big disaster i am gutted

[zeebo]

I can barely still talk about it, happened last weekend. We had an elderly family member staying with us a few days return from hospital. She had been given an inhaler ,something new to her.

Sat night i was feeding the plecs their veggies,phone rang,hadn't finished putting all the veggie clips in , left the cover open to get phone. :wb::wb::wb::wb::wb::wb::wb::wb::wb::wb::wb::wb::wb::wb::wb:
While on phone,noticed she was near tank, i ran over , asked what she was doing, saw the inhaler in her hand near the tank. I asked her if she sprayed it into the tank,said ''no''. I closed the cover, turned the lights off .

In the am, noticed the fish acting too active, and the veggies untouched. Lifted the slate and found my 2 L128's and farlo passed away. Tested water,all normal. Then our elderly family member came over to the tank again and attempted to ''see if the spray was coming out of her inhaler, as she hadn't felt it or seen it, but that my tank fluorescent lights were great to see if the mist came out''. I know she did not do this on purpose, and we now discovered she has onset of dementia, but my fault for leaving the cover open. Apparently the plecs went first as they must have lower heartbeats than the dither fish ,and this med apparently makes the heart beat faster. I also lost most of the cycle.
My sadness is unbearable as i raised these guys from little babes, and feel i was supposed to be their protector.

I didn't want to post this , but i wanted people to be aware, you never know,something so menial, as having a sick family member for a few days, has unintentionally cost so much. completely gutted.

Georgie

 

[Irene0100]

oh how awful. I feel for you.
lesson learnt.
I have heard of a similar thing with someone spraying febreeze around the room.
so I ban any spray stuff from near tanks eg window cleaner etc just in case

 

[Brengun]

Just one of those things Georgie. Sorry for your loss.

 

[jessonthenet]

You just have to be on your toes really. Kids are another one to watch for as they don't realise as well as other family members.

 

[Jackson]

Sorry for your loss

I know the feeling

 

[Joby]

I'm so sorry to read this, can't imagine how you are feeling :cry:

 

[AusPleco]

Sorry for your loss, I nearly lost mine one day i was bombing for cochroaches in the house and did my best to cover the tank however about 2 minutes after starting the bomb i realised i had forgotten to turn the air pump off.

Thankfully my bristlenose didnt die however lost over 100 cherry and crystal red shrimp

 

[bigbird]

mate sorry for your loss. cant imagine what it would be like, sorry

cheers jk :thumbup:

 

[beencees]

Geez! So sorry for your loss mate.

 

[zeebo]

thanks everyone for you kind concern.

I still can't turn the lights on and look at an empty tank, and i did loose the entire cycle , so gotta ''buck up'' , get past this , learn from it , and starting to cycle it again. Still heartbroken.

Since it was my husband's mother who used the spray, he feels pretty bad , sees the work that goes into fishkeeping, and has offered to replace the phantoms. Told him i dont blame or expect anything...i was saving up for a group of corys , so when the tank is ready, i will pick up some L128's,but perhaps not babies this time. As for the other stock, not sure yet, but miss seeing what i had and all got along so well.

I am glad now that i did post this as reading the responses , maybe we can save our lovely plecs from a similar disaster in future.

Thanks for sharing.

Georgie

 

[xingu]

Missed this, sorry Georgie, as already stated just one of those things.

I'm amazed it could have such a devastating effect

 

[zeebo]

oh how awful. I feel for you.
lesson learnt.
I have heard of a similar thing with someone spraying febreeze around the room.
so I ban any spray stuff from near tanks eg window cleaner etc just in case

hi Irene,
you are right, i never spray windex on the glass itself. When i need to clean the tank glass , i spray it on a paper towel in the kitchen(no tanks in there) and then wipe the glass with the windex treated paper towel.

We use candles , not fabreeze , but really good point. Glad you mentioned it.

thanks again for your concern.

Georgie

 

[zeebo]

Missed this, sorry Georgie, as already stated just one of those things.

I'm amazed it could have such a devastating effect

HI ''X'',
yeah, i assume since some fish meds can be harmful , I realized pretty quick what happened, and not sure what med was in her inhaler, but some of my students use them, and i know there are steroids in theirs.

bottom line, no matter how careful we think we are , anything can happen, but lets hope some of the the responses here can give us more power to keep them safe.
Many thanks
Georgie

 

[odie_88]

So sorry to hear this has happened to you...

I've had similar disasters with Roach bombs and Windex cleaners etc...

 

[zeebo]

snake oil ,or the real thing ?

thanks again eveyone. Hearing these stories is a bummer, horrible way to loose our fish, damn.

So, after hearing what happened, my fav aq store sent me a product, too late now, but seems almost too good to be true. I wonder if anyone has heard of it (i suspect it is liquid carbon-not sure) but if it does all it says, then it is surely a product to have on hand. I am skeptical due to the long list of ''wonderful'' things it lays claim to,so i ask members here what they think.

Pls bear with, i wanna list everything it claims to do
Easy-life, made in Holland,Fluid filter media,ultimate water conditioner
says : removes copper,zinc,aluminun,other harmful heavy metals,ammonia,meds residue,pestecides,herbicides,insecticides,algecides,and other chemical contaminates,protects slime coat,counteracts harmful bacteria,assists healing wounds,sticky fins,fin rot and inflammations,acccelerates growth of useful bacteria(aq's mature faster),prevents algae build-up,promotes breeding,removes smells, stimulates plant growth,accelerates growth of young fry,adds no chemical or biological substances to your water.
www.easylife.nl

Georgie

 

[Oscar300]

Thats all very sad stuff, RIP little fishys

 

[zeebo]

just wanna say thanks again to eveyone who posted their concerns. I really means a lot when going through this . You guys know , you get it...so thanks big time.

Georgie

 

[Gutkowski]

WoW Georgie sorry to hear about that thats terrible , I will have to keep watch over my tank for things like that which I never thought of ..

 

[Brengun]

I use the easylife stuff georgie and it seems to be good. The plants perk up using it as well.

I use windex sometimes but I use it in the wet wipes you buy in a sealed packet. Take one out, wipe the fronts of the tanks and any other grimy shelves and dirt, allow to dry, then buff with a soft towel. Wash your hands when finished-important.
*Oh and don't ever do the tank lids with it either.

 

[zeebo]

thanks brengun, i never heard of it before... so now have it on hand.

Yeah, as i said , windex on paper towel in kitchen , no tanks there, then rub on the tank front, as for top, i NEVER use windex either, i use tank water to wipe the glass top..and wash hands after using lysol or windex or anything.

thought i had all my bases covered, being so careful, but stuff can still happen...

thanks
georgie