Struggle with water quality and high nitrates in cycling tank

[Slaphppy7]

Test your tap nitrAtes with the liquid test kit, not the strips, and report your findings here....

Be sure to shake the #2 bottle of reagent like mad before adding to the test tube, or you won't get an accurate reading.

 

[Essjay]

Look on your water company's website. They will give your hardness, and their nitrate measurements will be in your water quality report.
With a location of London, your water is likely to be very hard.

Spotless Water is deionised water. According to various websites, the process in making deionised water is filtered, then usually passed through RO equipment before being passed through DI resin.
Spotless Water say their product has zero TDS which means it has had everything removed not just ions so the chances are they use RO equipment as part of their process. Their website doesn't say exactly how it is made, though.

 

[NannaLou]

It is a company that has these water distribution centres in several locations with 24/7 access apparently you sign up for an account they give you log in details to access the sites similar to self storage company’s. You can go and get RO water at 3.5p per litre with tax added on. It does mention could be used for aquariums

Self-Service Ultra Pure Water Network | Spotless Water

Welcome to Spotless Water! Explore how our ultra-pure water can be used for window cleaning, car detailing, solar panels and more.

www.spotlesswater.co.uk

That’s really interesting, but the drive to get “cheap” water would negate any financial benefits. I’m trying to think how much I pay, I think it’s about £1.30 for 10 ltrs.

 

[coriesinhawaii]

That’s a good idea. I was thinking of isolating the fish from the smaller tank as have had an outbreak of diodomes

thats a good idea. I have been thinking of isolating the fish in the smaller tank for a couple of weeks as had an outbreak of diotoms which I don’t want to transfer to the new tank. I could starts acclimatising them to the new water slowly during this time.

Unfortunately I think diatoms are pretty much everywhere already so you don’t have to be concerned about keeping them from spreading to the new tank because that’s futile. They’re usually just a problem though in new tanks or tanks that are not balanced/cycled well so it’s usually a self-limiting problem if you can just bear with the discoloration for a little while. But they do seem to get worse when nitrate levels are really high.

 

[Ap19466]

Test your tap nitrAtes with the liquid test kit, not the strips, and report your findings here....

Be sure to shake the #2 bottle of reagent like mad before adding to the test tube, or you won't get an accurate reading.

Nitrates according to the water quality are 30ppm out of the tap and on the API were reading above 40ppm. Did shake the bottle like crazy thought are was going to fall off

 

[Ap19466]

Unfortunately I think diatoms are pretty much everywhere already so you don’t have to be concerned about keeping them from spreading to the new tank because that’s futile. They’re usually just a problem though in new tanks or tanks that are not balanced/cycled well so it’s usually a self-limiting problem if you can just bear with the discoloration for a little while. But they do seem to get worse when nitrate levels are really high.

Yeah had a feeling they spread like wildfire. I placed some moss balls in a mason jar with some aquarium decor and fresh water and noted them there too

 

[Ap19466]

That’s really interesting, but the drive to get “cheap” water would negate any financial benefits. I’m trying to think how much I pay, I think it’s about £1.30 for 10 ltrs.

Yeah seems like a lot of effort to get water, especially if doing more frequent water changes. Would have to think about storage containers and locations to have it worth wild I think