Too much nitrate in my water

[yothereyo]

I did a test on my tap water today, and there is quite a bit of nitrate in my tap water. Almost 25 mg/l. Now iam thinking of switching to A R/O unit, from what i heard these things are suppose to be very good, will it live up to the hype, or is it a waste of cash. Are there any other solutions to keeping nitrates down, or is r/o the best options.

 

[Tab64]

I have not heard any bad things about RO water. I do not have the problem with bad tap water but if I did I would buy a RO unit.

 

[fsn77]

Money spent on a good RO/DI unit (~$150 US) is money well spent and will save you time / money later considering the problems you could run into down the road from using tap water that isn't quite good enough for a sw tank. There are much more expensive units, but there's not much reason to spend more than $200 unless there's a specific reason to due so.

 

[Reefscape]

Totally agree with FSN77..RO water is the way ahead, give the fish and any inverts the best start that you can by removing as many inpurities from the water to start, not only that, RO water also, by proven tanks, reduces algae blooms, it has to be positives all the way for me.

 

[SaraHall]

what is RO water?

and where does one get one of these units?

 

[Sonicblast12]

If you have nitrates in your water, do not top off with the tap water for very long. Basically you would be adding more nitrates to the water every time, because the only thing that leaves during evaporation is H2O. You would notice a gradual increase over time.

Water changes should be ok, since you are removing nutrients, and not just pure water.

It's the same reason we top of with freshwater and not saltwater.

If you don't want to get a RO unit right away, it might be a good idea to get a bottle of RO water at a grocery store to top off with.

 

[Tab64]

and where does one get one of these units?

Reverse Osmosis it is a multi chamber filter system for well or tap water. It is used to purify that water so it can than be used for your tank. It is not a filter for the aquarium, since it removes all particles including salt, but purifies the tap water. You can get them at any LFS or on line.