Extremely high nitrate in Tap

[Jason.59]

Hey everyone,
I have high nitrate levels coming out of my tap water, my test kit indicates between 80 and 160ppm, I was successful at lowering
the level to 5ppm by adding Prime to it. I added 2 caps of prime to 5 gallons of tap water to lower the level to 5-10ppm.

My question is will excessive use of prime affect my fish since, on the bottle it say use a cap full to treat 50 gallons.
Also is their an alternative you would suggest besides prime and RO(i do have an RO unit but don't want to go thru the hassle of adding minerals back in the water).

Thank You and your help is much appreciated
Jason

[Hogman]

Jason,
You didn't indicate where your water source is coming from. Private well? Municipal? Other? The EPA Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for Nitrates is 10 Mg/L (PPM). Above 10 ppm requires public notification, Above 20 ppm children under 6 months of age can't have access to the water ect... This may vary from state to state. If your on city, rural water, community water then I recommend you take a look at the Annual Water Quality Report. EPA mandates this report be posted at a minimum of 2 locations. Usually city hall, post office, water department and, might be online. If your on private well... Well, you have issues. I would do this first before soley relying on your test kit results.

[Jason.59]

Hey Hogman,
My water supply is from the city, i have checked their annual repot and according to their sample nitrate levels are very low (10-20ppm), i also requested them to take a sample of my tap water and the results wore also acceptable(18ppm). The reason i am skeptical about their reporting is because i have done various water tests with 2 different test kits. My RO has a reading of 0 i also tested my friends tap water in another location the reading was 10ppm as stated in their annual report. (Could the test kits be at fault, i mean testing for nitrates isn't really rocket science)
I'm not sure how to proceed, what would you guys suggest, my water supplier is San Gabriel water company does anyone on this forum use the same water?

I would highly appreciate the help
Jason

[Hogman]

Sorry it took me so long to reply. Not going to say the test kits you are using are at fault per say. But with commercially available test kits (aquarium, ect), especially color wheels, dip strips. color vials. I can give a test result to three different people and get three different answers. Also, a test kit can measure nitrates as NO3 or NO3 as Nitrogen. Could cause a disparity. So, not entirely accurate. I'm glad you followed through with your water suppiier and verified it wasn't 80-160ppm. And yes, a properly functioning RO unit will remove any molecule larger than a water molecule. If your starting out with tap water having 10-20ppm of nitrates what happens to it in an aquarium environment. Goes up right? Maybe lol, because we're operating a closed system wastewater plant converting Nitrites-Ammonia-Nitrates. What are you reading from your tank? Our goal for water quality for Discus is to keep our nitrates under 20ppm. Hell, keep mine under 5ppm. The using Safe thing is puzzling me with your test results but I guess Safe may possibly oxidize nitrates. I checked out the website for your water company and I have heard of water quality issues out west. So, I'm sorry for babbling on but as a water and wastewater operator I start thinking lol. What would I do? Well, if we're doing regular water changes like we should we should be keeping the nitrates to let's say 20-40ppm? Since we're starting with 10-20ppm. Don't know what your tank is doing and type of filtration ect. Are your fish stressing? If they're not how do we keep you from stressing. What about a 75% tap 25% RO. Are you ageing your water? Personally, I wouldn't stress it

[andreaW]

Thanks Hogman for the info.:D

[Jason.59]

Thanks Hogman, im actually doing 50/50 tap and RO it seems to keep nitrates at 20ppm the only thing is that it's a lot of work.
I guess until i find a better solution i would continue with the mix.

Thank again
Jason

[Hogman]

Real shame you have to fight high Nitrates from the tap Jason and I applaud your efforts. Nitrates have very few methods for removal as I'm sure your research has shown. Ion exchange might be a viable option as I assume since your using RO that your going to some type of storage with your water. But with any method, you have to deal with the maintenance. Ion exchange might be the lesser of 2 evils. I don't know, I haven't researched it whether or not there's wastewater involved with the process. I assume not since its resin based swapping nitrates with chloride at the molecular level. Hang in there man

[Samsmobb]

jason what tests are you using? API's liquid test for NITRATES is very misleading and very inaccurate if not done RIGHT.
also i dont believe prime will RID your water of nitrate but molecularly bond it temporarily..

[Jason.59]

jason what tests are you using? API's liquid test for NITRATES is very misleading and very inaccurate if not done RIGHT.
also i dont believe prime will RID your water of nitrate but molecularly bond it temporarily..
Yes i am using API's test kit, what is the proper way to use the kit, i usaly sack both bottles for 30 seconds and add 10 drops of #! shake and add 10 drops of bottle #2 the wait 5 minutes. Also i have used API test strips and the reading was similar.


