high nitrates in tank and tap water..

[sailman]

i am having problems with my nitrate levels in my tank.. currently i am doing 20% water changes weekly to try and bring it down.. today i tested after the water change and the nitrates were still very high.. so i decided to test my tap water.. i have well water.. after testing the tap found that the nitrate levels in my tap water are 20ppm.. after discovering this i realize that with that much nitrate in the tap water i probably am not gonna get it down much.

at this point after 2 water changes in two weeks.. my nitrate level is still at 80 ppm.. so i am thinkin that i probably need a filter.. (i have gotten rid of bio balls and put live rock in the sump.. im also running my protein skimmer.. and i have my lights set on an 8 hr setting)

what i need advice on is what type of filter.. would a filter on the tap (one like you can buy at lowes.. either on the spicket or under the sink) work? or would i need to get one for the tank? i do have limited space under my tank so im thinking that one for my water supply may be the way to go...

working on a budget (since i JUST bought lights) .. what are some suggestions?

[TylerHaworth]

RO/DI is the way to go, you aren't gonna see much improvement otherwise...

Consider it this way... if you start doing your 20% water changes with zero nitrate water, and are adding zero nitrates through feeding or fish waste... Week One you will be at 64ppm, Week two will give 51, Week three will give 41... and so on at 20% decrease per week, it will still take a LONG time to get your nitrates into aceptable levels of 10 or below

If you are using 20ppm water, you are almost running on a treadmill... because you are putting back in a substantial portion of what you take out

[sailman]

that makes sense and is exactly what i was thinking..

Could i possibly use an RO filter system that could be purchased at lowes to filter my tap water? or would i need to have an RO/DI filter system made specially to filter the water put in my tank?

[burning2nd]

The Filter Guys get the ocean reef+2

ive bin on well water for ever... and never had anything other then 1ppm come outta there (and thats when the filters need to be changed)

also get your self and TDS meter for the RODI unit..

and this problem will fix it self.

[TylerHaworth]

Spend the little extra cash and get a dedicated RO/DI unit from one of our fine sponsors... They aren't obscenely priced like a lot of things in the hobby, and probably aren't a whole lot more than a unit you would purchase from a home improvement store, and will more than likely produce a much better end result as well!

[sailman]

Ok Ive looked and I like this one Aquarium Water | Reverse Osmosis | RODI Water | ReefKeeper Water | Dual Home Reef New Style (Smaller) for under sink .Does anyone know anything about it.

[burning2nd]

ive bought stuff from them... b4 but i would check out the filter guys if you can... there service is top notch... and some times thats worth more then anything.

[TylerHaworth]

That unit appears to be fine.

+1 to the filter guys as well

[Hemlock]

I had that unit and had some problems with it, they told me they have had some problems with that particular unit. They said they would ship a new unit to me, had it in a few days...great service!! The new unit was the older style (just a little bigger and different filter setup) no problem after 8 months. Don is the tech guy, call and ask him if they corrected the problem or if you have the room, just get the older style. Hope this helps

[sailman]

I called the Filter Guys yesterday. The man that I talked to acted like he had all the time in the world to talk. I was realy impressed! The only problem is talking my wife into the filter. One thing that I have going for me is that it is about 45 min yo 1 hr to the LFS. The money saved in gas would pay for it in a few months. Also Im on well warter and may need a booster pump to get my psi up to 50.

[BobBursek]

Sailman,
Must have talked to Jim, he is a talker, very knowledgeable, and ussualy will answer the phone 7 days a week.