I think there is something wrong with my tap water

[niqolas619]

I posted something about this a little earlier, but I was a little sketchy with whether or not there was actually something wrong with my tap water - now I am almost completely sure that there is.

I've been adding ammonia, testing the water, and not cleaning my tank or doing water changes for a while now (maybe about a month or so, with a few setbacks along the way). Today, I tested the water and I had 0 ammonia, about 2 nitrite, and around 40 nitrate. I thought this was a little wierd, because I thought that I should have 0 nitrite if I have that much nitrate. I repeated the test to make sure I did everything correctly, and got the same reading. My tank has lost some water due to evaporation, so I decided to top it off with 5 gal of dechlorinated water. I tested my water again about an hour and a half after adding this water, and I still have 0 ammonia and about 2 or 3 nitrite. The nitrate, on the other hand, dropped all the way down to about 5 or so. What is going on? I don't think it's just a case of the nitrates being dilluted with the added water, because 1) the nitrites didn't dillute at all, and 2) 5 gallons wouldn't be enough to drop the nitrates that far in a 55 gallon tank. The water had only dropped about 2 inches, so it isn't like I added 5 gallons of new water to 10 gallons of 'old' water.

Has anyone had experience with this kind of thing? When I was in San Diego, I used bottled water for my water changes, but this was pretty cheap (about $1 for 5 gallons). I don't think I can get water that cheap in Chicago. Also, any ideas on why my nitrate was so high while still having nitrites? The nitrites have been hovering around 2 for about a week now, and the nitrates have been about since I began cycling.

One thing that I just thought of - I originally used Cycle to start the cycling proccess about a month ago, but have now read around that this is a bad product that can prolong the cycling process. I did about an 80% water change a week ago when I thought that my tank was cycled, so I would think that this removed most of the Cycle product that may or may not still be in the water.

Thanks for reading all of this.

[Lady Hobbs]

Cycle is not a bad product. It just hasn't been very efficient in doing all it claims to do according to everyone I've talked with that have used it, myself included. It's an all natural product so didn't harm anything however.

If you use well water you may have to have a water system added going into your home. You may have one already so check to see if it needs possibly a filter change or something simple like that. If you have city water, I would call and ask them to explain why and what needs to be done to get rid of it.

High levels of nitrates can cause problems with babies that is ir-reversable. Boiling it also does not remove it so really, it would be good to have it checked out. Because babies drink so much of it in their formula and don't have the immune systems adults have, they get very ill from it in time.

Let your water run for a bit and test again to clear the water lines first.

[Chrona]

I posted something about this a little earlier, but I was a little sketchy with whether or not there was actually something wrong with my tap water - now I am almost completely sure that there is.

I've been adding ammonia, testing the water, and not cleaning my tank or doing water changes for a while now (maybe about a month or so, with a few setbacks along the way). Today, I tested the water and I had 0 ammonia, about 2 nitrite, and around 40 nitrate. I thought this was a little wierd, because I thought that I should have 0 nitrite if I have that much nitrate. I repeated the test to make sure I did everything correctly, and got the same reading. My tank has lost some water due to evaporation, so I decided to top it off with 5 gal of dechlorinated water. I tested my water again about an hour and a half after adding this water, and I still have 0 ammonia and about 2 or 3 nitrite. The nitrate, on the other hand, dropped all the way down to about 5 or so. What is going on? I don't think it's just a case of the nitrates being dilluted with the added water, because 1) the nitrites didn't dillute at all, and 2) 5 gallons wouldn't be enough to drop the nitrates that far in a 55 gallon tank. The water had only dropped about 2 inches, so it isn't like I added 5 gallons of new water to 10 gallons of 'old' water.

Has anyone had experience with this kind of thing? When I was in San Diego, I used bottled water for my water changes, but this was pretty cheap (about $1 for 5 gallons). I don't think I can get water that cheap in Chicago. Also, any ideas on why my nitrate was so high while still having nitrites? The nitrites have been hovering around 2 for about a week now, and the nitrates have been about since I began cycling.

One thing that I just thought of - I originally used Cycle to start the cycling proccess about a month ago, but have now read around that this is a bad product that can prolong the cycling process. I did about an 80% water change a week ago when I thought that my tank was cycled, so I would think that this removed most of the Cycle product that may or may not still be in the water.

Thanks for reading all of this.

Cycle is not bad as Hobbs said. It just doesn't do anything though. How much ammonia have you been adding? After a month of no water changes and at the current levels (low nitrites, 0 ammonia) you should have been seeing nitrates off the charts (40 is not high) before the 80% water change. Not sure on the nitrate drop though, but the tests kits you purchase at LFS are not all that accurate. You are right that 5 gallons of water would not dillute the nitrates that much however.

As for the nitrites, I can only presume that the water change disturbing the substrate, causing a minor spike. Give it a another week, but let us know about the ammonia dosage.

[niqolas619]

I've been adding about 7ml of ammonia a couple times per day. This brings my ammonia up to about 2 or 3 for about 2 hours, then after about 5 or 6 hours, the ammonia will be back down to 0.

So if I got some kind of filter for my faucet, do you think that would help? I found this filter on Foster and Smith: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=4484&N=2004+113775

It seems like it would work pretty well, but I'm a little worried about it's 10 gallons per hour capacity and it's maximum yield of 150 gallons of water per filter. It seems like this would be pretty expensive. Would one of those attachable Brita filters do the same thing?

[niqolas619]

Alright, I don't know what to think now - I just checked my water and everything is perfect...0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and about 90 or 100 nitrate! I'm trying not to get too into it, though, because the last time this happened, I did a large water change and everything got screwed up.

I'm gonna keep the water this way and continue to add ammonia for the next few days and see if the water stays the same. I'll do my large water change this weekend if everything remains the same and hopefully this will only lower my nitrates. Good idea??

[Lady Hobbs]

You don't want of those units. 150 gallons of water is not much and you'll be constanting replacing the filters.

My understanding was that you tested your tap water and got a reading of 40 nitrates. That was what I was referring to in my above post.

Sorry if I added to your confusion!

0 ammonia= 0 nitrites=high nitrates ... large water change ... done

[niqolas619]

Sorry if I added to your confusion!

No worries, I appreciate any and all help.

I'm still gonna stay with adding ammonia for the next couple of days - I gotta wait for my nitrites to drop still anyway. I'm just really concerned that there is something wrong with my tap water and that I'm gonna have problems everytime I do a water change.