URGENT: bad well water contaminating active tanks

[KittenFishMom]

What do I need to use to treat distilled water in clean tanks with clean filters to be able to put fish in it? I have fritz 7 and SeaChem Stability. What can I buy at PetSmart? PetSmart does not have Seachem Equilibrium.

I have problems with my well water and aquariums and am not sure how to proceed.

My well water got cloudy, which reduced my VU filters effectiveness. Now the tap water from the well has coliform in it. I am getting smelly white and brown slimy stuff in my aquariums. The fish are still doing well, but I don’t know how long that will last.

I have 5 active 10-gallon tanks.  2 are very effected due to water changes, 3 are doing OK, but need water changed. I can take the goldfish to the lfs, to reduce the number of active tanks by 1. (Maybe a distilled water change on the goldfish would work and take less time than taking them to the fish store?)

When I was cycling a new tank. I put in my 4 sponge filters to use as seed filters when I restarted the other tanks because of the leeches.  Can I boil those sponge filters, or will they melt/fall apart in boiling water?

I have 10 gallons of distilled water. I can buy more. I can go to PetSmart and buy stuff to set my 2 empty 15 tanks. I will have to clean filters, and do some type of quick temp bottled cycling if I am to put fish in them.

The complicating factor is my mom’s platelet count dropped to 8 on Monday as was still 8 Tuesday after a platelet infusion. So, I have been staying with her. My husband can stay with her for a while this afternoon, while I do some work on the tanks, but it will be a very limited amount of time, and I cannot watch the tanks afterwards

I am afraid all my plants may be affected too. I have gotten rid of so many plants and have spent so much on replacing them. Is there a good way to treat my plants so they don’t bring the problem into the new tanks as I set them up?

[sumplkrum]

If you need to do something immediately, you can buy big jugs of drinking water from Costco or something like that.

You can boil water and maybe keep it in a rubber trash can so you always have a reserve. Maybe collect rain water if that's good where you are.

You'll probably have to figure out what's wrong with the well that's causing the issue. https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/water/drinking/coliform_bacteria.htm

Not sure the sponge filters would survive boiling because they're basically plastic. Maybe bleach and rinse really well?
You could cut a small piece of the filter material and test in a boiling pot to see if it survives.

[Wrencher_Scott]

Can you just filter the well water?

I sure would try something before having to buy massive amounts of water. 

Plus like said above I would just get drinking water (not RO or distilled) way before I would mess with mixing up RO or distilled to make it for the fish. 

Also, you could treat it with pure bleach then keep it in a big trash can(s) while it dissipates or just use dichlore when the time comes.  

Edited March 2, 2022 by Wrencher_Scott

[KittenFishMom]

interesting... I could boil the well water... that would kill the stuff without chemicals.

[KittenFishMom]

I have Fritz 7 and SeaChem Stability. I could also get some API quick start. If I hit it with all three, something might work.

[Wrencher_Scott]

On 3/2/2022 at 11:58 AM, KittenFishMom said:

interesting... I could boil the well water... that would kill the stuff without chemicals.

yep, I was thinking bleach (chlorine) because it is cheap and would be very easy. Much easier than boiling. That is what city water treatment centers do. You usually find 1 to 2 ppm of chlorine in the water (to kill pathogens) and that's why we use dechlore, to remove the chlorine from the tap water before we put it in the tank. 

The big "must" would be to use pure bleach, be sure not to get anything with soap or smells.

Also, bleach will dissipate out of the water over time on it's own.

On 3/2/2022 at 12:03 PM, KittenFishMom said:

I have Fritz 7 and SeaChem Stability. I could also get some API quick start. If I hit it with all three, something might work.

no need. All you would need is dechlore if you use beach, if just boiling don't add anything. 

[Wrencher_Scott]

On 3/2/2022 at 10:27 AM, KittenFishMom said:

What do I need to use to treat distilled water in clean tanks with clean filters to be able to put fish in it? I have fritz 7 and SeaChem Stability. What can I buy at PetSmart? PetSmart does not have Seachem Equilibrium.

I have problems with my well water and aquariums and am not sure how to proceed.

My well water got cloudy, which reduced my VU filters effectiveness. Now the tap water from the well has coliform in it. I am getting smelly white and brown slimy stuff in my aquariums. The fish are still doing well, but I don’t know how long that will last.

I have 5 active 10-gallon tanks.  2 are very effected due to water changes, 3 are doing OK, but need water changed. I can take the goldfish to the lfs, to reduce the number of active tanks by 1. (Maybe a distilled water change on the goldfish would work and take less time than taking them to the fish store?)

When I was cycling a new tank. I put in my 4 sponge filters to use as seed filters when I restarted the other tanks because of the leeches.  Can I boil those sponge filters, or will they melt/fall apart in boiling water?

