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Re: Nitrates



Thanks, Chuck. If that's the case, I'm in trouble. My
tapwater, according to the water company is 1.0 to 1.7
ppm NO3-N. My LaMotte kit measured 2ppm, close enough
to match the water company's numbers. That translates
to 2*4.4 = 8.8 ppm NO3. My tank water NO3 gets even
higher due to fish food and I've measured as high as
26 ppm NO3.

Right now, I'm dosing PO4, K2SO4, and TMG only, trying
to maintain the PO4 at 0.8 ppm. PO4 gets sucked up every
2 days down to 0 ppm (I'm using the LaMotte PO4 test kit).

At the advice of Scott H, I'm going to start increasing
my kH with baking soda, since it's only 2.0 in the tank
(according to the tetra test kit). My pH (also measured
with tetra) in the tank is 7.6. Hopefully the increased
kH will stimulate more carbonic acid production to lower
the pH. Right? Or am I completely misunderstanding it?

This is all very confusing. When folks on this list talk
about NO3, especially Tom, is it NO3 or NO3-N?

If it's the former, my tapwater NO3 is really high. Have
others checked their tapwater NO3? Is the Baltimore City
water supply an anomaly, or do others also get high NO3?

If you have NO3 test kits not made by Hach or LaMotte,
could you please look at the fine print and let me know
if the measurements are in NO3 or NO3-N?


thanks, shireen


-- Shireen Gonzaga Baltimore whimbrel at comcast_net