Let's talk about household items that can kill your tank!

[ying yang]

Ok defo following this thread,mainly so can show mrs it ( if reading this lynds,love you lots and lots and these guys saying it not me so listen to them ha ha lol lols ^_^ )
Nah on serious note mrs got an addiction with smelly things, like plug ins,scented candles and the like,at one time every room had one plug in,little better now and only 3 rooms in house but its maybe 4 metres from reef tank and did have scented candle 1 metre away burning every night for few hours,she now moved it to table 3 metres away and says im to obsessive about the tank and it cant rule our lives,but we nearly 3k into it so far and only at early days with only 5 corals bought and 8 out of 10 fish purchased and what i know about mother nature is she wants everything to be in equilibrium so if a scented candle burns close to reef tank then in the air there is more of that scent/toxins than there is in the tank so my understanding is through surface agitation and waterfall in sump and skimmer then gas exchange happens and c02 leaves tank water and oxygen gets introduced but also scents/toxins from candle or any other airborbe particles enters also as mother nature trying her best to make it equal if get me so would be interesting to read other things that i may not even thought about and learn as much as i can and try stop possible nad things happening to the reef tank but at same time keep mrs happy and not become to obsessive about reef tank.
I live in a flat ( americans i believe call apartment so nowhere else to put tanks over than living room which has 3 tanks and 1 small one in hallway and 1 qt tank in cupboard.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

Hi sashimi thanks for the laugh you and my wife would be best friends. On a real note she is an obsessive clean freak and it drives me insane when she cleans fish room but I still love her for it haha. She does have a plug in almost every wall except fish room because I take it out every time haha. She did dust the ceiling fan just yesterday and got dust in my tank too haha
I'll try to get a pic of bad candle and post it here. It most def cause issues
Super heavy stinky soon as it was lit.

While the wife and I will burn candles in the living room, we dont spray cleaners in the living room. We use a rag and cover the nozzle or take the top off and pour onto a rag. I don't worry too much with dust... skimmer will take care of it. I keep mostly LPS and hardy SPS like Monti and Stylo... if I have to tiptoe thru my house constantly worried if I'm going to nuke my tank I don't want it. How is that enjoyable to anyone?

 

[QuarantinedCorals]

I did not check and cant remember what day it was now. I'm using seneye to Guage ph at this point but going to see if I can look back far enough and see anything unusual

ah got it, always thought that candles had a negative affect on PH, that's why they're so dangerous but I didn't know anything scented is dangerous!

 

[QuarantinedCorals]

Oh no I've been using that to clean my aquarium glass for years(still using). Nothing has died yet, when will it start?

I've used it in the past but I've always just sprayed it on a paper towel far from the tank, haven't done it in a long time but it definitely cleaned the glass well!

 

[QuarantinedCorals]

That would worry me too if it happened on my tank.
. However, my wife burns scented candles in the same room as the tank and has wax melters she uses sometimes and I have never seen an issue with the tank when she does this. We do avoid spraying any aerosols in the room. She even uses that arm and hammer scented carpet powder when she vacuums. Never noticed any effect on the tank.

I would assume with proper air flow throughout the house you might be able to get away with it, I've lit scented candles in the same room as my tank before but all the windows in my house have been open and there was tons of fresh air coming in, also the room is pretty big so maybe that helps.

 

[QuarantinedCorals]

Not sure which ones but wife has been using plug ins well before I set up saltwater tanks. No noticeable issues with her using them that I know of. Just that one scented candle in particular.

I've had some wall plugins throughout the house, they aren't very strongly scented but I've visited buddies houses that had some plugins that were strong next to the tank and didn't really see ill affects, however, the tanks were pretty big (180g+).

 

[QuarantinedCorals]

I use scented candles regularly... haven't had an issue. If you listen to everyone on here you'll live in a dirty house because you can't clean anything. Don't even dust because that could get in the tank and wipe out everything...

love the profile picture!

 

[tehmadreefer]

Certain scented candles. My wife daughter starting burning one few weeks ago. Stunk the whole house up and within 10 minutes some of my shrooms where balled up ready to bail. Fish even started breathing rapidly and my skimmer lines are ran outside. Just the little bit of fumes that got sucked into my overflows and mixed with water greatly upset my tank. Almost instantly.
Don't burn scented candles. We are staying away from scented anything now.

Scented candles are a myth, it’s been debunked over and over. I always have a large tanker candle going in the same room, no issues.

 

[DH78]

ah got it, always thought that candles had a negative affect on PH, that's why they're so dangerous but I didn't know anything scented is dangerous!

Reminds me of my Dad when my mother would burn candles. He'd always complain about the candles using up all the oxygen in the room.

