As the title states, I have .25ppm ammonia, and roughly 10-20ppm nitrate from my tap. Will I run into problems with raising fry and breeding the more sensitive species? I have not had to deal with tap water this bad before. My tap is relatively soft, 4 gh, 4 kh, and around 200 MicroS.
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Ammonia and nitrate in tap, should I lean more on RO
- Thread starter aarhud
- Start date
- Messages
- 160
- Location
- Cambridge, UK
Do you really have ammonia in your tapwater or is it an error caused by the test kit. Have you tried testing other sources of water such as rain, bottled or from a mature tank?
ChuckinMA
Member
- Messages
- 35
- Location
- Massachusetts
I've never heard of ammonia in tap water. What's the source, a private well? If it's municipal water, you could check with the water company to learn what they have to say about the ammonia. In the US, most water companies are required to provide a rather detailed report on their water parameters, including any pollutants. It can be helpful when diagnosing some water issues.
- Messages
- 1,491
- Location
- Wake Forest NC, USA
Many public water systems in the USA add ammonia and chlorine as the last stage of treatment at the water treatment plant. This combination reduces the formation of trihalomethanes (e.g. chloroform and similar nasties) that are created if chlorine is used alone. Seachem Prime or similar chloramine removers will reduce the toxic chlorine to harmless chloride ion, and bind up the ammonia/ammonium in a non-toxic form until plants or bacteria eat it up. Plants will consume the nitrate too.
Does your nitrate test kit measure nitrate-N or the whole nitrate ion? The US-EPA limit for tap water is 10 mg/L nitrate-N, which is equivalent to 44 mg/L nitrate whole-ion. If you have 10-20 ppm whole-ion nitrate, that shouldn't be a problem. If you have 10-20 ppm nitrate-N, then your water treatment plant has problems.
N atomic weight = 14, O atomic weight = 16, >> NO3 atomic weight = 62.
Since 62/14 = 4.4, then whole-ion nitrate = nitrate-N x 4.4.
Does your nitrate test kit measure nitrate-N or the whole nitrate ion? The US-EPA limit for tap water is 10 mg/L nitrate-N, which is equivalent to 44 mg/L nitrate whole-ion. If you have 10-20 ppm whole-ion nitrate, that shouldn't be a problem. If you have 10-20 ppm nitrate-N, then your water treatment plant has problems.
N atomic weight = 14, O atomic weight = 16, >> NO3 atomic weight = 62.
Since 62/14 = 4.4, then whole-ion nitrate = nitrate-N x 4.4.
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Well here is the spill. Forgive my ignorance when it comes to water treatment, some of the information may not apply.
I live across from an old gas station. Some agency (I see the trucks, but forget the name) have confirmed that the old fuel tanks leaked into the water. Originally, my tap water was reading nitrites. I called the water company, they flushed the drains, and said they were working on it. Whatever they did took care of the nitrites. But the ammonia and nitrate remain. I'm using the API liquid test kits, and it is hard to get an exact read. I assume hobby grade test kits for nitrate are not accurate anyway. I'm not sure what the test kit reads, I'm guessing it will read nitrate and not the whole ion since there is another test for nitrite.
Also, my water treatment plant does not seem very good. They did not meet EPA standards for e-coli in 2012. And I think the whole leaking gas station problem is adding to my water woes. Here is a link to the water quality report if it will help: http://www.lancastercitysc.com/Data...-annual-drinking-water-quality-report-(3).pdf
I guess I will find out how bad the water is soon, since I have apisto fry. I have a few small 1-2.5g containers I am going to use to breed tetras. Those tanks won't have the plants to take up the nitrate. Assuming I'll have to use RO with a product like RO right.
Sorry for all the questions lately.
Aaron
P.S.
Also working on getting access to rain water. But I need to install gutters and figure out a way to get the water to my tanks. So I doubt that will be soon.
I live across from an old gas station. Some agency (I see the trucks, but forget the name) have confirmed that the old fuel tanks leaked into the water. Originally, my tap water was reading nitrites. I called the water company, they flushed the drains, and said they were working on it. Whatever they did took care of the nitrites. But the ammonia and nitrate remain. I'm using the API liquid test kits, and it is hard to get an exact read. I assume hobby grade test kits for nitrate are not accurate anyway. I'm not sure what the test kit reads, I'm guessing it will read nitrate and not the whole ion since there is another test for nitrite.
Also, my water treatment plant does not seem very good. They did not meet EPA standards for e-coli in 2012. And I think the whole leaking gas station problem is adding to my water woes. Here is a link to the water quality report if it will help: http://www.lancastercitysc.com/Data...-annual-drinking-water-quality-report-(3).pdf
I guess I will find out how bad the water is soon, since I have apisto fry. I have a few small 1-2.5g containers I am going to use to breed tetras. Those tanks won't have the plants to take up the nitrate. Assuming I'll have to use RO with a product like RO right.
Sorry for all the questions lately.
Aaron
P.S.
Also working on getting access to rain water. But I need to install gutters and figure out a way to get the water to my tanks. So I doubt that will be soon.