I have 10 gallons of distilled water. I can buy more. I can go to PetSmart and buy stuff to set my 2 empty 15 tanks. I will have to clean filters, and do some type of quick temp bottled cycling if I am to put fish in them.

The complicating factor is my mom’s platelet count dropped to 8 on Monday as was still 8 Tuesday after a platelet infusion. So, I have been staying with her. My husband can stay with her for a while this afternoon, while I do some work on the tanks, but it will be a very limited amount of time, and I cannot watch the tanks afterwards

I am afraid all my plants may be affected too. I have gotten rid of so many plants and have spent so much on replacing them. Is there a good way to treat my plants so they don’t bring the problem into the new tanks as I set them up?

you can use a bleach/water solution on the sponges, then just let them dry. I would then rinse in treated water or boiled water before use.

You can NOT use distilled or RO water without adding minerals to it. It will kill the fish!!!

It has nothing in it, no minerals or salts, fish need these.

Treat your well water instead or buy drinking water that is not RO.

Why do you think your well water is bad? Just because of the stuff in the tank? Maybe it is rotting food or other organics???

 

 

 

Edited March 2, 2022 by Wrencher_Scott

[KittenFishMom]

@Wrencher_ScottWe sent the water to the water lab. The water is full of coliform. The tanks were fine and clear until the well water went cloudy and blocked the UV filter and the tanks went cloudy and smelly. I test the water daily, and change often. No problems in the tanks until the well water went cloudy. Now the tanks are cloudy and smelly and I see stuff floating in the tank water when I vacuum them that look just like the stuff we use to see floating in the tank of the toilet before we got the UV filter in the summer. long slimy string stuff, white, tan, brown slime. Very gross.

The tanks with 2 water changes are much better than the tanks with one water change. I am sure it is the well water.

Edited March 2, 2022 by KittenFishMom

[KittenFishMom]

@Wrencher_Scott How much plain Clorox bleach per gallon of water?

My bottle of Fritz Complete says one cap full to 50 gallons of water, and DO NOT OVERDOSE. I and not doing 50 gallons at once. I'll see if the web site says how much per gallon. I will be mixing in a 2 gallon pail that I can lift easily.

Edited March 2, 2022 by KittenFishMom

[Guppysnail]

I think I replied to the wrong topic of yours so I will reply here as well. Many Years ago my parents had well issues and treated with hydrogen peroxide. I did a quick Google search to be certain I was remembering correctly and that it works for coliform. I believe I am. It will be safer for you and your fish to use h2o2 instead of bleach. You will have to Google amounts and concentrations to pretreat water and let it settle out before adding to tanks. 

[Cory]

I would go with getting gallon jugs of drinking water from the normal grocery store isles until I got a point where you can get your well water back on track.

[Wrencher_Scott]

On 3/2/2022 at 1:24 PM, KittenFishMom said:

@Wrencher_Scott How much plain Clorox bleach per gallon of water?

My bottle of Fritz Complete says one cap full to 50 gallons of water, and DO NOT OVERDOSE. I and not doing 50 gallons at once. I'll see if the web site says how much per gallon. I will be mixing in a 2 gallon pail that I can lift easily.

 

On 3/2/2022 at 1:24 PM, KittenFishMom said:

@Wrencher_Scott How much plain Clorox bleach per gallon of water?

My bottle of Fritz Complete says one cap full to 50 gallons of water, and DO NOT OVERDOSE. I and not doing 50 gallons at once. I'll see if the web site says how much per gallon. I will be mixing in a 2 gallon pail that I can lift easily.

 

On 3/2/2022 at 1:24 PM, KittenFishMom said:

@Wrencher_Scott How much plain Clorox bleach per gallon of water?

My bottle of Fritz Complete says one cap full to 50 gallons of water, and DO NOT OVERDOSE. I and not doing 50 gallons at once. I'll see if the web site says how much per gallon. I will be mixing in a 2 gallon pail that I can lift easily.

I don't know about Fritz. I use prime and it says you can overdose. 

personally I would not use fritz just because it says don't overdose and claims everything it does.

If you get drinking water be sure it's not RO (reverse osmosis) 

Prime says you can do 5x for high chlorine 

On 3/2/2022 at 7:39 PM, Wrencher_Scott said:

 

 

I don't know about Fritz. I use prime and it says you can overdose. 

personally I would not use fritz just because it says don't overdose and claims everything it does. 

Prime says you can do 5x for high chlorine 

And please! test it for chlorine before you use it! As you probably know, chlorine and chloramine is very deadly to fish.

Edited March 3, 2022 by Wrencher_Scott

[Wrencher_Scott]

On 3/2/2022 at 4:02 PM, Guppysnail said:

I think I replied to the wrong topic of yours so I will reply here as well. Many Years ago my parents had well issues and treated with hydrogen peroxide. I did a quick Google search to be certain I was remembering correctly and that it works for coliform. I believe I am. It will be safer for you and your fish to use h2o2 instead of bleach. You will have to Google amounts and concentrations to pretreat water and let it settle out before adding to tanks. 