 

[QuarantinedCorals]

Ok defo following this thread,mainly so can show mrs it ( if reading this lynds,love you lots and lots and these guys saying it not me so listen to them ha ha lol lols ^_^ )
Nah on serious note mrs got an addiction with smelly things, like plug ins,scented candles and the like,at one time every room had one plug in,little better now and only 3 rooms in house but its maybe 4 metres from reef tank and did have scented candle 1 metre away burning every night for few hours,she now moved it to table 3 metres away and says im to obsessive about the tank and it cant rule our lives,but we nearly 3k into it so far and only at early days with only 5 corals bought and 8 out of 10 fish purchased and what i know about mother nature is she wants everything to be in equilibrium so if a scented candle burns close to reef tank then in the air there is more of that scent/toxins than there is in the tank so my understanding is through surface agitation and waterfall in sump and skimmer then gas exchange happens and c02 leaves tank water and oxygen gets introduced but also scents/toxins from candle or any other airborbe particles enters also as mother nature trying her best to make it equal if get me so would be interesting to read other things that i may not even thought about and learn as much as i can and try stop possible nad things happening to the reef tank but at same time keep mrs happy and not become to obsessive about reef tank.
I live in a flat ( americans i believe call apartment so nowhere else to put tanks over than living room which has 3 tanks and 1 small one in hallway and 1 qt tank in cupboard.

I applaud your ability on fitting that many tanks in your flat and have a mrs at the same time!

 

[QuarantinedCorals]

While the wife and I will burn candles in the living room, we dont spray cleaners in the living room. We use a rag and cover the nozzle or take the top off and pour onto a rag. I don't worry too much with dust... skimmer will take care of it. I keep mostly LPS and hardy SPS like Monti and Stylo... if I have to tiptoe thru my house constantly worried if I'm going to nuke my tank I don't want it. How is that enjoyable to anyone?

That's the main reason why I'm not crazy about having an acropora dominant tank, I know some acros are dang near bullet proof while it seems like others are allergic to saltwater.... Hardy, easy to keep coral all the way!

 

[Kellie in CA]

Sunscreen. I always take my daughter outside to spray her.

 

[QuarantinedCorals]

Sunscreen. I always take my daughter outside to spray her.

Definitely heard this one before!

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

My tank is about 6 feet away from a bathroom where smelly things get sprayed daily. Honestly freaks me out and I have insisted that the door be closed and the exhaust fan be run when said smelly things are being squirted. Anyone know if perfume/cologne is a real danger or am I over paranoid?

 

[Goaway]

My first trauma was from lysol sprayed in the air near my aquarium, my blue ribbon eel, bubble coral and red tooth triggerfish died.. problem is, even if my tank didn't die from that, it would have from our winter ice storm of 1996. It was a no win situation for me.

 

[QuarantinedCorals]

Also wanna mention putting your hands in the tank, we all know soap isn't good but also heard that hair spray/gel is extremely dangerous.

 

[QuarantinedCorals]

My tank is about 6 feet away from a bathroom where smelly things get sprayed daily. Honestly freaks me out and I have insisted that the door be closed and the exhaust fan be run when said smelly things are being squirted. Anyone know if perfume/cologne is a real danger or am I over paranoid?

I have heard that cologne and perfume is highly toxic, I could imagine it being toxic but I would imagine only if its sprayed in the tank. I have gotten ready for a night out and did a quick inspection on my tank before leaving the house with cologne on me, never had an issue with the scent being near the tank.

 

[LRT]

Sunscreen. I always take my daughter outside to spray her.

Great point. We recently visited the gulf reef and snorkled it. They actually sent 3 parties away because they wore sunblock even after the 3 emails we recieved as to not wear it. Those people probably lost thousands in expenses.
Anyhow they believe sun block is major contributor to the losses they are experiencing on the reef right now.

 

[davidcalgary29]

Bleach. I know it's used frequently as a cleaner (or as an additive), but there's a fine line between "useful" and "deadly". I found that out when I used an empty milk jug, which I use for water refills, without smelling it first. Within five minutes of filling it with RO/DI water, and adding it to my IM40, all fish and most of the snails were dead. I don't know who in my house bleached the jug, but I should've checked first. A smell of the jug revealed the familiar odor.

 

[davidcalgary29]

I have heard that cologne and perfume is highly toxic, I could imagine it being toxic but I would imagine only if its sprayed in the tank. I have gotten ready for a night out and did a quick inspection on my tank before leaving the house with cologne on me, never had an issue with the scent being near the tank.

I haven't had an issue with this, either, and I do spray cologne near the tanks as some of them are next to my downstairs bathroom. I've also put my hands directly into the tanks, absentmindedly, after applying scent on my wrists, and didn't notice any adverse effect afterward. I still try to wear gloves, though.