High Nitrate In Tap Water.

[stanster]

Been cycling for a week now and the Ammonia and nitrite levels have been getting down to zero after an overnight dosing (~12-15 hours)

Howvever the nitrate is consistently around 50mg/L according to the tests and having just tested the tap water, thats coming out at 25.

Is this usual ?

I'm going to take a sample down the lfs just to get the result confirmed.

Is this too high and if it is do I have to dilute down with DI water.

Shame I no longer work in the lab, I could get as much as this as i could carry

 

[Livewire88]

My tap water also has a high Nitrate level and I try not to worry about it to much.

In the past many members on here have told me not to bother testing the Nitrate level because as long as you follow a decent maintenence scedule (ie weekly water changes) the Nitrate level should never become high enough to harm fish.

Plus most Nitrate testing kits are known to be inaccurate.

 

[Aquascaper]

In the UK nitrate in tapwater can exceed 130ppm (and also fluctuates continuously) and still be classed 'safe' for human consumption.

In aquariums it is recommended to keep levels below 50ppm so if your tapwater is at 25ppm then, as long as you're aware that that is your 'base' reading, regular water changes are the best way to control this. You should have an idea of the increase of nitrates in a week produced by your tank and so adjust your water changes to bring the tank in line. Having said that levels of up to 80ppm in the aquarium shouldn't cause any big problems.

The alternative is to use RO/DI water, etc. to ensure you're starting from zero each time you do a water change.

 

[snazy]

In the UK and almost whole Europe nitrAte levels over 50ppm are illegal. 130ppm is very dangerous tosmall kids if they drink it
The best approach in this case is lots of plants in the tank to keep the level down.

 

[Aquascaper]

In the UK and almost whole Europe nitrAte levels over 50ppm are illegal.

Who do I contact to get the water board arrested then as our tapwater has been as been over 60ppm before?

 

[elmo666]

If you're readings are accurate, and the levels in you're tank are lower than those in the tap-water then water changes become counter productive. There are filters specifally aimed at removing nitrate, API make one, so maybe you need to be using one of these. That said, with paying water rates, it seems wrong that these levels are so high. I wonder what other nasties are hiding in there without our knowledge ( re my post in discussions "conditiong quality")

 

[snazy]

In the UK and almost whole Europe nitrAte levels over 50ppm are illegal.

Who do I contact to get the water board arrested then as our tapwater has been as been over 60ppm before?

The human safety regulations are no more than 50ppm nitrate levels in drinking water. By the way, how did you measure 60ppm nitrAtes with a home test kit?

 

[Livewire88]

In the UK and almost whole Europe nitrAte levels over 50ppm are illegal.

Who do I contact to get the water board arrested then as our tapwater has been as been over 60ppm before?

The human safety regulations are no more than 50ppm nitrate levels in drinking water. By the way, how did you measure 60ppm nitrAtes with a home test kit?

I am assuming API test kit

 

[snazy]

In the UK and almost whole Europe nitrAte levels over 50ppm are illegal.

Who do I contact to get the water board arrested then as our tapwater has been as been over 60ppm before?

The human safety regulations are no more than 50ppm nitrate levels in drinking water. By the way, how did you measure 60ppm nitrAtes with a home test kit?

I am assuming API test kit

The API test kit shows from 40ppm straight to 80ppm and I can hardly make a difference myself between the two, not to mind to measure 60ppm

 

[phantomlink]

Plus the Nitrate test is so picky if you dont shake it enough your readings can be wrong

 

[Livewire88]

Try being colourblind!! I have no hope hence why I dont bother worrying about it

 

[Aquascaper]

It was actually tested by the waterboard after complaints of brown water in the taps, they declared it 'safe' and that the problem would clear up (and it did). Our tapwater is now 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrites, 0ppm nitrates and pH 7.0.

Personally if the colour of a test is not as light as the colour before & not as dark as the colour after I'll assume the level is in between the two.

 

[fluttermoth]

I never place too much faith in the actual numbers from nitrate tests.

It probably should be viewed more as 'yellow/pale orange = good, deep orange/red = bad" indicator.

 

[Aquascaper]

I think the only time I've ever tested for nitrates has been towards the end of a fishless cycle to indicate it's almost complete and also when I had my last marine reef so it's really not something I bother with tbh. In fact I probably still have the half full bottles kicking about somewhere from an API master kit I bought 9 years ago

 

[stanster]

Good stuff. Think I'm in a position to get my first fish in.