Bad Tap Water

[ajaysingh]

hello,

my tap water is high in Nitrates making it hard to lower the levels in my aquariums. Tap water levels are as high at 60ppm Ph is is high also at 8.4+ I don't think this was always the case as when I first set um the aquariums last November the ph was 6.8 and nitrates where 0 until the cycle was complete. then for a time it was around 10 and stable with weekly 20% water changes then the past 3 weeks it has gone up to over 40. I have it down now to about 15 in both aquariums by mixing bottled spring water with tap water. Is this an acceptable solution? I test the bottled water and it is 0 for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate and 7.4 ph

20 gal.
5 Zebra Danios, 1 Dwarf Flame Gourami
ph=7.6 Ammonia=0 Nitrite=0 Nitrate=20

10 gal.
5 Cherry Barbs, 3 Otosinclus
ph 7.5 Ammonia=0 Nitirte=0 Nitrate=15

 

[timmystood]

Strange for tap water to contain NitrItes (I think!) - If you tank is cycled then I wouldn't have thought it would make too much difference as the NitrIte should be eaten when put into the tank.

As for your pH (7.6) - it's a perfect level! I wish mine was that good!

 

[ajaysingh]

It's the Nitrates that are high in my tap water. the Nitrites are at 0 since the aquariums cycled.

Well for now then I won't worry about the ph levels.

thanks for the reply

Ajay

 

[cujoho78]

Hi. Ya, mixing bottled water is ok to dilute your water. I use reverse osmosis water to mix with my tap water to bring the hardness down a little. Nitrates aren't that healthy to drink... do you drink the water? There must be a lot of agricultural land near where you live? As for the pH level, most people have a pH in your range. Mine is. Fish can adapt to just about any pH in the 6ish to 8ish range. The most important thing is to try to keep whatever pH your water is at stable. It is the fluctuations that will bother your fish.
Good luck!

 

[ajaysingh]

yes surrounded by it. And no I don't drink it if i can help it. Oh and BTW I've recently discovered that the pitcher water filters such as Brita do nothing for Nitrates.