# Reducing Nitrates And Gh Without Ro.



## migdem (Jun 6, 2007)

Hi all,
I am thinking of using a small canister filter and will use resin and Seachem Matrix.

Resin to reduce GH and Seachem Matrix to reduce Nitrates. Right now the tap water has high GH and Nitrate of about 50. The canister will not be used in the aquarium but in a tank before I make the water change so this will be treated before.

What do you think?

I am aiming to host angelfish and in the future Discus. This water will be used for a tank which is planted and with CO2.

Any ideas from you? I do not wish to use the RO. I also cannot do any plants in this plastic tank because there will be no light at all.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I haven't tried these. I have used NitraSorb and found it does reduce nitrates while active. You have to recharge it periodically with a salt solution . I've also heard good things about purigen. All the ion exchange resins will remove exactly what they are made to remove and nothing else. And they will leave something in exchange. Make sure that you are actually making an improvement. Swapping sodium for calcium will lower your kH number, but won't improve things for your fish. 

I guess I am concerned about what else may be in your water. Are you sure you know all the potential killers there? RO is good because it removes stuff without specifying what it is, but that is also a problem because you have to replace the essential minerals it takes out. 

If you can't do plants in the tank, can you do plants in a pre-treatment tub outside? Can you capture rainwater? 

I think you should try rift lake cichlids. They won't mind the gH and will tolerate high nitrate better then the S. American fish. 

Trying to modify the chemistry of your water on an ongoing basis is a large undertaking in terms of effort and expense. You will have to keep testing water and recharging your resins. But rechargeable ion-exchange resins are cheaper than filters you throw away or buying water.

SeaChem has knowledgeable people who are fairly responsive. It may be worth your while to contact them and talk about the best product and methods to get the result you desire.


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## migdem (Jun 6, 2007)

So in your opinion for GH the best thing and cheap way to do this is by using the resin right?

To remove nitrate the best product to use is the Seachem Purigen instead of the Seachem Matrix right?

Thanks


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

What she is saying is that the resin will leave something behind as it removes the things that cause your hardness to go up. So it is not necessarily better than before. In a standard house water softener, you load the softener up with salt. The softener replaces the "hardness" with sodium from the salt. This prevents things like limescale from happening in your tub, but is no better for your fish than before. 

An R/O unit removes EVERYTHING from the water, good or bad. You just have to add the good back in. You could get a small R/O for $75


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I'm saying call or e-mail seachem and discuss it with them. There hundreds of 'resins', I don't know which one you mean.


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## Mikaila31 (Nov 29, 2009)

Is that a well or public source? that nitrate reading is above or really close to unsafe levels for drinking water. First I would double and triple check that water if you haven't. ROom is your only option IMO. Any resien or other product is not going to reduce those levels as much as you need. Resins will fill very quicky you will need lots and lots and recharge very frquently. And product you have to add regularly will quickly cost you more then an RO. Plus with RO you can get drinking water if you mix it with a little tap water. Drinking too pure of water can be just as bad as drinking to unpure of water.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

That's true; the cost of the resin will eventually far outweigh the cost of a water purifier.
50 ppm out of the faucet? That's messed up.
Rainwater isn't a bad idea, either.


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## migdem (Jun 6, 2007)

the 50mg is from the water services department. The problem of the RO is that it gives you 1 cup good water and removes 3 cups. So the water bill would rise. Is that right?


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

This is true. However, you can use that other water for other stuff. I knew a guy who put the waste water in his washing machine. I have heard of people use it to flush their toilets or water their gardens. The waste water isnt bad water, just really hard water.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Test your water yourself. That 50 may be the maximum found during a year throughout the system or the maximum allowable. Your water may vary. One of the issues with trying to change your water is that you have the expense of always testing.


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## migdem (Jun 6, 2007)

and if i decide to use the RO for angelfish and discus should i use only RO or mix it 1/2 RO and other normal tap water which has GH 14 and Nitrate 50mg?


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## Mikaila31 (Nov 29, 2009)

Yes test your water with a liquid test kit and take it to petsmart and have them do a test. What exactly is the water services testing? There are different nitrate tests that report different ways. The lab that tests our well reports 5.4ppm of Nitrate-Nitrogen. AIP nitrate kit says I have 20ppm of nitrate. The numbers may be different but both are actually reporting the same thing, just different tests that use different scales.

Does the water service say anything about the safety of your drinking water? If they don't then I believe you are misreading the report. If they are truly reporting in nitrate (NO3-) and you really do have 50mg/l = 50ppm then according to the US drinking water regulations that water is not safe to drink. There should be some warning or advisory form the water board on that. The max\ level allowed is 10mg/l of nitrate-nitrogen which is equal to 44ppm of NO3-. 

Do be careful what you do w/ waste water. Hard water inhibits soap to lather/foam so I doubt you would want to use it in the wash. Really hard water like you will get will also build up on pipes, plain old hard tap water will do this too. Either way it can be damaging.


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## migdem (Jun 6, 2007)

I have plastic pipes. Just a small note I live in a small island in the middle of the Mediterranean called Malta in Europe so water quality is not good as USA  I used Tetra Nitrate Test kit to do this.


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## Mikaila31 (Nov 29, 2009)

Well then I would say to get a RO filter. RO what water you need use the waste water on the lawn or something. It will increase your water bill if you cannot find a use for the waste water, IDK about the Mediterranean but a gallon of water in the US costs less then a penny. I would just RO what you need for the aquarium and to drink/cook with, cuz you really shouldn't be drinking that tap water.


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## migdem (Jun 6, 2007)

in fact we do not drink from that water. We buy bottled water


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

If you can buy water in large containers (5 gallons or more) test that water. I buy R/O filtered water from the grocery store all the time. They have to add a few minerals to make it safe to drink, but the GH is very low, the pH is slightly acid, and there is no chlorine/chloramines in it.


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