- Messages
- 1,491
- Location
- Wake Forest NC, USA
I've raised fry in shoeboxes (a gallon or less) with java-moss, guppy-grass, hornwort, duckweed, elodea, or any plant than can grow non-rooted. The smaller the container, the more valuable the plants are for maintaining good water quality.
Not sure I understand how leaked fuel or anything else in the soil near your house could get into your drinking water pipes. Those pipes are under pressure (from the water towers) so if they leak, water runs out, not in. Fuel leaks and contaminated soil in the watershed UPSTREAM from your water plant's raw-water intake IS a problem.
Leaky sewer pipes (gravity flow, not under pressure) can collect polluted groundwater from contaminated soil. Water can flow either in or out of sewer leaks, depending on the water table level. But that's an issue for your local native fish, not your aquarium fish.
The nitrate-N in that Lancaster water report is 1.7 ppm (equivalent to 7.5 ppm whole-ion nitrate). The report doesnt give the high and low range values, so I assume that's an annual average, but its probably not high enough to be a problem for fish. And the E. coli is probably from goose poop - also not a problem for your fish.
Not sure I understand how leaked fuel or anything else in the soil near your house could get into your drinking water pipes. Those pipes are under pressure (from the water towers) so if they leak, water runs out, not in. Fuel leaks and contaminated soil in the watershed UPSTREAM from your water plant's raw-water intake IS a problem.
Leaky sewer pipes (gravity flow, not under pressure) can collect polluted groundwater from contaminated soil. Water can flow either in or out of sewer leaks, depending on the water table level. But that's an issue for your local native fish, not your aquarium fish.
The nitrate-N in that Lancaster water report is 1.7 ppm (equivalent to 7.5 ppm whole-ion nitrate). The report doesnt give the high and low range values, so I assume that's an annual average, but its probably not high enough to be a problem for fish. And the E. coli is probably from goose poop - also not a problem for your fish.
Sorry i cant delete the duplicate.
I Hate to stick my nose in here but these acceptable limits vary based on different factors. States rights always prevail it is best to check your state and local water quality standard. They should be more stringent than the federal standards but in some cases depending on state authorizations and local NPDES permitting, and drinking water intakes these acceptable limits may be different than the US EPA limits. You should be able to look up your drinking water provider on EPA OTIS or ECHO. These databases will tell you if they have reported water qualities outside their permitted limits and open enforcement actions or other compliance issues. If that doesn't work then call and ask, call the drinking water provider then your state environmental agency then your EPA region.
Now onto the gas station. Old gas stations pose environmental problems due to leaking underground storage tanks (UST). These tanks are regulated by the federal RCRA statute and regulations. The older ones tend to leak, for obvious reasons, the hazardous constituents of concern would be benzene, toluene, ethanol, and toluene (BTEX). Not sure what type of remediation they are doing at the gas station but I would suspect pump and treat or natural attenuation with monitoring. Either way you shouldn't have high levels of ammonia, nitrites or nitrates as a result. You should be able to find out what type of remediation is being conducted via the sources I provided previously. If you can't pm me with the location and I will find out. It will be a mater of public record.
Either way if you are on a public water supply then this should not be effected by the UST.
You can use the resources I mentioned earlier to map environmentally regulated facilities near you (or your drinking water provider) that may produce, handle or manage waste ammonia, nitrites, or nitrates.
If you age the water, add prime, run it over some carbon and add some hornwort for a few days prior to water changes then none of these constituents should make their way to your tank.
Good luck.
I Hate to stick my nose in here but these acceptable limits vary based on different factors. States rights always prevail it is best to check your state and local water quality standard. They should be more stringent than the federal standards but in some cases depending on state authorizations and local NPDES permitting, and drinking water intakes these acceptable limits may be different than the US EPA limits. You should be able to look up your drinking water provider on EPA OTIS or ECHO. These databases will tell you if they have reported water qualities outside their permitted limits and open enforcement actions or other compliance issues. If that doesn't work then call and ask, call the drinking water provider then your state environmental agency then your EPA region.
Now onto the gas station. Old gas stations pose environmental problems due to leaking underground storage tanks (UST). These tanks are regulated by the federal RCRA statute and regulations. The older ones tend to leak, for obvious reasons, the hazardous constituents of concern would be benzene, toluene, ethanol, and toluene (BTEX). Not sure what type of remediation they are doing at the gas station but I would suspect pump and treat or natural attenuation with monitoring. Either way you shouldn't have high levels of ammonia, nitrites or nitrates as a result. You should be able to find out what type of remediation is being conducted via the sources I provided previously. If you can't pm me with the location and I will find out. It will be a mater of public record.
Either way if you are on a public water supply then this should not be effected by the UST.
You can use the resources I mentioned earlier to map environmentally regulated facilities near you (or your drinking water provider) that may produce, handle or manage waste ammonia, nitrites, or nitrates.
If you age the water, add prime, run it over some carbon and add some hornwort for a few days prior to water changes then none of these constituents should make their way to your tank.
Good luck.
