aerosol sprays and sudden death

[cbudz]

 I've noticed a lot of people are trying to figure out why some fish are dying when they're water conditions are almost perfect , Well ! this may be a solution, when I was married, I lived with an (air freshener junkie) ! yes! the house had to smell like some kind of flower or exotic scent to make it suitible ! trouble is, these sprays will kill fish! I have lost many rare and beautiful fish , thinking there was a water problem     and never realizing my fish room had a slight smell of apple blossoms ! keep all these sprays away from your fish !

[Lolafish]

Excellent observation.     We may like nice smells in our homes, but our goldies are just fine with damp and musty.     The best way to flush bad odors from your home is open the windows and let the fresh air in.

Thanks for the reminder cbudz!

[Kintaro]

This is an excellent point that many goldie owners do not even think about. 

Perhaps this should be moved to the Scary Story section?

[Shannon]

I am probably getting myself into more trouble here - but what about incense or candles?

I know that Air Fresheners are literally like spraying chemicals into the water - but the smoke from incense or the perfume from candles - would they do the same damage?
I can understand that maybe vapourised wax particles (I use organic beeswax) may get into the water, or that carbons from the smoke of incense may get in as well - has anybody else experienced this at all?

For the record - I have an aqueon tank with a fully fitting lid, and it's a pretty tight seam, so I'm not sure how much air debris gets into the water - I always keep the lid closed, unless it's FEEDING time!!

I don't burn them very often, but I don't know if I should anymore. I don't usually in summer - maybe a candle or two, but I find in winter it's nice for your house to smell like sandalwood... and of course in Canada if your windows haven't actually frozen solid, it's too damn cold to open them anyways!!!

Just wondering

[SeaWitch]

I am SO there with you as far as candles go!  I love the smell of them.  I did realize one day, after burning a soy candle, that my daughter had black stuff all in her nose!   I wasn't sure what was going on, so I took her to the bathroom and I saw it all in my nose, too!  It was the smoke burning off the candle and we were breathing it in!  Our living room is very big and this is where I was burning it.  I also had a floor fan and ceiling fan running.
Since then, I only use candle warmers when I want the smell of my candles.  I will still burn one, but not in the same room with my fish.
My tank lid is open at the back because this is where the HOB filters go, so I'm not sure how much smoke actually got in the tank, but I just can't take that chance anymore.

[Shannon]

Black soot in the nose??

That's really weird - I've never heard of that before!

I will have to light anything in a different room, and hopefully it will gently diffuse without doing any harm.

I never even thought of these things...

[claire_uk]

I think that if you are careful, and monitor your water and the fish I wouldnt overly worry. As you say if you burn them in a different room it would be better.

It is a risk, but they smell so nice!

[SeaWitch]

Oh, I agree!!!  I love the smell of candles!  This is OT, but my favorite smelling ones are apple and cinnamon, gingerbread, pumpkin pie, scents like that.  HEAVEN!!!

[Shannon]

Have you ever heard of two candle brands called 'Colonial Candle' and 'Yankee Candle' ?
I think you would really like their scents then - I don't get them too often because they are rather pricey, but they last for a while and the scent is very subtle - but amazingly accurate.
They have one that smells like fresh bread, or vanilla cupcakes or an autumn wreath! The scents are endless.
My favourite is Sage/Citrus!!

sorry - this is off topic I know!
 

[claire_uk]

I lve Yankee candles!

Over here we have things that burn like candles and burn oil that emits a smell, I wonder if those are ok?!

[tylercanfield]

i just had something like that happen to me my cleaning ladies took it upon themselves to spray my aquarium with WINDEX! > and my beautiful Ryukin died from this

[zookey]

Did you fire her?  Or get a different cleaning woman from the service you use?

Did you withold pay to cover the cost of the fish??

I would be SO irritated........ everyone in my house knows not to go near the tank with ANYTHING including food..... apparently (they tell me) I am possessive of the fish!

[Kintaro]

i just had something like that happen to me my cleaning ladies took it upon themselves to spray my aquarium with WINDEX! > and my beautiful Ryukin died from this

I thought about getting a cleaning woman but didn't just because I was scared of the exact scenario that you mentioned.   *( 

 rip little ryukin.

