I've been constantly battling to lower nitrates in all my tanks - regular water changes, plants, pothos etc. Been feeling guilty that my nitrates are still high. Then I decided to check my tap water ....
Nitrates - This Explains a Lot
- Thread starter Nick Park
- Start date
In the U.S. the MCL (maximum contaminant level) for nitrate is 10ppm.
So "if" your test kit is correct, and you have done the test correctly, you are either not from the U.S. or have a private well, heavily influenced by agricultural run off (or some similar scenario).
There are many ways to screw up a test, one mentioned above, another is not cleaning test tubes correctly and allowing residual to build up, you are dealing with tiny amounts of sample, and parts per million, so one spec of left over can totally wack a test out.
Any public water provider with the level your test alleges, would be in violation, if you are on a public water supply you can always call to see what their chemist results are, compared to yours, or find their water quality report "on-line".
So "if" your test kit is correct, and you have done the test correctly, you are either not from the U.S. or have a private well, heavily influenced by agricultural run off (or some similar scenario).
There are many ways to screw up a test, one mentioned above, another is not cleaning test tubes correctly and allowing residual to build up, you are dealing with tiny amounts of sample, and parts per million, so one spec of left over can totally wack a test out.
Any public water provider with the level your test alleges, would be in violation, if you are on a public water supply you can always call to see what their chemist results are, compared to yours, or find their water quality report "on-line".
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His profile says Ireland. I'd invest into an RO unit. They are not that expensive and will give you much better water. I use this one: Aquatic Life RO Buddie
It gives me water with 0 nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, and about 3 TDS. You might need to add the fourth stage since your source water is so poor. There are larger ones that will give you more water, quicker, if your tank is pretty large. I have the 100gpd version and it takes about 30-40 mins to fill a 5 gallon bucket. For freshwater use, you will also need to remineralize the water a bit to give some gH level and keep pH stable. I use "Sera mineral salts" for this.
It gives me water with 0 nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, and about 3 TDS. You might need to add the fourth stage since your source water is so poor. There are larger ones that will give you more water, quicker, if your tank is pretty large. I have the 100gpd version and it takes about 30-40 mins to fill a 5 gallon bucket. For freshwater use, you will also need to remineralize the water a bit to give some gH level and keep pH stable. I use "Sera mineral salts" for this.
The API nitrate test is in nitrate units while the EPA MCL is nitrate-nitrogen. So the MCL in nitrate units is 44.3. That would be some shade of red that only birds and insects can discern.
