Concerned about high Phosphate levels in tap water in UK

1283 Views 5 Replies 3 Participants Last post by Rhinox, Mar 4, 2011

lucrent

Discussion Starter · Feb 27, 2011

Hi,
I recently moved to Surbiton from south Florida, just south west of London, and going to restart an African cichlid tank. Ideally frontosa.

I've bought the tank, 180g 6ft, and getting ready to cycle, but I have some concerns with the tap water, especially Phosphates.

Here are the test results:
PH - 7.8
Chlorine - 0 (tested twice)
Ammonia - less than .25ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrates - Less than 5ppm
Alkalinity - 10dKH
Phosphates - 5ppm
Do I need to filter out the phosphates? What kind of filter should I use? Could this level harm the fish?

Thanks in advance for your advice!!

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lucrent

Discussion Starter · #2 · Mar 1, 2011

Hi,

I'm bumping this up, would be grateful if someone could provide some advice based on their experiences.

Thanks!

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prov356

· #3 · Mar 1, 2011

I have phosphates in my tap, but not as high as yours. Runs about 1ppm or so. I started out using the chemical medias to keep them down, but eventually gave up on that. I have no idea what level my tank phosphates are now, and I have a couple dozen tanganyikan species in a number of tanks that don't seem to be affected at all by the phosphates. Some say it promotes algae, but I use nerite snails, so I don't care about that either. My oldest tang setup is four years old now. All the others I've had for over a year. I'm not sure if there have been any studies done, but that's been my experience. It'd be really impractical for me now to worry about phosphates in what are 20+ tanks, some with sponge fitration only. My experience has not proven the need, but again, your levels are higher. I'd be looking at a whole house filtration system, which may not be a bad idea anyway to ensure other possible toxins aren't present in the water. I really don't think phosphates are our fish's worst enemy. Maybe I'm being naive, but unitl I have a problem, I'm not feeling motivated to add the water purification equipment.

If I were you, I'd be googling and looking for studies done. If you can't find any, then I'd try to run with things as is. Don't just go by the "phosphates are harmful to fish" advice that you'll see out there on various websites. Here's an article in the forum library and the only detriment mentioned is the promotion of algae.

HTH

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lucrent

Discussion Starter · #4 · Mar 4, 2011

Thanks!

I'll go ahead and see what happens, since we got here, we don't drink unfiltered tap water.

I hooked up a 10" filter cartridge which I had lying around and for what ever reason I'm getting a more reasonable reading, may be the level varies, though still at least 1ppm.

Can't wait to start adding fish!! and not just algae eaters

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prov356

· #5 · Mar 4, 2011

If it's around 1ppm, that's what mine is and I can tell you from experience that it won't harm the fish. I'd pretty much disregard it. There are going to be some phosphates in every tank, even when not in the tap.

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Rhinox

· #6 · Mar 4, 2011

prov356 said:
If it's around 1ppm, that's what mine is and I can tell you from experience that it won't harm the fish. I'd pretty much disregard it. There are going to be some phosphates in every tank, even when not in the tap.

Just popping into say I've always wondered about the phosphates around here. Never worried enough to buy the kit to check myself, but assuming we're both running the same lake erie tap water, I guess now I know. Thanks for the info Tim!

Sorry to hijack, carry on :fish:

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