Params of Tap Water.

[Mettle]

I had a customer in my store yesterday who has been having vicious issues with her tank ever since she set it up. She seems about ready to give up. So she goes online and reads a bit and someone told her to test her tap water. Simple enough.

Her tap water is giving her huge Nitrite readings. That's right. NitrIte. I've never really heard of this before...

So my questions are - does anyone know what would cause it?

And.

Has anyone tested their water to see what their params out of the tap are?

I think I'm going to do a full test - testing everything that I have tests for - today.

My advice to her was to call the city of Ottawa and check with the water folks first before anything else. She's always worried that there may be some issues with her plumbing? We'll see. She's in often so hopefully something gets figured out. She has a 31 gallon tank and said she's probably done a total of 300 gallons in changes in the past week or two. Crazy crazy...

[darkdep]

I've tested my water in Kanata.  It's 7.4-7.8 ph, about 50ish ppm GH and KH.  0 Ammonia, 0 NitrAte.  Never thought to test for Nitrite.

[blueturq]

Hi Mettle,

I just tested my tap water for NitrIte and it came out to 0.0.



:?:  :?:  :?:  :?:

[zapisto]

i have heard and see amonia in tap water but nitrite geez, hell no

well did she have a sort of container who retain the water or the town  ahs that or somethig like that.

[Nerine]

sometimes well water has nitrites, a girl who used to come into our store had to buy bottled water for her fish due to the nitrite level in her water! water changes were actually worse for the fish! but I haven't heard of it in ottawa city water

[squeeker]

I have ammonia of about 0.25 in my water, but no nitrities or nitrates.  Strange...

[dpatte]

nitrites are rare in public water systems.

Nitrites are the intermediate result of an incomplete nitrogen cycle.

Read about cycling tanks. It seems more likely that her tank is only half cycled.

But tap water with nitrite is a problem with her water supply and she should check into it.

[Mettle]

nitrites are rare in public water systems.

Nitrites are the intermediate result of an incomplete nitrogen cycle.

Read about cycling tanks. It seems more likely that her tank is only half cycled.

But tap water with nitrite is a problem with her water supply and she should check into it.

I know what the nitrogen cycle, is, thanks.

But wouldn't logic hold then, if nitrites are not present in the water system, that after doing three 50% water changes over the course of a day that the nitrites should at least fall? And not stay at the same high levels? At least temporarily?

[squeeker]

Depends on how high her ammonia is.  Depends on how heavy her bioload is.  If she's not gravel cleaning well, and she's still in the middle of her cycle... Depends on LOTS of things.

Haven't you ever had really high nitrates?  Doesn't seem to matter HOW many water changes you do, they still stay high.  

Either something is REALLYL wrong with her plumbing... otherwise, since (to my understanding) all of Ottawa (central) is connected to the same water supply, others would be having the same problem.

[tetroid]

I have noticed this phenomenon of nitrites refusing to drop in spite of water changes. Toward the end of my fishless cycle, when I had to do a series of large and unplanned water changes (long story), I found I couldn't push the nitrites below a certain level. In the end, I concluded that maybe the stuff I was adding to the tapwater to remove chloramine was also releasing ammonia, and this was getting immediately processed into nitrite  by the biological filter.

The woman in question was probably testing her tapwater right out of the tap, though, so this wouldn't apply. My tapwater in Centretown, for what it's worth, is showing 0.0 nitrites.

[FISHLUVR]

I'm the Barrhaven resident with the HIGH NITRITE level in my tap water.   After performing 8 water changes of at least 50%, my nitrite levels were as high or higher than before I started......that's when I tested the tap water!!!!

Since then I've had the water tested by the City of Ottawa and I took it to an independent lab as well.  The nitrite level is .12 straight from my tap..........

The City of Ottawa doesn't give a damn........it's safe for people, and that's all they care about.  SO...........does anyone know of an INEXPENSIVE fix for this problem?

[repeej]

Have you tested your neighbour's water to see if you're the only one?

[FISHLUVR]

I've tested the neighbours with my own kit..........their results are the same as mine.

[dpatte]

a strongly cycled tank should be able to convert this to nitrate fairly quickly. If your tank is not cycled, i would get alot of seeding material from other members of the club. What type of filter do you use - maybe people can trade their cycled filter media with you

[Julie]

Trojan UV sterilizer, but not cost efficient.
Have you had it tested for coliform?
I wonder how many people are affected by this?  

Julie

[dpatte]

Did you say 0.12 parts per million? thats not zero, but its not very high either. 1 part per million would start to be difficult for your fish.

[dpatte]

a UV sterilizer will not remove nitrite as far as I know.

[FISHLUVR]

Lets first qualify my writings with.......I'm an idiot when it comes to this stuff........I've only had my tank for 6 months.......lost several fish......everything I think I know is courtesty of the local pet store.

I've got a Fluval filter.....carbon, round white things, and ammonia remover.

Right now I'm treating the fish with Melafix from the pet store because one of my angelfish was hiding at the bottom of the tank, gasping, and didn't seem to be able to close his mouth.  Someone at the fish store told me it sounded like "lockjaw".  He's also got white and red sores and his mouth appears to be disintegrating ........looked swollen, fluffy and white.

In addition my three zebra loaches (who I adore) are losing their colour.

I have a "Python" so water changes are no big deal......however, it would seem to me, in that the test kit I have indicates anything above .03 is fatal for fish.........a .12 reading is VERY bad..........everytime I do a large water change the fish end up gasping at the surface.

I'm a die-hard, bleeding heart animal lover........watching these animals suffer and die is killing me...........

[Julie]

I'm posting a link to the acceptable levels of contaminants in drinking water:http://www.home-water-purifiers-and-filters.com/water-contaminants.php

Nitrite can be quite hight according to the chart.  
UV won't eliminate levels higher than 10mg/l - they recommend reverse osmosis.  The reading from the city might be .12mg/l

How much substrate is in your tank?  When did you clean your canister last?  How long has tank been running?
Try smaller water changes - it will be easier for the filter to process.

Someone else comment on the angelfish - columnaris?


Julie

[squeeker]

Unfortunately, Melafix isn't useful for anything more than superficial healing.  It won't cure diseases, kill bacteria, etc.  

Can you post a picture of your angel?  Maybe we can help to diagnose the problem.