City water report

[Randall from Texas]

Just got my 2020 water report. For a high tech planted tank what do you think? I already use easy green and root tabs.

No reported phosphate that I saw.

[Odd Duck]

I don’t do high tech, so can’t answer your question.  Instead I have a question for you.  What part of Texas are you from?  I’m in North Richland Hills, northeast of Fort Worth.  Do you happen to be close enough that I can assume my water is similar?  I’m guessing not too dissimilar based on the parameters I can measure that this also covers.

[Randall from Texas]

On 7/1/2021 at 1:19 PM, Odd Duck said:

I don’t do high tech, so can’t answer your question.  Instead I have a question for you.  What part of Texas are you from?  I’m in North Richland Hills, northeast of Fort Worth.  Do you happen to be close enough that I can assume my water is similar?  I’m guessing not too dissimilar based on the parameters I can measure that this also covers.

I'm down in Waco. We're on well water not lake water. So you're gonna be completely different unless y'all are pulling all the way from the Trinity aquafer. We are super limestonely down here under all the black dirt. You should be able to Google your city name and water report to get your local one. In fact yours is here. Https://nrhtx.com/559/Water-Quality-Report

[Odd Duck]

Thanks!

[Seattle_Aquarist]

On 7/1/2021 at 9:27 AM, Randall from Texas said:

Just got my 2020 water report. For a high tech planted tank what do you think? I already use easy green and root tabs.

No reported phosphate that I saw.

Hi @Randall from Texas

Actually your water isn't too bad.  Good magnesium concentration, maybe little light in calcium.  Your dGH looks to be about 5.0 and should be fine.  Definitely needs more iron and with the pH of 7.8 the iron in Easy Green is likely going to be ineffective.  Most ALL-in-One fertilizers use EDTA chleated iron which works fine in acidic water (<7.0 pH) but does not dissolve sufficiently in alkaline water.  With a pH of 7.8 only about 10% of the iron EDTA chelated iron in the solution will be available to the plants.  Now if you have a 'high tech' tank and are using CO2 what is the pH of your tank at the end of the day - does the CO2 run 24/7 or do you have it on a solenoid and timer?  There are iron supplements that will make iron available in alkaline tank conditions.  -Roy

[DShelton]

On 7/1/2021 at 1:19 PM, Odd Duck said:

North Richland Hills

@Odd Duck 817 here, Arlington/Mansfield.

[Odd Duck]

@DShelton Howdy!

[Randall from Texas]

On 7/2/2021 at 6:18 PM, Seattle_Aquarist said:

Hi @Randall from Texas

Actually your water isn't too bad.  Good magnesium concentration, maybe little light in calcium.  Your dGH looks to be about 5.0 and should be fine.  Definitely needs more iron and with the pH of 7.8 the iron in Easy Green is likely going to be ineffective.  Most ALL-in-One fertilizers use EDTA chleated iron which works fine in acidic water (<7.0 pH) but does not dissolve sufficiently in alkaline water.  With a pH of 7.8 only about 10% of the iron EDTA chelated iron in the solution will be available to the plants.  Now if you have a 'high tech' tank and are using CO2 what is the pH of your tank at the end of the day - does the CO2 run 24/7 or do you have it on a solenoid and timer?  There are iron supplements that will make iron available in alkaline tank conditions.  -Roy

Thanks for the breakdown. This year I have been measuring ph 8 from the tap. I am doing 2 bps on solenoid. 630am-8pm. I have fluval 3.0 20% amber light all day then full blast (no blue) at 3pm till 8pm. At 3pm I have measured as low as 7.4. I'm looking for sustainable long term growth not crazy plant explosions. 

I'll pick up easy iron on my next order. Interesting that calcium would be light. I assumed that would be sky high.

Thanks.

[Seattle_Aquarist]

I would skip Easy Iron as well since it does not state the source of the iron.  I recommend Seachem Flourish which is ferrous gluconate and can be absorbed by plants in tanks with a pH higher than 7.0.  -Roy

[sudofish]

That seems easier to read than mine. Mine doesn't list non-regulated contaminants at all. There's other sources that aren't official that list a bunch of stuff you can't pronounce like Bromodichloromethane & Dibromochloromethane. I live in an area with a history of a lot of mining and drilling in to the earth for one resource or another.

[Randall from Texas]

On 7/3/2021 at 9:56 AM, sudofish said:

That seems easier to read than mine. Mine doesn't list non-regulated contaminants at all. There's other sources that aren't official that list a bunch of stuff you can't pronounce like Bromodichloromethane & Dibromochloromethane. I live in an area with a history of a lot of mining and drilling in to the earth for one resource or another.

Post a screenshot or link see, if some of the others can help. Cory might even be interested.

[sudofish]

Here's a link to my city's 2019 report which is the latest released so far:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aU0WwgnPItRxwhKUThNr4wCJ_5Akwa6W/view

This is an unofficial report that I don't even know the accuracy of but here it is:

https://www.ewg.org/tapwater/system.php?pws=WV3302031

[Randall from Texas]

On 7/3/2021 at 12:06 PM, sudofish said:

Here's a link to my city's 2019 report which is the latest released so far:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aU0WwgnPItRxwhKUThNr4wCJ_5Akwa6W/view

This is an unofficial report that I don't even know the accuracy of but here it is:

https://www.ewg.org/tapwater/system.php?pws=WV3302031

Looks like you have pretty soft water. I can't help you much more than that.

[Ben_RF]

In a lot of the sections of the United States what people actually get for their water is often far different from what water quality reports towns and cities often report.  There is a lot of things that can play factors in that. This is one of the main reasons people who install water filtration systems will do their own tests on people's water supply verses trusting what is being reported.  

[Randall from Texas]

On 7/3/2021 at 2:13 PM, Ben_RF said:

In a lot of the sections of the United States what people actually get for their water is often far different from what water quality reports towns and cities often report.  There is a lot of things that can play factors in that. This is one of the main reasons people who install water filtration systems will do their own tests on people's water supply verses trusting what is being reported.  

Good point.

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi @sudofish

Try calling your local water district and see if they have a copy of the full analysis which hopefully includes calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, and others.  Here is a link to the .pdf for the one for the City of Seattle which they update quarterly. @Ben_RFis correct readings can vary greatly over a year's time.  Readings provided are just a 'snapshot' of the water quality and nutrient values at that moment in time.  The amount of rain, snow melt, and drought conditions can greatly effect water quality readings.