# Water sources: Vector for chytrid



## earthfrog (May 18, 2008)

So, tap water should be aged for 4 weeks, deionized/RO water for 5 weeks in order to prevent transmission of chytrid according to info from the below article:

issg Database: Ecology of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis



> The infective stage of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis is the zoospore and transmission of the disease requires water as the zoospore is not tolerant to dehydration. B. dendrobatidis remains viable in tap water for up to 3 weeks, in deionized water for up to 4 weeks and in lake water for even longer. Infection with an extremely small inocula (100 zoospores) can prove fatal (Berger et al. in Speare et al., 2001; Johnson and Speare, 2003; Berger, Speare and Hyatt, 2000, in Daszak et al. 1999).


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## bommer1 (Nov 28, 2008)

You have to remember that is under laboratory and field conditions. So yes it could persist in tap water that long, but that does not mean you are going to get zoospores out of your faucet. The treatment process for your tap water is likely more than enough to kill or rid it of chytrid zoospores.


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## earthfrog (May 18, 2008)

I was thinking that as well---that just b/c it can _live_ in those conditions for that length of time doesn't mean that it _does_. This might have been noticed when scientists added chytrid (or observed water known to have chytrid), and not meant as a broad admonition where contamination is not known. 
Also, the water treatment process varies from city to city, so we need to be aware of the process that our local facility uses and determine if it would eliminate chytrid. While ozonation treatment is preferable since it is the only treatment that deactivates all living contaminants, other methods such as carbon filtration combined with chloramine may have outcomes almost as good.
It raises the concern, shouldn't we know if our tap water contains chytrid, and, is there a way to test for it in tap water(even if it is present in very small amounts)?


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## bommer1 (Nov 28, 2008)

There is a simple way. Take swabs of your tap water and send them off to a lab that does testing for chytrid. 

Now I would not consider myself a true chytrid expert, but I have worked with it and also co-authored a pub on it. So I know more about it than most people. But as of right now to my knowledge there is no concern about obtaining chytrid through tap water. 

The water I used for my experiments went through a filtration system, but it was not meant for preventing chytrid. But there was never a concern for it anyway. Dr. Karn Lips who was in my department and is cited on practically every chytrid paper never even brought it up. So as of right now I think it would be safe to say your tap water is fine. 

But if your that concerned about your tap water you could simply boil it for a short period of time then let it cool. Chytrid is pretty temperature sensitive and a boil would kill it. Part of my cleaning process was setting tanks and instruments outside to dry and bake in the hot summer sun. The other part was simply using bleach, but obviously that is not an option to adding it to your water.


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## carbonetc (Oct 13, 2008)

This sounds like a good way to suck all of the fun out of the hobby to me. Getting chytrid through tap water would be like getting struck by lightning. You could spend all this time and effort defending against it and then track it in on your shoes anyway.

I'd recommend just enjoying your frogs and accepting that neither they nor we will ever be entirely safe from the dangers of the world.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Given that a RO filter removes ions dissolved in water, I have some significant doubts that the zoospores would make it through the filtration system as the zoospores are a lot larger than a dissolved ion.... 

Given the widespread detection of chytrid in multiple watersheds in the USA, that (tap water) is going to be a much more likely vector for infection in captive populations. 


Ed


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## rollei (Jun 4, 2009)

Saying there is Chytrid in R/O water is like saying a cow could fit through a fiberglass screen. Any chytrid would be filtered out.

Sure Chytrid can _survive_ in R/O water, but it cannot appear in R/O water unless it's introduced post filtration.


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## earthfrog (May 18, 2008)

rollei said:


> Sure Chytrid can _survive_ in R/O water, but it cannot appear in R/O water unless it's introduced post filtration.


That's what I was thinking b/c it was an experimental setting in that article. I was mainly concerned with chytrid in tap water.


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## elscotto (Mar 1, 2005)

bommer1 said:


> There is a simple way. Take swabs of your tap water and send them off to a lab that does testing for chytrid.


Unfortunately this would not be a good method, because of the often low prevalence of Bd zoospores in running water (i.e., streams) in systems where chytrid has been found. Filtering many litters of water from some of these systems where Bd is detected on amphibians, and has caused Bd related die-offs, has shown negative results for Bd.
-Scott


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## frogfreak (Mar 4, 2009)

carbonetc said:


> This sounds like a good way to suck all of the fun out of the hobby to me. Getting chytrid through tap water would be like getting struck by lightning. You could spend all this time and effort defending against it and then track it in on your shoes anyway.
> 
> I'd recommend just enjoying your frogs and accepting that neither they nor we will ever be entirely safe from the dangers of the world.


Agreed.....


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## Rain_Frog (Apr 27, 2004)

Are you sure that chytrid is ABLE to survive in tap water for that length of time, or it is already found in tap out of the faucet?

Just because it can survive in tapwater that long doesn't mean it's coming out of the faucet. 

To be honest, I think chytrid itself is widespread in the hobby and its immunosuppression that triggers frogs to develop symptoms. That is both good and bad. Bad, because a lot of frogs can be vectors, good because that shows that frogs can develop acquired immunity (see previous articles) toward the disease, making it more likely that environmental stress and pollution is killing off populations more than chytrid itself.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Hi Doug,

I think that is going to depend on the source of your tap water.. for example in sections of Philadelphia it comes out of the local river while in other sections its collected in above ground ponds before treatment.. Some areas get thier tap water from towers where it might have been held for weeks.. my tap at work is pretty much chlorinated river water that has passed through a sandbed filter..

Ed


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## earthfrog (May 18, 2008)

Ed said:


> Hi Doug,
> 
> I think that is going to depend on the source of your tap water.. for example in sections of Philadelphia it comes out of the local river while in other sections its collected in above ground ponds before treatment.. Some areas get thier tap water from towers where it might have been held for weeks.. my tap at work is pretty much chlorinated river water that has passed through a sandbed filter..
> 
> Ed


Ours is held in a tower, so I'm not all that concerned with chytrid in our case. I think it's a good idea to find out where the water that comes out of the tap comes from...


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## Rain_Frog (Apr 27, 2004)

I honestly don't know where mine comes from, but it is very hard and alkaline, like a pH of about 9.

Chlorine won't kill chytrid?


What about flouride treatment?


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