# City water bad source



## springazure (Feb 8, 2012)

Long time lurker, rarely post. Have 2-5's, 2-10's, and a 20L. Have tinkered with regular freshwater tanks for 30yrs. *New to planted tanks.* Have spent the last year experimenting with low tech.... plain gravel, low-mod light, and snails (no fish).

Dwarf sag, Italian Val, misc mosses, anacharis, hornwort, lots of floaters!
Snails.... bladder, ramshorn, MTS, Quilted, Mystery

I've never bothered with test kits, afterall, they're just snails. Must doing something right? I now sell snails and plants to 3 local pet stores. Getting an impressive amount of 'in store' credit.

Well.... I got this idea, that I want to upgrade next year to maybe shrimps? fish? So I just purchased the API Master Test Kit. YIKES! I GOT A PROBLEM!

I'm new to this region. Transplanted to this location about 3 yrs ago. I now live right on the mighty Mississippi River. Long story short... the Test Kit has proven that the city water coming right out of the tap is HIGH! I mean.... HIGH EVERYTHING..... OFF THE CHARTS HIGH!!! Even had all 3 local pet stores test my tap water. Contacted the local city water district.

They said.... because we live right on the river....with the constant ebb and flow of flood waters, it's a constant problem... and considered a fact of life, for this region. Farmer field run-off the supposed culprit.

How on earth do I combat nitrites and nitrates when it's coming right out of the tap like that?

*What if???? I got a 30L and set it up as my pre-treated water tank. Put my tap water in the 30g. Treat it with Amquel. Have 2 filters.... 1 filter runs with Purigen. 1 filter runs with Nitra-Zorb bag. And have that tank loaded up with Anacharis. Between the Purigen, Nitra-Zorb and Anacharis, that would solve my Nitrite/Nitrate problem, and I could use THAT water for my Partial Water Changes on the livestock tanks?*


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## rjordan393 (Nov 23, 2012)

I believe the EPA mandated the maximum amount of nitrates in tap water is 10 ppm. Check their website to be sure and also check other parameters such as chlorine, chloramine, nitrites, phosphates, copper and iron. If these and many other parameters are over the limits set by the EPA, then contact them and report your water supply company. I believe the water company is giving you a feeble excuse.
If its off the charts as you state and I hope you and the store did not rely on dipsticks to test the parameters because they are not as accurate as test kits ranging from $12.00 to $16.00. We would like to see some numbers rather then "high or off the charts".
Water Supply companies usually have a website where you can access the numbers.

On the other hand, I do not think it is as bad as you think because people living along the river would be getting sick and you are able to breed snails successfully.
Ask your neighbors about your concerns and ask your pet store sources if they treat their water and with what media.


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

Two words. Reverse osmosis. It's a bit expensive, but given the tanks you keep aren't huge it should be manageable and you will have very consistent results. 

The other option might be to collect rainwater. If you do that I would still filter it through a carbon filter before using it. Rainwater would need to be reconstituted in the same manner as RO water.


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

Two words. Reverse osmosis. It's a bit expensive, but given the tanks you keep aren't huge it should be manageable and you will have very consistent results. 

The other option might be to collect rainwater. If you do that I would still filter it through a carbon filter before using it. Rainwater would need to be reconstituted in the same manner as RO water.


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## Tugg (Jul 28, 2013)

If you're thinking of going shrimps, just suck it up and buy a good RO/DI unit now. Even if you get the nitrogen products under control, who knows what other chemicals in there will effect sensitive fish/shrimp.


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## springazure (Feb 8, 2012)

I just purchased a brand new API Freshwater Master Test Kit. I even checked the expiration dates on the various bottles. All 7 bottles expire 2019.

ph... 8.8 or higher (that's the highest reading the test offers)
nitrite.... 5.0+ (same as above)

I didn't bother to check the nitrates. I will be picking up a brand new gh/kh test later today.

I'll check the nitrates now. Be back shortly.


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## springazure (Feb 8, 2012)

Hmmm.... I just woke up, and hadn't crawled out of bed yet. The water is shut off.... called the neighbor. They were told the water dept is doing some work, due to a water main break? Hmmmmm..............


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## springazure (Feb 8, 2012)

Got home at 2am, from work. Water back on. Took a short nap.

New water parameters, straight from the tap (no water conditioners added)....

gH 8
kH 3
pH 8.8+

Ammonia 2
Nitrite .25
Nitrate 20

Tested one of my tanks..... moderately planted with lots of top floaters! This tank has some cichlid substrate mixed in with the walmart gravel, plus some crushed coral. I was having problems with ph testing 6.0 or lower? (that's the lowest the pet store test kit would go)

gH 20
Kh 4
pH 7.5
Ammonia .50
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0

So I assuming those "0" numbers mean the plants are doing their jobs?

EDIT: I noticed the Nitrites (straight out of the tap) dropped from 5.0 to 0.25. Huge difference! The city must of fixed something?


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## springazure (Feb 8, 2012)

I also wanted to add.... these tanks are extremely massive bioload of snails, so those '0' numbers surprised me! I even redid the tests 2 more times, just to make sure. Last month I purged 250 baby-juvenile sized snails to the pet stores, just to lighten the load.

I also started using Stability last month. Hydrogen Sulfide problem slowly going away.


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## AEWHistory (Jul 6, 2008)

My guess is that the anacharis is growing so quickly it is simply absorbing the bulk of the waste products your animals are producing. After all, it is all relative. However, this is a guess without knowing more.

I'm surprised your water has such a high Ph, but then again I'm used to city water here in Trenton that measures as damn near prefiltered to death. It often measures around 6.5 Ph with low Gh/Kh. Tastes like crap too....


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