Dont take anything for granted!

also i forgot to mention.i don't usually use dechlorinater either.i mix the salt in and agitate the water,pour from one backet to another a few times.then i let it sit a bit while the chlorine evaperates out.i used dechlorinater a couple times when doing large water changes though,just to be careful.

 

I think I may have to invest in my own RO unit, I will also do some testing on my local water supply to see what its like and what I would need to do to treat it.
It's been a bit of a pain considering I have purchased so much water from them and didn't even think twice that it had high nitrates, I naturally assumed it was my tank producing it all.

Ahh well, at least I know what the problem is

 

I have also used tap water for years.

But I have always added either "NovAqua +" or "Aqua plus" water conditioners for both water changes and top off water.

Both say;

Removes both Chlorine and Chloramine

Neutralizes Heavy metals

Coats to protect and heal.

For really large changes (which I have not done in a real long time) I get treated seawater from the Seattle aquarium.

Biggest fear is Cu...which I test for regularly, but never have seen a sign of it in water.

Works for me.

 

Also, don't forget to make sure it's not bad reagent. I'm not saying that's the case here or you haven't already covered that base, but this is a good example of the possibility that others might certainly run into in the future. The first thing I would have done is use a different reagent.

 

You might like Seachem Prime better, it takes care of heavy metals as well as neutralizes ammonia and nitrite for about 48hrs until the bacteria can consume it. Still consumable by bacteria but less of an issue with spikes causing irritation to live stock (good for people like me who have 2ppm ammonia in their tap, and for the .25ppm amm that builds up in my stored RODI). Also makes for a good emergency life saver in the unfortunate event of a tank crash or minicycle. Amquel Plus does the same thing when partnered with Novaqua Plus, but isn't safe for FW tanks with soft water since it has an acidic effect and will crash pH <just in case you keep FW also, I like to throw that info out since I killed some of my fish by not reading the bottle.