well, good news and bad news. The good news, is my test results were accurate. The bad news, the test results were accurate.
My tap water tested as follows;
ammonia 0.25 ppm
nitrate 30(ish) ppm, creeping towards the next shade.
my 110g tested at around 60ppm. But, that explains why my 20 long planted tank tested so high. Now I need to figure out what to do about it. Some of my reading suggests that a second, or second stage of, the biological filter will reduce these numbers. I know other members here have had issues with tap nitrates going crazy, maybe its time for its own thread :)
Im not really big on using commercial nitrate absorbents, as they need to be replaced. I am however, considering building a 2nd stage for my 110g (for experimental purposes) canister filter. It is a Eheim Ecco 2236 which flows about 160 GPH with no media. Im considering adding a 3 gallon utility bucket post-filter. The effluent would have to flow through a small (5/8" i think) hose into the bottom of the bucket, fill up through the 2nd bio media (something like lava rock or seachem matrix) then back into the aquarium. The bucket I would hope would slow down the water enough to consume the oxygen and denitrify the water. Im not concerned about lowering the oxygen content with my 20 HOBs.