Water storage has nitrites

[Lester]

Hi All

 Not a disease. Water issue. I have set up a water storage, 45 gallon Grey trash can. I fill it with RODI water, it has a heater and an air stone. I have been using equilibrium and mixing tds to about 200 in 5 gallon buckets. I recently added a transfer pump and started mixing in Grey trash can. I also started adding a little well water to get some kh back.  It is now testing between 1 and 5 nitrites on test strip. ANY IDEAS?

My well test strip is

PH 7.6 KH 80 GH 300+ nitrites 0 Nitrates 30 TDS 360

My storage tank test strip is

PH 6.8 KH 40 GH 150 nitrites 1-5 Nitrates 10 TDS 150

My RODI PH 6.4 KH 0 Gh 0 nitrites 0 Nitrates 0 TDS 0

My concerns 

I used brass fittings on transfer pump. I am using my well water to get KH but I quit using it due to high nitrates likely from orchard pesticides. I tried crushed coral to raise kh very slow process I think. In closing, it helped me to write this out. Also I wish I just put water in the tank and never tested. Ignorance is bliss. In my house this is referred to as my mid life crisis. 

Thanks for reading if you made it this far and input is appreciated. 

Lester

I'll put some fish tank photos for fun.

 

[modified lung]

One possibility is there's ammonia in the water and it's converting to nitrite in your storage tank. I didn't notice any ammonia tests mentioned.

Another possibility is a lot of pesticides cause false test readings but then you'd expect your well water to show nitrites too. But it's also possible it's the pesticide residue after it breaks down over time, not the pesticide. Hard to know.

[Lester]

Ammonia test have all been negative.  Although I have not tested my well water for Ammonia. I will try that.  Thanks for your feed back you seem to be qualified in this type of thing.  What nano fish do you currently breed?

[Patrick_G]

I like your water processing and storage setup! Nice tanks too. Not bad for a mid life crisis.
 

I’m not sure how RO water gets nitrite in it. My first thought would be try a different test kit just in case you’re getting a false positive. Then I’d check the equilibrium and the container. 
 

[Lester]

I tested well for Ammonia it was negative.I tried an api test kit same results. High nitrite. I put some prime in. I also put a cycled sponge filter, a pond basket of cycled pea gravel, a pound of crushed coral and a pothos growing out the top. I will give a day and see if that will process it. Not sure if this new process will work long term. Maybe back to drawing board. I may clean it out completely and get an additive with gh and kh. I appreciate the advice and this forum. 

[Tihshho]

@Lester Nice RO/DI setup, funny to see someone else running a 5 stage DI process as well! Litterally running the exact same BRS setup but I run mixed bed in the last two stages and pro cation and pro anion resin in the other 3. Looks like you might have CO2 saturation with your well water as well per the stages and you running dedicated resins. I know this issue way too well.

In terms of your organic readings, have you ever had bugs get into your vat? I personally store in a somewhat sealed container. If I didn't I'd get the odd spider or other bug falling in and contaiminating my RO/DI storage.

[Lester]

I didn't mean to have 5 stages, I missed ordered but I sure do like it.  I don't have container sealed off. I may need to try this. Thanks for reply.

[Torrey]

On 5/26/2022 at 6:57 AM, Lester said:

I am using my well water to get KH but I quit using it due to high nitrates likely from orchard pesticides

Orchard pesticides would have ammonium as a key fertilizer component, which is going through the full transition into the detectable nitrates in your well water... how does your well water test for ammonia? I am willing to bet (having lived on well water for years) the well water parameters change throughout the year. Ours would get detectable salt (NaCl) after the snow melted, high levels of ammonia in the early spring when slurry was sprayed on local fields, and nitrates in late spring/early summer.

Testing the well water each time you fill the reservoir is one way of knowing what's going on.

On the plus side, you could use your well water for awesome aquarium plants! You could also run a sponge filter in your water reservoir (or a couple) to have a permanent back up filter for emergency QT. The sponge filter will develop the beneficial bacteria to clear your well water of any ammonia or nitrites, and then add more plants to your tanks (or float some plants in your water reservoir) to deal with the resulting nitrates.

[Lester]

My well has not tested positive for Ammonia but I will continue to test it seasonally.  I have added a cycled sponge, pond basket full of cycled pea gravel and crushed coral. Over night it has lowered the nitrites. I also have a pathos coming out the top. This is not how I invisioned this water source but is what I like about this hobby. That is a great thought for emergency QT tank. 

[Bjorn]

I feel midlife crisis being misinterpreted as finally having the resources to invest  in your hobbies. Seeing your setup makes me want to buy a house with the sole purpose of having  a dedicated water station. Thanks for sharing!

On 5/26/2022 at 5:57 AM, Lester said:

In my house this is referred to as my mid life crisis.