) and concluded that my tap water has nitrites ranging from .25 to 2 ppm NO2. The NO3 readings have been 10 to 20. Ammonia is usually about .25, and the water system uses chloramine.
My water quality report states that NO2 is 0 to .05 NO2-N and NO3 is .06 to 3.1 NO3-N. (I know these are multiplied by 3.3 and 4.4, respectively, to give ppm in NO2 and NO3 rather than as ppm NO2-N and NO-3).
I've spoken with the county water authority, and they don't seem surprised by the levels. They were more surprised at my nitrate level than the nitrite level, which seems odd to me. I was told that they'd open some flush valves in the system to see if that helps.
I tested my home tap water last night as .25 ppm ammonia, .25 ppm NO2, and 10 ppm NO3. I also brought a bottle of tap water from work (also in Arlington on the same water source, but 7 miles from home) and the water was 1 ppm NH4, 0 ppm NO2, and 5 ppm NO3. It seems as though the ammonia in the chloramine has started the nitrification process by the time it gets to my house, but the total amount of nitrogen in the water is roughly the same between work and home, just distributed differently among the three forms.
Am I correct that 1 ppm NH4 becomes 2.6 ppm NO2 becomes 3.4 ppm NO3? In other words, if I add 1 ppm ammonia to my tank and it fully is processed, the NO3 should go up by 3.4 ppm NO3? If this is the case, the total nitrogen in the water is roughly the same at work and at home, but just in different forms.
If I can't get the nitrites in the tap-water down, what are my options? This is what I see:
1) 100% RO water supplemented by one of the RO/DI mineral supplements, such as RO Right
2) Establishing a biofilter in the storage tank and letting it age for 24 hours and hopefully the NO2 will be converted to NO3 before it goes into the tank. I still don't like starting with NO3 so high, though.
3) Doing water changes and counting on the in-tank biofilter to convert NO2 to NO3 before the fish are bothered by it. Maybe I'd add 1T/10 gallons salt to ease the NO2 stress on the fish.
I'm probably going to go with option 1. I have a utility room that backs up to the fish tank, so I can semi-automate the RO/DI water change process.
Thanks in advance for any guidance.
I don't yet have discus, but I've got a 75 gallon tank 5 days into a fishless cycle, and a 25 gallon community tank that has been up and running for three weeks having used Tetra SafeStart. I've had some trouble with the community tank because I tested NO2 and saw it at 2 ppm. So I did a 90% water change and it was still at 2 ppm. I tested the tap water, and it was at 2 ppm as well. Arrgh! So far, the fish have weathered the storm, though I'm not too impressed with SafeStart.
I've tested the water in my tap using the API test kit (backed up by Seachem, Tetra, and Salifert) and concluded that my tap water has nitrites ranging from .25 to 2 ppm NO2. The NO3 readings have been 10 to 20. Ammonia is usually about .25, and the water system uses chloramine.
My water quality report states that NO2 is 0 to .05 NO2-N and NO3 is .06 to 3.1 NO3-N. (I know these are multiplied by 3.3 and 4.4, respectively, to give ppm in NO2 and NO3 rather than as ppm NO2-N and NO-3).
I've spoken with the county water authority, and they don't seem surprised by the levels. They were more surprised at my nitrate level than the nitrite level, which seems odd to me. I was told that they'd open some flush valves in the system to see if that helps.
I tested my home tap water last night as .25 ppm ammonia, .25 ppm NO2, and 10 ppm NO3. I also brought a bottle of tap water from work (also in Arlington on the same water source, but 7 miles from home) and the water was 1 ppm NH4, 0 ppm NO2, and 5 ppm NO3. It seems as though the ammonia in the chloramine has started the nitrification process by the time it gets to my house, but the total amount of nitrogen in the water is roughly the same between work and home, just distributed differently among the three forms.
Am I correct that 1 ppm NH4 becomes 2.6 ppm NO2 becomes 3.4 ppm NO3? In other words, if I add 1 ppm ammonia to my tank and it fully is processed, the NO3 should go up by 3.4 ppm NO3? If this is the case, the total nitrogen in the water is roughly the same at work and at home, but just in different forms.
If I can't get the nitrites in the tap-water down, what are my options? This is what I see:
1) 100% RO water supplemented by one of the RO/DI mineral supplements, such as RO Right
2) Establishing a biofilter in the storage tank and letting it age for 24 hours and hopefully the NO2 will be converted to NO3 before it goes into the tank. I still don't like starting with NO3 so high, though.
3) Doing water changes and counting on the in-tank biofilter to convert NO2 to NO3 before the fish are bothered by it. Maybe I'd add 1T/10 gallons salt to ease the NO2 stress on the fish.
I'm probably going to go with option 1. I have a utility room that backs up to the fish tank, so I can semi-automate the RO/DI water change process.
Thanks in advance for any guidance.