[SeaWitch]

Oh, I am so sorry about your fish!  I am sure the cleaning ppl did not realize that this could kill the fish, but still, they shouldnot have touched the tank.  However, alot of ppl do not know how to care for fish, so a scenario like this would have never crossed their minds. *(

[tylercanfield]

well i didnt fire her or didnt make her pay for her but i did stress to her the importance of not spraying anything on or near my aquarium

[Aimeekat]

Omg. so glad i found this thread. With 2 teenage daughters and myself we occasionally use some pump spray hair products (no aerosol in my house) this has made me open my eyes that we need to be more careful about shutting bathroom doors when we are using them. i wonder how long that stuff takes to settle? i have them run bathroom fans when using the stuff but now it has me scared. as for the pump airfreshners we rarely use them but i think they getting donated to my friend . i keep partially open top tanks. but this has me thinking of everything like body powders ect.. so i am glad to find this posting it has made me stop and think before i use anything!!!! things i would never have considered before.

[zookey]

Another option for you would be to drape a towel or sheet over your tank if/when you need to use any airborne product in your house.  That is what I do when cleaning the counter tops or oven that I use spray stuff on.  Just a thought.

[Au_fish]

Thanks for the heads up. I do use these sprays sometimes, though I am not an "air freshener  junkie".

[SeaWitch]

I'm so paranoid that I won't even burn any scented candles in the rooms with tanks in them.  I didn't use to be until this thread was started.

[turtle10]

That has me thinking about other kinds of smoke… do you think cigarette smoke or smoke from burning food could harm them?

[Lolafish]

That has me thinking about other kinds of smokeďż˝ do you think cigarette smoke or smoke from burning food could harm them?

If your tanks are covered, I wouldn't worry about it too much.  But when I have had indoor tanks, I don't keep them covered, so I was constantly aware of what was floating in the air near them.  You know that cigarette smoke contains carcinogens, so by the same token that someone can get second hand smoke cancers, it can also enter the water and get absorbed by the fish.  Unless your burned food completely fills the house with smoke, I think it's okay for a short period of time.

[Hanna]

That has me thinking about other kinds of smokeďż˝ do you think cigarette smoke or smoke from burning food could harm them?

If your tanks are covered, I wouldn't worry about it too much.  But when I have had indoor tanks, I don't keep them covered, so I was constantly aware of what was floating in the air near them.  You know that cigarette smoke contains carcinogens, so by the same token that someone can get second hand smoke cancers, it can also enter the water and get absorbed by the fish.  Unless your burned food completely fills the house with smoke, I think it's okay for a short period of time.

I lost a couple of Bettas in the past due to their bowls ( with filtration and live plants though ) NOT being covered. They were sitting on the kitchen benchtop. I believe the kitchen "smoke" and cooking-air got into them and killed them slowly 
I changed those bowls into tanks with lids on and all is good ever since. Even got those Bettas to spawn and having a few babies now

[Lolafish]

That has me thinking about other kinds of smokeďż˝ do you think cigarette smoke or smoke from burning food could harm them?

If your tanks are covered, I wouldn't worry about it too much.  But when I have had indoor tanks, I don't keep them covered, so I was constantly aware of what was floating in the air near them.  You know that cigarette smoke contains carcinogens, so by the same token that someone can get second hand smoke cancers, it can also enter the water and get absorbed by the fish.  Unless your burned food completely fills the house with smoke, I think it's okay for a short period of time.

I lost a couple of Bettas in the past due to their bowls ( with filtration and live plants though ) NOT being covered. They were sitting on the kitchen benchtop. I believe the kitchen "smoke" and cooking-air got into them and killed them slowly   
I changed those bowls into tanks with lids on and all is good ever since. Even got those Bettas to spawn and having a few babies now

I keep my betta bowl (4 gallons) in my kitchen. It's uncovered and has a live plant in it.  If anyone burns anything, we open all the doors, turn on the stove fan, and quickly get the smoke outside.  Haven't lost any bettas prematurely as far as I know, however, I think your plan is a good one Hanna.   :thumbup: