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I've got a crazy high Nitrate level 100mg/l which isn't helped by my tap water being 80mg/l, and I'm wondering if my answer is a Nitrate Filter is the answer but I don't know how well they work?
See my profile for tank details if you think that will help.
Many thanks!

I just did a quick Google and there are some which are designed for house hold use/drinking water.

If that is the case you could install one of these for the home drinking water as well.

As with all filters it is usually the more expensive they are the better quality you will get.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

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Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

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Be advised that most tap water filters on the market will not remove ammonia or nitrates in your tap water even distillation does not work. I have been woking on this for a couple of weeks now and although I am not faced with a nitrate reading as high as yours I was looking to remove trace amounts of ammonia, the only thing that I found was an ion resin filter, I am not sure if even reverse osmosis will help remove nitrates. I am still looking.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=4484&Ntt=tap%20water&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&pc=1&N=2004&Nty=1

Upon further review I am finding that some RO units do actually remove a greater quantity of nitrates that other you will have to do some shopping around to find the appropriate on.....GOOD LUCK

What about filter media like Seachem's DeNitrate. You can put in media baskets for cannisters or add to HOB filter media. It even says you can use it as a "live" substrate to slowly remove nitrates and more. Pretty cheap, here's a link at bigals...

http://bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=24519;category_id=2607;pcid1=1965;pcid2=

Good luck.

That Seachem's DeNitrate looks almost too good to be true if it works as a substrate! Has anyone tried it or similar?
I've seen specific aquarium nitrate filters like the Aqua-Matic ones on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aqua-Medic-400-Nitrate-Reductor_W0QQitemZ7748906177QQcategoryZ46310QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
But was just wondering if it could control levels as high as mine?

Anything you put in your aquarium will become 'live' when the bacteria colonizes it. You could toss in your favorite CD and it would start filtering after a few weeks. That being said, i'm sure it would work as a substrate, but it'd be concerned with what happens when it can't adsorb anymore nitrate? Do you toss it, or recharge it like other chemical filtration? How much of a pain would it be to dig up your substrate every month to recharge or discard it? I say keep it in a filter bag in the filter if you are going to use it.

Also, ammonia will evaporate usually within 24 hours if kept in an open container. This action can be sped up by aeration via an airstone. The only time you really need chemical assistiance (and that's if you're in a hurry) is if there is ammonium in the water. You'll need to use a little bit of water conditioner to break the bond, and then the ammonia will dissipate on it's own.

Also, ammonia will evaporate usually within 24 hours if kept in an open container. This action can be sped up by aeration via an airstone.

With all due respect I'll have to disagree with the above statement as ammonia does not evaporate in 24 hours it does not evaporate even after a week of aeration. This is what my ongoing experiment into this issue is showing me. Chlorine on the other hand will do so.

I think I'll put some in my filter and see if it makes a difference.
As for ammonia, lucky I don't have a problem with that!

Hi,
I'm confused by the comment that even distillation will not
remove the nitrate from the water. Properly distilled
water is absolutely pure. It has zero minerals, and
would have zero organics which is what nitrates are.

Properly distilled water is so pure that to use it
100% in an aquarium requires that you reconstitute it
with minerals and compounds.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

damn, i was so sick i forgot what i was talking about. you're righ zman, i was thinking chlorine and chloramine. i'm a dope

Fallout you are far from a dope.
and Frank
That is correct ammonia and nitrates survive the distillation process intact.
At least the ammonia has been verified by myself as remaining in the end product from the distillation at the exact level as it went in...as to why I am still searching but the results speak for themselves.

An interesting point that I came accross last night while researching is that RO units that claim to remove ammonia are dependent on a .."bio-filter" that needs to develop.

GAC filters can also remove ammonia but nitrifying bacteria must establish themselves in the GAC column before ammonia removal can occur. Such an application would need to be followed by disinfection step with either a small RO unit or a UV lamp.

this excerpt was found at the following link
http://sfwater.org/detail_preview.cfm/MC_ID/5/MSC_ID/52/MTO_ID/NULL/C_ID/2225

Thats a real expensive canister filter then. Im surprised no one found that before.But anyway are you sure ammonia doesnt evaporate. I always thought that if you can smell it then evaporates easily. Does any one know where I can find an article on the subject?

And if the ammoniaand nitrates do stay in water when it is distilled that means that they boil before water does. So according to my theory, if you heat water to just before boiling temp then the ammonia and nitrates should evaporate leaving the water behind. Maybe someone can try it?

20 Gallon Long:
Aquaclear 300
2 Bolivian Rams, Mikrogeophagus altispinosus: Gumby and Pokey

GAC filters can also remove ammonia but nitrifying bacteria must establish themselves in the GAC column before ammonia removal can occur. Such an application would need to be followed by disinfection step with either a small RO unit or a UV lamp.

Zman - this quote is talking about the ability of carbon to remove ammonia.

I know for a fact that RO filters out nitrates, but here's a list of things RO removes.

Reverse osmosis successfully treats water with dissolved minerals and metals such as aluminum, arsenic, barium, cadmium, chloride, chromium, copper, fluoride, magnesium, iron, lead, manganese, mercury, nitrate, selenium, silver, sulfate, and zinc. RO is also effective with asbestos, many taste, color and odor-producing chemicals, particulates, total dissolved solids, turbidity, and radium. When using appropriate activated carbon pre-filtering (commonly included with most RO systems), additional treatment can also be provided for such "volatile" contaminants (VOCs) as benzene, MTBE, trichloroethylene, trihalomethanes, and radon. Essentially, reverse osmosis is capable of rejecting bacteria, salts, sugars, proteins, particles, dyes, heavy metals, chlorine and related by-products, and other contaminants that have a molecular weight of greater than 150-250 daltons. The separation of ions with reverse osmosis is aided by charged particles. This means that dissolved ions that carry a charge, such as salts, are more likely to be rejected by the membrane than those that are not charged, such as organics. The larger the charge and the larger the particle, the more likely it will be rejected.

From here.

A complete unit featuring carbon and sediment prefilters, high rejection RO membrane followed by a DI(removes ammonia and other charged particles) unit will effectively remove most everything from your tap water.

This is what I use for water on my reef tank. I also have a TDS meter to test my water, and it is about 149ppm out of the tap and 0ppm afterwards.

Here is a great article about RO/DI

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

mattyboombatty
u is right and it's my turn to be the dope.
I got carried off topic nitrates are removed by RO
Fallout move over and pass the dunce cap.

Nah man, everybody's a dope sometimes. I'm sure I'll get the cap next.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

I can confirm that nitrate filters are excellent, now able to get 0ppm Nitrate for my water changes via a nice new nitrate filter for only £34.
Thanks for all the advice people!

PuristDJ
just curious as to what you purchased as a nitrate filter?

Looks like it was made by Aqua Cure PLC, but couldn't tell you much more than that! It's a long white cyclinder with a hole at each end...that's about it! I just run my tap water through it before putting it into the tank and it seems to get the water down from 100ppm nitrate to 0ppm...it does what it says on the instructions

I know Aquarium Pharmaceuticals makes a "Tap Water Filter." Which is what this sounds like. It's a mixed bed DI unit. It WILL alter pH and hardness, so be careful, and think about adding back some buffers. It sells for about $50 in retail, and refills are about $30, they filter out about 100 Gallons of water before the resins need to be changed. Still not as efficient/cost effective as RO/DI though.

PuristDJ's might be something different, but this would be my guess.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients