NitrItes in my Tap Water

[hope4peace]

Yesterday I finally got my shipment of fish supplies from Drs Fosters and Smith, including a bottle of SafeStart and my API Master Test Kit. Well, one thing about me, I'm very impatient, so even though I only put the stuff in about 24 hours ago, I decided to test the water today. Ammonia looked as if it may have possibly went down a bit, so I tested nitrites, and I got a reading. As happy as I was, it seemed a little too good to be true, so I decided to test my tap water...........not only is nitrite present in my tap, but its VERY present. Ive never been so unhappy to see the color purple in my life. I checked my tap for ammo, and it is 0. There is a reading of nitrates but nothing to be worried about. Im going to see if my LFS will double check my reading, even though I already triple checked and it is a brand new test kit. Ive also double and triple checked that I am doing the test correctly (5ml water, 5 drops of solution, shake for 5 seconds, wait 5 minutes).

Any thoughts? Experiences? Anything? :help:

 

[david mcgregor]

yes ure doing the test correctly

 

[rtbob]

Could just be a temporary problem with your tap water. You may be getting a lot of run-off from melting snow or has it been raining a lot?

 

[hope4peace]

Could just be a temporary problem with your tap water. You may be getting a lot of run-off from melting snow or has it been raining a lot?

actually we have had a lot of snow melting and rain lately, the rivers are very swollen and it is ground water. Thanks for the reply, I guess I will keep an eye on it. My hubby is our right now getting a sample tested by our lfs.

 

[hope4peace]

Update

Hubby just got back from LFS, they got grape koolaid too. The guy who tested the water also said it could be the rain. Hopefully thats all it is. I had my hubby pick up a few 5g containers of spring water (we have one of those dispenser stand things) to use for water changes. Hopefully this doesn't last long or happen every single time it rains.

 

[bradlgt21]

I don't know if I would use spring water, as the water chemistry might be way off from what you have now. Have you thought about running the water through a filter before you do a change?

What I mean is take some filter media or a filter sponge and leave it in your tank eventually it will get enough bacteria on it to be a proper filter itself. Then fill a tub full of water and hook up your filter to it and run it overnight. The filter should filter out the nitrites overnight and then you can do the water change with good water and put the sponge filter back in your main tank to ensure it's in the proper environment to stay seeded. I know it's a big pain in the but but I know people on well water who do this or use RO.

 

[hope4peace]

I would do that, but my tanks are not cycled, so that wouldnt work so well. I did however realize a few minutes after my husband left that I should have told him to just get some RO water. I forgot our LFS recently set up a system. They have it for $0.50/gal now. So I will get some tonight. Meantime, I will keep an eye on the tap readings. Hopefully it goes down soon.

 

[rtbob]

Mix the RO water 50/50 with your tap. RO water is missing key elements like calcium, magnesium that your fish need to remain healthy. It also has a KH near zero which can allow for a rapid drop in the PH of your water.

 

[hope4peace]

Mix the RO water 50/50 with your tap. RO water is missing key elements like calcium, magnesium that your fish need to remain healthy. It also has a KH near zero which can allow for a rapid drop in the PH of your water.

why would I want to use any of my tap water when it has such a high nitrite reading right now?

 

[hope4peace]

Great news! My tap water is safe now! It has been sunny for a couple days and I just tested... blue as the sky! I just hope this doesnt happen every time it rains.