Nitrate In Tap Water

[Rainbow4]

Just tested my tap water for nitrate and guess what its 40 ppm testing with api test kit no wonder its not going down with water changes, so was wondering when i do water changes could i use half ro water and half tap water as my local fish shop sells it and would this make any difference or just live with it as all fish seem fine and ammonia and nitrite are 0.

 

[RainboWBacoN420]

I think half tap, half R/O is key to a balanced system.
Especially if your tap is bringing in all sorts of stuff or is too hard or something.

 

[Rainbow4]

Yes where i live in kent the water is very hard and everything scales up .

 

[AbbeysDad]

If your nitrates are 40~ppm, reducing by 50% with half RO water is not really the answer as your tank nitrates will likely just continue to rise out of control.
I suggest that you use an inline nitrate filter cartridge (like those used for refrigerators, ice makers, etc.) to pre-filter your water for water changes. It will be much more economical than any RO system or buying RO water. Your biggest challenge may be getting a faucet adaptor but perhaps you can get one as was used on the now discontinued API Tap Water Filter.

 

[StevenF]

Half RO water / half tap would work but I would use more RO than that to drop your tap nitrates to about 10ppm.  Keep in mind we don't only cycle water due to nitrates.  if you don't cycle water phosphates, potassium calcium and other solids will slowly build up in the water.   You need to cycle your water to keep GH, KH, and nitrates stable.  So if your GH increases cycle more water.  If KH increases (which is often associated with a increase in PH) cycle more water.  Phosphate levels can build up very fast in aquariums due to the amount phosphate in fishfood.  So you could use a phosphate test kit with KH and GH test kits as  indicators as to when you should cycle and if you are cycling enough water.  For phosphates you should try to keep the level at no more than 50ppm.  Any higher than that could result in algae bloom.  If you cycle about 30% of the tank water once a week your GH and KH should be reasonably stable.

 

[Magic8]

I have the same issue with my tap water 40ppm nitrates coming out of the tap I am considering going to R/O route as well I have A 45 gallon tank that I am not using so I may use that as A clean water basin for doing my water changes it was suggested to use A garbage can as well.
       anyway I found an R/O unit on line for pretty cheap the aquaticlife lil buddie so I e-mailed Aquatic life inquiring about it and just figured I would share what they wrote back to me
 
Hi John,
 
Thank you for your interest in the Aquatic Life RO Buddie. The membrane inside of the of the unit can remove 93-96% of Nitrates. This is without the DI.
 
The membrane will also remove about 93-95% of the Total Dissolved Solids in your water. By adding the DI, it can remove the remaining 5-7% of the TDS in the water. This would be water at its purest and when you would have to add in minerals. We use a resin that removes TDS by a process of ion exchange. Since Nitrate has a negatively charged ion it would be able to remove the remaining 4-7% of Nitrates.
 
The RO Buddie can affect the PH of your water, but normally it will not. It’s a very technical question to answer depending on what is in your water, what is pulled out of the water, etc.
 
You can use that as a storage tank. If you’re going to be using it as top off water, and it won’t sit for longer than 2 weeks, you won’t need to aerate the water.
 

Regards,
Robert
 
Customer Support
9710 Klingerman St.
S. El Monte, CA 91733
P: 818-768-6943
10:00 am – 3:00 pm PST

 
 
hope this helps you out A little if you are interested going the r/o route

 

[hobby5]

I would recommend some live plants, which will use that nitrate nicely.