Nitrate Problem

[Roan Art]

Nope, I'm on city water (city of Las Vegas). Funny thing is, I've noticed my nitrates spike all of a sudden within the last 6 weeks, so I'm wondering if there was a change in the tap water at some point.

Best thing to do is test your tap water every few weeks. Municipalities often do make chagens to the water. I test mine weekly and since November the pH has gone from 7.8 to 7.4 and the nitrates from 10 to 7.

Interesting on the contamination from the water conditioner. Do you feel that Aqua-Safe is a worthwhile product, or should I switch to something like Prime?

I'd like to know what he's referring to. I've never heard of contamination from water conditioners unless he used something funky.

Aqua-Safe is fine, Prime is better IMO. Neither of those will do anything to your nitrate readings. Nor will Amquel+ or BioSafe.

As for plants: anubias, green melons, onion plants (crinum). You don't need anything special for those. I've got plant eaters too and socked the tank with plants to see what they would eat. They nibbled the anubias, but no real damage -- I think they were just investigating the taste -- tasted the melons and stayed away from the onions.

Roan

 

[Pablo]

Yes, I've been using the Jungle 5 in 1 strips, thanks for the info on the liquid tests.

Get a proper test kit as strips are not accurate at all

 

[TKOS]

I'd like to know what he's referring to. I've never heard of contamination from water conditioners unless he used something funky.

I think that is actually a problem found in products like Cycle not water conditioners.

I would definatley get a water report.

 

[Roan Art]

I think that is actually a problem found in products like Cycle not water conditioners.

Thanks for clarifying that, TKOS. I figured it would have to be something funky and not a water conditioner

Roan

 

[RTR]

The EPA standard for nitrate in potable water in the USA is 44ppm nitrate, not the lowr figures given earlier in a post. The UK allows even higher concentrations.

 

[Kris82]

Thanks everyone!

I'll be picking up some Purigen tomorrow, and I'm going to look for the plants mentioned. I'm quite sure I can get my hands on everything minus the duckweed (which is too bad, I've always wanted to have in it my tank).

I'll also be inquiring about the water report.

Roan, the only thing that seems to change in terms of water quality is the nitrates. My ph, hardness, alkalinity, and nitrites have all be extremely stable since my tank went through it's cycling.

 

[Roan Art]

Roan, the only thing that seems to change in terms of water quality is the nitrates. My ph, hardness, alkalinity, and nitrites have all be extremely stable since my tank went through it's cycling.

Good to hear

Roan