Rotten Egg Smelling Water

[abcdefghi]

I recently moved to a new house that we built, the water is from a well on the property. I am not sure of all the inner workings of the well, but we get the rotten egg smelling water, which I believe is due to H2S gas.

Is this going to be a problem for my fish over the long run? I dose prime when carrying out water changes, and in the first 3 weeks of being here the fish have shown no signs that its bothering them.

At some point I will work to eliminate the H2S in the water, or at least minimize the problem. But for now I want to be sure that my fish (and plants) will be OK.

Thanks.

 

[Slappy*McFish]

If you use the water, treat it with Prime and aerate it in buckets/trash can for a day just to be safe.

 

[DrNo]

Test the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH of a water sample from the well that has been sitting out overnight. I'd also run a KH/GH if you have the test kits. That will tell you much about the water quality and just how 'bad' the problems may be.

 

[Rbishop]

Have you had the local water company test a sample of it to get a complete breakdown?

 

[abcdefghi]

DrVader - I have tested for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, pH right out of the tap and all were fine (apart from pH being way higher than I am used to). I did not let the water sit overnight first though, so going to give that a try tonight.

rbishop - I have no idea who the local water company is here, we had the well drilled on the property when we were building, so not even sure I have a water company (no water bill either). But might try to find out if I can get a sample tested from somewhere.

I have read about a few solutions on the internet, but know that I would need the water tested first before implementing any of them. I did notice that it appears to smell worse from hot water.

 

[THE V]

If you are in the U.S. contact your state board of health. Most states have labs that will test the water for you. There are also private companies that will test it for you as well.

The company that drilled the well for you should be able to provide you with more information about the water quality as well.

 

[247Plants]

Sounds like sulphur. Where I grew up, the whole towns tap water smelled like rotten eggs because of the sulphur content.

 

[tcarswell]

Prime smells pretty bad.. somewhat like rotten eggs. I notice it myself and have heard from others that noticed this sulfur smell too. It says on the prime bottle it has an odor. If you use prime you will be able to find out quickly if thats the cause