Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => Fishtank Filtration and Cycling => Topic started by: PaulH on September 30, 2014, 10:35:38 AM
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Have any other aquarists noticed recent high levels of nitrates in Bristol tap water? I did a water change yesterday and noticed that the nitrate level had not been reduced. I checked the tap water and found that the nitrate level seemed to be well over 40ppm.
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Hi Paul, I lived in Bristol last year and my nitrates were always around that level. Though I know the last couple of weeks Kingswood had a water mains issue cutting them off from water and once fixed the water company would have flushed the pipes with higher levels of chlorine etc. That was within the last week as a shop I used to visit was posting on Facebook warning people not to do water changes. I'm not sure if that would in turn have affected Nitrates?
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Just had a quick look it was Saturday the water was fixed... The store in question is The Aquatic Store if you have Facebook might be worth asking around on there
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Thanks for that, jesnon.
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Legislation allows up to 50ppm in UK drinking water. Levels as high as you have are not uncommon, unfortunately.
The lowest you can get your tank nitrate by water changes alone is obviously the same as the tap water. Options for getting it lower than that include having a lot of plants, using RO water to dilute the nitrate concentration or by using a special filter to pre-treat the water.
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Sue, if my test kit is accurate then I think the water must be very close to, or even above, the legal limit. I do have lots of plants and have put in a Juwel nitrate filter.
I want to get the nitrate level down as some hair algae is starting to appear.
The fish seem very happy - the angels are laying eggs (again!). They managed to hatch the last lot of eggs and the fry lasted about a week before they became fish suppers.
I was thinking of using rain water to dilute the nitrates but with the dry weather we have been having all our water butts are empty - my wife uses the water for the garden.
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One danger of relying on rain water - drought.
The test kits we have aren't terribly accurate. You need very expensive lab equipment for real accuracy. Your water company's website should have a water quality table somewhere, and nitrate is usually listed on that.
The Juwel nitrate sponge isn't reckoned to be very effective. Most people regard it as just another blue sponge in disguise.
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Sue, are there any nitrate removers that have been proven to work?
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Plants!
Mine goes from 40ppm in tap water to 10/20 in tank
It has quite a few plants, including a floating plant from my mum's pond which is starting to reproduce. See pic below.
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Maybe it'll work this time!
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You do need fast growing plants to be effective at reducing nitrates, and floating ones are probably the best as they are not limited by carbon dioxide in the water. Most floating plants will grow much longer roots when nitrate levels fall, I have amazon frogbit in one tank where the roots are now 40 cms long, easily reaching the bottom, and nitrate levels have plunged way below the level in tap water, though the tank is presently very lightly stocked. Many people might not like the look of the dangling roots, but to me they enhance the natural look I like to achieve, and the fish seem to appreciate them as well.
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Tap water marginally better today so did a partial water change.