Nitrites! Where art thou, nitrites?

Observations

1. The General Hardness (GH) has dropped from 180 to 120 while the Carbonate Hardness (KH) has restored to its baseline number of 80. Could the flailing of the KH have been an harbinger for the change in the GH? I referenced this behavior yesterday regarding the KH and whether it was telling me something. Perhaps this was it?
2. The other numbers are steady.
3. The plants are not doing well. I can still smell them when my nose is about 6 inches from the growbed, but I no longer see any vibrant growth.
4. No nitrites yet. What the hell? Sure, I could put in some tank starter stuff, but I'd rather not do so. I haven't put any pH UP into the tank in three days. I'm going to see how the water hardness plays out before doing more. It does bring me to some interesting observations overall; not just for the previous day.

The observations about the plants' health compared to the changing water conditions. The chive were growing very well at the beginning. They were the seeds to sprout and actually show progress. The basil and cilantro were the first to sprout, but I they really didn't go beyond the growth shown in the initial photos when this blog started.

When I started making changes to the pH in order to spurn the growth of the nitrites, the chives went downhill along with the other plants. Inversely, the peppers and thyme started to respond positively instead. Of course, none of them are responding well at present. The most significant changes that could have effected them were in the pH and water hardness. Also, the ammonia went up. I'm thinking that the increase was due to the water dechlorinator I used to replace evaporated water in the tank. When it performed its duty, it converted the chlorine into ammonia.

My theory, which I could probably Google to confirm somewhere (or debunk), are the differing water conditioning needed for different plants for optimum growth. Taking out the cold issue regarding the behavior of the chives, do peppers and thyme respond better to higher pH than chive, basil and cilantro? Originally, I thought that the shift in the pH level, in either direction, would cause shock to the plants, but others appeared to grow better. 

I know that I'm most likely not making any breakthrough statements here, but there are just my thoughts and observations about my system. Feel free to chime in if I'm making a total ass of myself. I want to stand corrected instead of being oblivious.

Tap Water Treatments

The tap water in my area comes through the Northern Kentucky Water District. From what I've read, they don't use chloramines to treat the water; just chlorine. So, I may be able to simply get away with filling a bucket full of water, and letting the chorine dissipate through sunlight and air. In the future, I'll refrain from the Top Fin stuff and use this method. Of course, I'm going to perform an ammonia test before and after to the bucket to confirm my findings regarding the Top Fin's releasing of ammonia.

The Numbers

Date	GH	KH	pH	NO2	NO3	NH3/NH4	Temp °C
11-May	120	80	7.0	0	20	1.0	24°

The numbers and little more

The Numbers

Date	GH	KH	pH	NO2	NO3	NH3/NH4	Temp °C
10-May	180	80	7.0	0	20	1.0	24°

Observations

• The numbers are as mostly the same. I do think it's strange that the Carbonate Hardness (KH) is waffling back and forth. It's almost like it's telegraphing a catastrophe or just some kind of drastic change. Being the hobbyist that I am, I have no idea what this would be.
• I'm going to think about what to do given my new knowledge from yesterday. Perhaps I'll do a 10-15% change per day with an alternate source of water that is not dechlorinated using Sodium Thiosulfate. We're not going to eat the fish from this system, but I think it's better to set the good practices now so that I can more easily apply them to a larger system later on.
• All of the plants are wilting a bit. The pH changes may be playing a role. Hopefully, they will revive. I'm really inpatient to have suitable water for adding fish. I'll continue with readings and a strategy tomorrow.

Removing chloramines safely

The Issue

Earlier today, I expressed concern about the safety of the Tap Water Dechlorinator product that I was using to clear the chlorine and chloramines from the tap water that I put into my system. See the earlier post for details. To summarize, my main concern were:

1. Is the product disrupting the cycling for aquaponics purposes? My tank has no nitrites but does have a level of nitrates. Is there something preventing those ammonia-eating bacteria from being formed?
2. Is it safe to add such a product the water of a system from which we will eventually eat the plants?
3. Is the product actually contributing to a spike in ammonia?
4. What the hell is in this product? I can't find a site that has MSDS or any other clue as to what is in it?

Analysis and possible solution

After picking the algorithm of my personal librarian (Google), I discovered a couple of tidbits, such as:

1. Most dechlorinator products are comprised of Sodium Thiosulfate (ST) and/or EDTA. The Sodium Thiosulfate handles the chlorine and chloramine , while the EDTA handles any heavy metals.
2. I also read in a forum that the dechlorinator detoxifies nitrites and nitrates? There was no reference for this. I'm not sure if this point is relevant as long as these detoxified items do their part in the Nitrogen Cycle.
3. A forum posting recounted the bad taste of fish in his system while he was using Sodium Thiosulfate as a dechlorinating agent. He mentioned that his fish tasted like sulfur. He stopped using it and it was highly reduced. I'm assuming that he replaced the fish and the water beforehand, but I'll try to find the link to prevent the spreading of bad information.
4. The reaction of Sodium Thiosulfate winds up leaving ammonia after it does its job. This may explain one aspect of my water readings.
5. I also read that there are rising concerns about the health effects of ST on humans and fish. However, there was no reference to any actual studies or articles about those concerns or what they comprised.
6. Vitamin C appears to be the most natural source for removing chloromines from tap water. However, what is actually needed depends on how your municipal tap water is treated, as explained in the video below. Thanks, PhillyAquaponics!

So, will this will help solve the problem and lead to a healthier system? Do I have to perform a series of small water changes to reduce the effects of the dechlorinator product? Only time will tell.