Very good idea just research it before. It seems like it would be safe or safer to fish??

[Brandon p]

I would not use distilled water. Spring or filter water water is better. If you only use distilled water to water grass or plants they will die. It’s a fun science project for and one with kids. But distilled water is supposed to be only hydrogen and oxygen, nothing else. Most (I would say all but I’m sure there is an extremophile That can survived just that) I’m am confused why someone would advise not to use Ro water.  They install Ro systems on the well where I live just for the reason you described. Your well is not ruined and can be fixed. If I leave the well water on in south Florida it will turn orange and a white slime like growth will grow and eat the iron in the water.  I think to should follow Cory’s idea and hire( interview) experts to make the well right. Water that is distilled is different than RO. Ro is better. Distilled is dangerous and if you only drink distilled water it is bad for you. Search fish in distilled water or people that only drink distilled water. A filtered water Ro being one is different in that other important things we/ fish need in water are not removed.

[Wrencher_Scott]

On 3/2/2022 at 10:00 PM, Brandon p said:

I would not use distilled water. Spring or filter water water is better. If you only use distilled water to water grass or plants they will die. It’s a fun science project for and one with kids. But distilled water is supposed to be only hydrogen and oxygen, nothing else. Most (I would say all but I’m sure there is an extremophile That can survived just that) I’m am confused why someone would advise not to use Ro water.  They install Ro systems on the well where I live just for the reason you described. Your well is not ruined and can be fixed. If I leave the well water on in south Florida it will turn orange and a white slime like growth will grow and eat the iron in the water.  I think to should follow Cory’s idea and hire( interview) experts to make the well right. Water that is distilled is different than RO. Ro is better. Distilled is dangerous and if you only drink distilled water it is bad for you. Search fish in distilled water or people that only drink distilled water. A filtered water Ro being one is different in that other important things we/ fish need in water are not removed.

RO is not "just filtered". With a correctly working membrane it removes minerals and salts so you end up with water like distilled.

I think you are thinking of filters like carbon, they only remove things like chlorine.  

 

[Brandon p]

Ro and distilled water are not close to being the same.RO is forced through smaller and smaller membranes( I used filter only because I have been told I’ve gotten to technically) and is not like distilled. RO membranes are use for certain particles and minerals but will not remove all minerals of water like distilled water. You can choose how many and type of membranes used in RO water. Distilled water is distilled and the are no degrees of that. You can technically almost have RO with nothing but hydrogen and oxygen but that would not be cost effective. I will gladly talk about RO vs Distilled in a separate chat or via msg. For now the important thing is her fish. I still agree that Cory had the correct advice and go with that.  The coliform won’t hurt the fish, but yit can you.
 

Edited March 3, 2022 by Brandon p

[KittenFishMom]

Tuesday, I only had time to stop at one store. I went to a store that only had distilled water in gallon bottles. I can't lift a case of water, so I bought the distilled water. I figured it was better for one partial water change than leaving them in water with high ammonia and nitrates and high pH. 

Wednesday the road and driveway were a sheet of ice, so I could not carry water in to the fish. I figured I would boil or treat the well water as best I could for partial changes on the tanks that really needed changes.

Next time it will be bottled spring water from a different store.

The time constrain is that my cataracts are not ready to be removed, and driving after dark is no fun. Mom needs me with her now with her platelets counts at 8.  We had someone stay with her for a few hours while my husband and I went to work on the fish.

We will get the well fixed again as soon as we can. We just had a few too many things going on right now.

[Brandon p]

The coliform will not hurt the fish and the white slimy stuff is likely a bacteria that eats sulfur. The other slime I am not sure of with out seeing it but the to most likely things that it could be are a different bacteria eating something else in the water or a slime algae.  Have you had any fish die?

[KittenFishMom]

All the fish are swimming, eating and acting healthy, 

[Wrencher_Scott]

On 3/3/2022 at 9:02 AM, Brandon p said:

Ro and distilled water are not close to being the same.RO is forced through smaller and smaller membranes( I used filter only because I have been told I’ve gotten to technically) and is not like distilled. RO membranes are use for certain particles and minerals but will not remove all minerals of water like distilled water. You can choose how many and type of membranes used in RO water. Distilled water is distilled and the are no degrees of that. You can technically almost have RO with nothing but hydrogen and oxygen but that would not be cost effective. I will gladly talk about RO vs Distilled in a separate chat or via msg. For now the important thing is her fish. I still agree that Cory had the correct advice and go with that.  The coliform won’t hurt the fish, but yit can you.
 

