[sforys]

I recently set up a 38g tank and it didnt seem to be cycling to quickly so i decided to test my tap water and see if that was the problem. Boy was i surprised!

Nitrates 5ppm
Ammonia .5ppm

How the **** is this possible i live in the largest city in Canada and i thought the bigger the city the better the water treatment. Shows what i know. Anyways, any suggestions on what i should do before i put the water in my tank. I'm not really enjoing my tank because it is taking so much of my time. I dont want to have to worry so much.

 

[acreal]

I'd like to have only 5ppm nitrates in my water for sure. I'm 20 here.

About your cycling being slow, I don't think your ammonia reading could have any real impact on your cycling time overall.

Now for the actual reading, you may want to contact your water supplier to make sure these are correct (and non-temporary) numbers. :-? They should be willing to give you this information right away as well as the quality report for the last period (year/semester/whatever), which is most of the time very detailed. You may also try another test kit to make sure you've got correct informations.

 

[Robin]

Yes, try another test kit and/or make sure your present test kit(s) are not past their shelf life.

What method are you using to cycle your tank?

Robin

 

[Steve210]

Having bad tap water for water changes was a problem for me also. I had deaths and algae blooms all the time. However, I am guessing that the tap water is not slowing your cycling of the tank to get the natural biological filter going---it just takes time. As long as you are sure that there is no chlorine and related substances in the water, the cycling takes time. I have used the brand Cycle to put in beneficial bacteria and help speed the process. Cycling a tank takes time. My 210 gallon reef cichlid tank took 3 weeks to begin cycling, and even when I added some fish, I had a spike in the ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates...I then started doing daily water changes, and putting in Cycle every day to prevent deaths. It worked, but it's a very gradual process. I have set up 6 tanks, and they do take a while if you don't have existing biological material to put in. If you have another well established aquarium, when it is time to change the filter in the established aquarium, put a portion of the old filter into the new aquarium--I've had success that way too. When the tank finally gets established you will find that your aquarium water is actually better chemically than the tap water changes...for that I put in a reverse osmosis system, added the appropriate salts and trace minerals, and have had no bio filter issues since. I have even done 80% water changes, and the bio filter stays solid.

Hope that helps.

Steve210
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