Real shame you have to fight high Nitrates from the tap Jason and I applaud your efforts. Nitrates have very few methods for removal as I'm sure your research has shown. Ion exchange might be a viable option as I assume since your using RO that your going to some type of storage with your water. But with any method, you have to deal with the maintenance. Ion exchange might be the lesser of 2 evils. I don't know, I haven't researched it whether or not there's wastewater involved with the process. I assume not since its resin based swapping nitrates with chloride at the molecular level. Hang in there man
Thanks Hogman, i will look into Ion exchange. Does Ion exchange extract all the minerals like RO does, would i need to add back minerals like RO right and ect.

Thank again guys
Jason

[Darrell Ward]

For what it's worth, I know a couple of people in our fish club that have 20 ppm nitrate coming right out of the faucet, (well water)and they grow perfectly normal discus in it sticking to a water change routine.

[Rummy]

I just checked my API Nitrate test and my instructions are different. It says 10 drops bottle #1, shake. Shake bottle #2 for 30 seconds. Add 10 drops of bottle #2. Cap and shake 1 minute. Let stand 5 minutes.
I remember that minute shake as being essential. Has something to do with the chemical reactions.

Hope this helps.

[Hogman]

For what it's worth, I know a couple of people in our fish club that have 20 ppm nitrate coming right out of the faucet, (well water)and they grow perfectly normal discus in it sticking to a water change routine.

It's worth alot Mr. Ward and I agree.

[Jason.59]

I just checked my API Nitrate test and my instructions are different. It says 10 drops bottle #1, shake. Shake bottle #2 for 30 seconds. Add 10 drops of bottle #2. Cap and shake 1 minute. Let stand 5 minutes.
I remember that minute shake as being essential. Has something to do with the chemical reactions.

Hope this helps.
hum, i will defiantly reread the instructions and give it another try. It would be a shame if i have been testing with incorrect instructions.

Thank You and i hope your right


For what it's worth, I know a couple of people in our fish club that have 20 ppm nitrate coming right out of the faucet, (well water)and they grow perfectly normal discus in it sticking to a water change routine.
I agree i have been doing consistent WC and my fish are doing pretty well!

Thank again

[kcb203]

One thing to keep in mind is that most municipal water agencies report their levels in ppm of nitrate nitrogen, while hobby test kits report in ppm of nitrate. To convert nitrate nitrogen to nitrates, you have to multiply by 4.4 (because the atomic weight of a nitrate molecule is 4.4x the atomic weight of a nitrogen atom.) Thus, when the water report says that nitrate nitrogen is 10 ppm, your test will read 44 ppm. This is the same reading, just a different scale.

[eaglesfan3000]

I noticed my Eruption Leopard being exrtemely stressed, and I lost a very small baby over the weekend. I too have a high Nitrate coming out of the tap at 20ppm. I spoke with the WTP and they did a sample and they read a 7. I just purchased Fluval Nitrate remover and it's seem to be working the NO2 reading is around 10ppm for my son's now 17 babies.

I guess it's time to purchase some live plants. So if I start out with around 20ppm of nitrates how many/big of plants would I need to keep things around 10ppm?

[Eddie]

For what it's worth, I know a couple of people in our fish club that have 20 ppm nitrate coming right out of the faucet, (well water)and they grow perfectly normal discus in it sticking to a water change routine.

This is one reason why I tell people that nitrates are not as important as some think. ;)

[Orange Crush]

I guess it's time to purchase some live plants. So if I start out with around 20ppm of nitrates how many/big of plants would I need to keep things around 10ppm?
It really depends on the type of plants you get. Stem plants and plants that grow rapidly suck out the most nitrate.
I recommend water lettuce for a few reasons. It is a floating plants that will block light creating a darker enviro that the discus prefer. Also, blocking the light and removing nitrates help to prevent algae. And, you can still keep the tank BB and clean up will be much easier since food/poop is less likely to get trapped in it. You will need to use fertalizers though.

[eaglesfan3000]

It really depends on the type of plants you get. Stem plants and plants that grow rapidly suck out the most nitrate.
I recommend water lettuce for a few reasons. It is a floating plants that will block light creating a darker enviro that the discus prefer. Also, blocking the light and removing nitrates help to prevent algae. And, you can still keep the tank BB and clean up will be much easier since food/poop is less likely to get trapped in it. You will need to use fertalizers though.

Thank you for the reply. Will plants really take care of the problem? I've also inquired on one of those Aquaripure filters, waiting to hear back to see what they have to say. I had the water treatment plant come and test my water and they told me it was a 7ppm out of the tap. Both my Nutrafin kit and test strips I purchased show a bit higher. I think I may have caught them with there pants down before they came out and tested the Nitrates tested close to 20ppm out of the tap I think they did some quick corrections. When it comes time to change the water the Nitrate shows around 20 - 30ppm(of course I feed them five times before the WC). My Eruption Leopard is really stressed and moved him to a hospital tank and my Penang Eruption is always showing stress bars so I moved him into a smaller tank and isn't eating as much(I think he's getting picked on a bit adding to the problem).