I stand corrected I guess. A little vague there but are you saying it's A OK to put RO straight into my tank? Or are you saying it depends on the membrane(s) ?? I do know that my RO has a very low pH and it very soft. I don't recall the the exact numbers but I would not use it straight. 

[KittenFishMom]

Quick update: Fish are still swimming and eating happily. The doctor's finally decided to admit Mom to the hospital after the second unit of platelets did not raise her dropping count. We will all sleep better tonight. The UV filter person came and took water samples today. In the morning, I will test all the tanks and see what needs doing. 

Thank you to everyone on the forum who did all they could to be helpful and supportive while I was trying to deal with the well problems in very limited amounts of time and with very limited amounts of mental energy.

[Andy's Fish Den]

On 3/3/2022 at 10:31 PM, Wrencher_Scott said:

I stand corrected I guess. A little vague there but are you saying it's A OK to put RO straight into my tank? Or are you saying it depends on the membrane(s) ?? I do know that my RO has a very low pH and it very soft. I don't recall the the exact numbers but I would not use it straight. 

I have always been told to not use straight RO or RO/DI water in tanks as it has no buffering capacity and with extended use can cause the pH to crash. I have an RO/DI unit that I use to make pure water, TDS of 0 coming out, for my saltwater tank, as well as then mixing with remineralizer for my caridina shrimp. There are also plenty of other products that you can use to mix with RO water to bring it up to the correct TDS for your fish, Seachem Equilibrium is the first one that comes to mind. 

I've been told as well not to use distilled water in tanks if you have invertebrates in it, because if the stills or piping that is used for the distillation process are copper, then copper can leach out into the water, and we all know that copper is not good for inverts. 

Distilled and RO water is very corrosive, it has no minerals etc in so it will try to absorb anything it can from whatever it is in contact with, so you will see people who have large elaborate mixing stations for saltwater, all the piping and anything that comes into contact with the water will be either PVC or pex with no metal fittings. 

[Wrencher_Scott]

On 3/4/2022 at 3:16 AM, Andy's Fish Den said:

I have always been told to not use straight RO or RO/DI water in tanks as it has no buffering capacity and with extended use can cause the pH to crash. I have an RO/DI unit that I use to make pure water, TDS of 0 coming out, for my saltwater tank, as well as then mixing with remineralizer for my caridina shrimp. There are also plenty of other products that you can use to mix with RO water to bring it up to the correct TDS for your fish, Seachem Equilibrium is the first one that comes to mind. 

I've been told as well not to use distilled water in tanks if you have invertebrates in it, because if the stills or piping that is used for the distillation process are copper, then copper can leach out into the water, and we all know that copper is not good for inverts. 

Distilled and RO water is very corrosive, it has no minerals etc in so it will try to absorb anything it can from whatever it is in contact with, so you will see people who have large elaborate mixing stations for saltwater, all the piping and anything that comes into contact with the water will be either PVC or pex with no metal fittings. 

Exactly, thanks. Both types lack minerals. 

I do know they are corrosive. For example, if you use water that is too soft in your swimming pool it will eat the plaster off the walls. 

Anyway, don't use it unless like you say you remineralize it. That is the last thing I would do when I had an endless supply of well water like the OP to use. 

[Brandon p]

On 3/3/2022 at 10:31 PM, Wrencher_Scott said:

I stand corrected I guess. A little vague there but are you saying it's A OK to put RO straight into my tank? Or are you saying it depends on the membrane(s) ?? I do know that my RO has a very low pH and it very soft. I don't recall the the exact numbers but I would not use it straight. 

Yes you can. I won’t stay that I would still not check your water parametes. The city I live in uses  RO but that is different it like and other city water. Only about 50% of the city has city ROwater. The rest of us have wells. 90 % of people with wells have home RO systems.  Search RO water in this group and see how many people install RO systems just for there aquariums. Salt water tanks are a different animal. Most fish are not as sensitive to water as most of us think. I personally think that a lot of fish keepers can over do things with chemicals and cause more problems and do good and exception is chlorine obviously you would not want chlorine from tapwater in your tank.

Edited March 4, 2022 by Brandon p

[Brandon p]

This the last RO info I have to add. I when to an expert in the field of RO in retired from the state. He is what he said as best as I could I paraphrase.
 

Just got off the phone with one of the state of Florida Water quality  and DEP equivalent ret. He said it is safe for fish to be in RO water. Up to 90% water changes are fine with RO as well. He did say that if you had a virgin tank with no water ever, no filters with bacteria, or substrate then he would not use 100% RO but  he would use about 10% water from a tank that had fish or active bacterial colonies as jd the rest could be 90% RO.one of his jobs was to test at fish farms here in Florida. Shrimp he did say can me a little. more sensitive but  not much.  The exception to this is salt water fish which most people would not add only RO water.  If you have questions for him I my be able to work something out but that would have to go through the administration here and him.