Why do fish die in my tap water?

[jpappy789]

One would assume a fish store would use a decent test, I know the few around here all do.. Who is to say the store in question didnt use a good test? He stated it was tested at a store and it tested okay.
Considering he is using well water from his tap and the fish are dying off in a matter or hours, I would venture to guess it isnt elevated ammonia levels either as it was in fact tested. I would guess some sort of contaminate.

I am curious as to whether or not there is any filtration setup between said well and the house. If so, which kind? When was the last time this filter was serviced?

And I know some of them around here don't...especially the big box stores. Yes, they may come back saying that your water tests out "good" but without specifics it doesn't give you much else to go on. It's always nice to have exact numbers so you can rule it out completely.

At the risk of sounding like a smartarse, did you read the post? The OP said the only thing hooked up is a heater.

 

[fshfanatic]

We do not have any water conditioners or anything attached to our water except an electric instant hot water heater.

Yes, I saw this. I took that as meaning the only thing between his well water source and the house is a heater. Not sure how that is even relevant except it does answer my question as to whether or not he / she has an inline filter.

I still think it is some kind of contaminant. Considering how fast the fish are dying off after placing them in his water.

I doubt any LFS would tell him his water was good, if in fact it had elevated levels. That is all I am saying.. You dont have to be exact. In order for ammonia to kill so many fish so fast it would have to be high, see where I am going with this??

 

[Rbishop]

Okay folks....lets help the OP and stop harping a personal issue.

To the OP.....

You should be able to contact the local water services or even find the results on line in some cases to see what the ground water tests for in your area. Also, many landscaping stores and even some big box hardware stores sell water testing kits that test for a lot more than your standard aquarium test kit. Some of the kits available are just you drawing a sample and sending it off for a test.

As for the LFS saying it is good, I wouldn't rely on them at all. All the big box stores in my area use dip strips, as do about half the LFS stores.

Two things about your situation..

1) How old is your house? What type of piping is in it? Copper, iron or some type of plastic? I have heard of some really old homes having issues with high copper or even lead levels. There are copper tests kits at the LFS....could be useful just to rule it out.

2) What kind of area do you live in? Agricultural? Do you live in a low spot where the run off or ground water could be getting contaminates from fertilizers or other products?

 

[Wren]

I have well water too. It certainly can be a challenge! I'm from eastern Iowa. My well water has a pH of 8.3-8.5. The KH and GH are around 20. So it certainly isn't the perfect choice for a lot of fish! My water is also very high in iron. That seems to be more of a laundry issue than a fish keeping issue (my whites turn orange over time). Another consideration for using well water, is that it comes out of the ground very cold and often has dissolved gasses in it. Fill up your 25 gal tank and put an air stone in it to help remove the gases. A power head moving the water will work also. Put your prime in it too. Let the whole thing run a couple days, then add 1-2 small goldfish. You might be running into problems with goldfish that are used to more neutral or even acidic water, depending on what is at the pet store. The transition to hard alkaline water might kill them if done too quickly. I usually put new fish in a small bucket with the fish store water and add a cup of tank water every 15-30 min to allow them a little time to adjust. Also, feeder goldfish are treated pretty poorly and horribly overstocked at the pet store, so you aren't starting with the healthiest stock anyway.

You might want to ask your local extension office if they can test your water or recommend someone who can. It would be a good thing for you, personally, to know what is in your water!

I don't think your problem is insurmountable, but you obviously are going to have to do some troubleshooting! Good luck!

 

[pbeemer]

it could just be that the well water has no dissolved oxygen, or has a very high level of dissolved CO2. neither of those would show on normal tests. have you tried aerating the heck out of it before you put in the fish?

 

[gzeiger]

That was my guess as well. I'm glad someone finally posted that. It's highly unlikely that ammonia is the problem given the specifics you described. Low oxygen is a common problem with well water in certain areas. It's not harmful to you of course, and it's easily remedied with an airstone as suggested above. I would try again after running an airstone in the water for a day. If the dead fish had their mouths open that's a clear indication of oxygen as the problem, but I don't expect you to have noticed that. If this is your problem, make sure you aerate any new water in a bucket before adding it to the tank for water changes or evaporation make-up (small amounts of makeup water are probably fine).

Heavy metals are also a possibility. The pet store won't be able to test for them for you, but you might try to precipitate them with a saturated salt solution or something to get a general idea if there are metals present. Understand that the pet store only tested your water for fish waste products, not for likely water contaminants.

An organic contaminant also seems unlikely to me, since you'd probably taste it, there aren't really likely sources, and your well was likely tested for this at one time. You can test for this by adding hydrogen peroxide (the 3% solution that's 50 cents a quart at any drug store or the health care section of your local grocery store). Organic compounds will cause the solution to bubble when exposed to light. The more bubbles, the more material is present. Peroxide does break down spontaneously at a slow rate in light, though, so it would be best to do this test on two samples side by side with city water or bottled water in one, and look for the difference between them (obviously make sure the amounts of water and peroxide are the same in each).

If metals or organic pollutants are the problem, filtering your water through activated carbon will remove enough to make it safe to use. Unfortunately there isn't any good way to tell when carbon is used up, so you'd want to replace it frequently I'd think. If it is one of these you may indeed want to have it tested professionally for suitability as drinking water, but at this point I wouldn't freak out about it. The fish are breathing it, not just drinking it, so different metabolic pathways are involved that won't necessarily harm you.

 

[fshfanatic]

I would say run it through some Purigen and or carbon and allow it to age a few days with aeration and circulation. I seriously doubt it has anything to do with ammonia levels.

 

[Ambidestrian]

Heavy metals are also a possibility. The pet store won't be able to test for them for you, but you might try to precipitate them with a saturated salt solution or something to get a general idea if there are metals present. Understand that the pet store only tested your water for fish waste products, not for likely water contaminants.

An organic contaminant also seems unlikely to me, since you'd probably taste it, there aren't really likely sources, and your well was likely tested for this at one time. You can test for this by adding hydrogen peroxide (the 3% solution that's 50 cents a quart at any drug store or the health care section of your local grocery store). Organic compounds will cause the solution to bubble when exposed to light. The more bubbles, the more material is present. Peroxide does break down spontaneously at a slow rate in light, though, so it would be best to do this test on two samples side by side with city water or bottled water in one, and look for the difference between them (obviously make sure the amounts of water and peroxide are the same in each).

Gzeiger, where do you get your information?
Adding a saturated salt solution will not necessarily precipitate heavy metals. If it did, the amount would probably be too small to see.

Adding hydrogen peroxide and light is not a test for the presence of organic pollutants.

OP: As others have mentioned, there are many professional labs which will perform an extensive battery of tests on your water, usually for a fee in the range of $1-200. I recommend getting this done.

 

[garyfla]

Hi
Is the well relatively new?? Wasn't it tested by the state after startup.? I would suspect some sort of heavy metal or maybe sulphur??
. Call your water dept or state agency and have a complete test done if only for your own benefit. I'd be afraid to use water that kills fish that quickly gary

 

[The Zigman]

Have you tested the water yourself?

Go buy an API Master test kit, and perform all the tests...