Beth1965

Ok, admittedly I have not spent a second on research YET.
I just learned that our water supply contains e-coli.
Should I wonder why I had a dead fish this morning and one in another tank last night?
The 10 gallon I did a w/c only a couple days ago (dead fish this morning), the 55 where there was a dead fish last night it's been more than a week (i hope but not sure) that i did a w/c.
I really wish I could swear here.
What the heck do I do?
Beth

MeGustaUnaPez926

Oh my gosh! Thats so scary! I would go and buy a bunch of bottled water and do some huge water changes in all your tanks, or go buy that special kind of water that some fish stores sell. o2 or something?
Then right a strongly worded letter to your city water supply! Thats awful!

Beth1965

I'm soooo mad. (Off topic-one of my dogs is now vomitting).
I don't have accesss to bottled water other than what I have on hand now which is about 10 gallons. On an island and can't get off today or tomorrow-not til wed.
Mother.......
Beth

MeGustaUnaPez926

Oh gosh. How many tanks do you have that probably need a change? I would maybe add some stresscoat plus, or something. I don't think it would take out the e coli, but it might halp give the fish some extra protection. What are you and your family going to drink?

sirdarksol

Not sure if e. coli affects fish (they have entirely different systems from us), but the fact that you lost fish seems to support the idea.

Bottled water is about the only thing I can think of that would fix the problem (though I think that RO, or at least certain RO attachments, are fine enough to filter out bacteria.)

The fact that e. coli is surviving the chloramine that is likely in your water supply is kind of worrisome. There are a few scenarios that could cause that, and none of them is particularly pleasant.

Hope everything goes well with the fish, hope the dog gets better, and I hope nobody in your house gets sick.

SWilkins

Well if you cant get to bottled water maybe you could boil a bunch and let it cool and use that! Wishing you the best from GA....best of luck and keep us posted.

Beth1965

Im on my way home from work--I'll check back in soon.
Beth

Sharkitty

Hi Beth,

A quick bit of googling says that e-coli will kill fish if in high enough concentration. Other times water can be polluted with e-coli and not kill fish. (Helpful, huh?) So I wouldn't rule it out. Boiling the water, as someone suggested, should take care of the problem. BIG pain in the butt, of course, but probably your best bet.

Beth1965

Ive only got 2 tanks, 10 & 55. No more deaths (yet).
I've heard via the grape vine that the e.coli has been found in only one household-now does that make sense? I am on a small island with only about 200 population. So I don't really know how they tested and who. Doesn't the entire water supply get tested? None of this makes sense. I do know that everything here is antiquated and done on a whim. Apparently in 48 hours will be results from a new e.coli test.
I won't bother calling the water co because I know from experience they will tell me what they want me to know, which is not necessarily the truth or whole truth.
PS, to who asked, we have some bottled water on hand-we use those stand up things that you put the 5 or 10 gallons of water on. we have 15 galls on hand. the humans are all set, the dogs and cat too. Just not the fish. the fridges are filtered, we never have drank water from the faucet. Now we wont be brushing our teeth with it either. My BF has chrones so he's going to have to be extra careful.
Grrrr.
Beth

bolivianbaby

Oh my goodness, Beth! Sorry you're having to go through this. I'm definitely not that knowledgeable on E-Coli, but I would suggest boiling the water until you can get the results from the test.

Hope your dog gets better and you don't lose any more fish.

Please keep us posted. You're in our thoughts.

MissMTS

Beth, I'm sorry to hear about your water supply! That is so scary. I hope that you, your family, and pets all stay well. Hopefully they can get the situation sorted out soon. I think that boiling water and letting it cool is the best idea if you can't get your hands on any bottled water. Please keep us posted!

Beth1965

Well, ive started boiling water but i wonder how long its going to take to get to proper temp-78-80. Any ideas anyone?
Gotta go find some fans, kitchen is sweltering already.

matt6765

after you boil the water you could put it in the fridge/freezer to cool it off.

bolivianbaby

I agree with the refrigerator/freezer idea. Just check it every 15-30 minutes. Do you have an extra aquarium thermometer? That would help you keep an eye on the temperature.

Beth1965

only enough room for a couple of pots in one fridge.
freezers are stocked.
the dreaded grocery store (the quiant little thing that it is, is outta stock for water already).

matt6765

do you have ice cubes you could put them in the water and then declorinat it

Beth1965

Checked with a friend of mine on island who has fish, she hasnt lost any.
Beth

Beth1965

ice cubes are made from the fridge, with contaminated water. dont have any of those plastic tray cube things.

matt6765

Oh right sorry

Beth1965

dont say sorry, ill read anything anyone has to offer, i could be missing something so very simple.

matt6765

you can fill you sink/tub full of cold water and ice cubes. then put your boiled water in conteners and put them in the cold water..... just a thought

Beth1965

good idea, thanks, very good

matt6765

I got it because I have a baby brother and that is how my mom warmed up the the milk for the bottle

aquarist48

Hello....Hate to hear about your water supply. Someone had suggested putting the boiled water into a refrigerator. That may not be a good idea especially if you have food in there. I don't know that the refrigerator can compensate enough to keep the food cold and over come the high temp of the just boiled water and container. Does that make sense?
My other half is a chef as I've mentioned. He's told me to always let the food and the food dish cool down before it goes into the refrigerator. Nothing hot should go into it.
I hope you can resolve the problem soon Best of luck and stay HEALTHY!

bolivianbaby

I'm not trying to hijack this thread, but Aquarist48-I never knew that about waiting for it to cool down before it went into the refrigerator.

Thank you. You just made me a more responsible cook for my daughter

Zoreta

You might want to try boiling the contaminated water over the stove top in a large metal pot, then putting the entire metal pot in a bath of ice water in the sink. Make sure you have enough clearance for the pot to go in to the sink without the sink water getting in. If the water is still too hot, dump the sink water and replace it with more ice water. If the water gets too cold, you can heat it on the stove VERY BRIEFLY to warm it up again. It is a bit of a juggling act, but eventually you'll get a good temp and the fish will be happy.

That is what we do during power outages if the fish need warmed water- maybe it will help for you.

Beth1965

Thank u, i did think of this, i removed the food from the fridge im using for hot water, put it in the fridge we use daily. only left in beverages-soda, etc...
please keep the suggestions coming if u have em.
beth

Sharkitty

Do you have a food thermometer, for meats? That would work just as well. I don't think it will take more than an hour for your water to cool to about 80, so I personally wouldn't do the whole ice bath thing. I'd just wait.

sirdarksol

Aquarist is dead-on as far as the refrigerator thing goes. There are fridges that are made to consistently handle the addition of hot objects, but these are almost solely used by restaurants that need to rapidly cool large quantities of food. (using an empty refrigerator is a good idea if you can pull it off. I've got too much food in my house to do that, though )

Beth1965

Well, I've done all that I know to do. Changed about 75% of the 10 gallon (no more deaths yet).
Changed more than 50% of the 55 (no more deaths there either).
Declorinated the water, added stress coat. I checked the water from the faucet before boiling and no hint of amonia. I haven't tested the tank water, afraid to.
Fishies don't appear to be suffering.
Water CO was kind enough (chuckle, chuckle) to send a letter that states a full report will be issued by the health depart on Wed. and they "hope" to have the e.coli issue resolved by the 3rd. So reassuring, isn't it?
Beth