Tap Water Nitrate Levels

[idlefingers]

I tested my tap water last night and was surprised to find that it had a nitrate reading of 40! Is this normal? I'd read that it would have some nitrate in, but wasn't expecting it to be that high!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

I tested my tap water last night and was surprised to find that it had a nitrate reading of 40! Is this normal? I'd read that it would have some nitrate in, but wasn't expecting it to be that high!

it varies across the country, i'm not surprised by a reading of 40 though, plenty of forum members have the same and manage just fine

 

[highfire]

My tap water nitrate is about 40 aswell, and my fish have always been fine.

 

[dream250578]

My tap water also has a reading of 40! My Nitrates in my tank have always been quite high (ever since I started the Tank...bout 4+ years) and my fish have been great, I have live plants and am in the process of adding more to see if this will help reduce the nitrates (only really ever had a few...am now trying to go more towards a planted tank).

 

[thegnu]

nitrates of 40 are very high. my tap comes out at 40 which is why i got an ro unit. some fish are more susceptible to it than others. water changes dilute this toxin. if your nitrate level is 60ppm and you change 50% with water with no nitrate then you might end up with a reading of 30. half the time in between the next water change and it could be 7. if you do water changes with water containing 40ppm you could end up with water containing nitrates of 70ppm. i would test the tap water on a friday (before the weekend when water usage goes up with people being at home and on a monday after the high demand has gone down) to see if there is a better time to collect water.
i agree with dream250578 the way to go would be to keep a lot of live quick growing stem plants.
i would definitely try adding easybalance by tetraaqua to the water changes

 

[andywg]

40ppm is fine. I know raykeepers that suffer with that level. Only science I have seen shows that continued exposure to levels above 100ppm can affect fish.

Add in that (IME) nitrate test kits seem to give falsely high readings and there is no cause for concern.

 

[helsekia]

i have nitrate at 40ppm out of the tap and its never caused any problems,I agree with andy ive read up to 100ppm is ok

 

[idlefingers]

thanks for all the advice, guys. I'm glad it shouldn't be too much of a problem.. I was getting scared for a min there!

 

[dwarfgourami]

I am against using RO units unless your fish really need them, simply because they waste a lot of water, putting strain on the local aquatic population. Not much point I can see in providing perfect conditions for pet fish brought from the other end of the world, if it means the fish are here naturally are going to find themselves short of water. In the case of marine tanks/extra sensitive fish it is a different matter; then it's really necessary.

 

[thegnu]

i agree dwarfgourami,
i keep discus and apistogramma

edit: but wouldn't it be nice if the water company's could get there acts together any produce better water. i bet 40ppm nitrate isn't wonderful for humans to drink!!!! they charge enough for it!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

i agree dwarfgourami,
i keep discus and apistogramma

edit: but wouldn't it be nice if the water company's could get there acts together any produce better water. i bet 40ppm nitrate isn't wonderful for humans to drink!!!! they charge enough for it!

yup and as for wasting water....... anyone remember the scandal a few months back about how many pipes were brokena dn just how much water was being wasted by the water companies themselves??

although i can't say anything about nitrates, ours comes out the tap at 0ppm. v lucky in that respect!