VVhile I vvas in the bathroom.....(aquarium question)

[taraann81]

It vvas store bought Skim milk.

 

[patandchickens]

OMG, I'm sorry, but that is so funny! (except of course that it's not and I would not be highly amused if my kids did that, and it's certainly something they *coulda*, but, you know what I mean. Where do kids THINK of these ideas???)

If it were me I would start doing some chemistry testing, particularly ammonia. Ammonia may well shoot up, and then nitrites (finally nitrates but not for some weeks prolly). If you detect ammonia levels going way up, there are things you can buy at the fish store to put into the filter chamber to remove ammonia or nitrites. (Zeolites, or some other thing, I really don't remember offhand, but if you go into the store and tell the guys "help, I need that stuff you put into the filter to get ammonia levels down", they will direct you to the right product). It's not super cheap (although not super pricey either) but can be awfully useful when you have a temporary "problem" like this that is beyond your ability to control with water changes and you don't want to just let the chips fall where they may.

I'm honestly not sure how much good a protein skimmer would do, I would not *thnk* it'd be all that helpful since there is not *that* much protein in milk anyhow but I suppose it might help with the resulting bacterial bloom, I truly don't know, if you have access to one you could *try* it.

I keep thinking maybe my kids (at 3 1/2 and 6 1/2 yrs old) are old enough now for us to get a real tank, after they broke the leetle 5 gal one I had with just a few white cloud minnows in it... but your tale makes me think I'll wait a bit longer yet

Best of luck, hope it works out for you and you can save the fish,

Pat

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Ok anything I say is a guess cause that is not an issue that many people run in to but...

I think the fish will be ok from the milk its self. I would be doing a 25% to 50% change every day though till it clears up an once a week for a month to keep from ending up with a bacteria bloom feeding off the milk.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Yes, that exactly! Milk is kinda alkaline but not to the point of one gallon in 55 gallons making a difference... any problem you get is going to be from bacteria going berzerk and upsetting water chemistry.

Pat

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Yea a skimmer may not work, I dont know. But they dont just remove protein, they remove almost anything that will bond with water/air bearer. I don't know how well milk does that but well worth a try if you have access to one but I wouldn't go out an buy one just to try.

 

[silkydragon]

lol good news for my parents was i would never do this to fishtanks when i was a kid but bad news is i am and was always obsessed with fish even though my mom hated the work that went with 1 ive always had 1 since i can remember. im always looking up info on net in books and watching youtube vids on fish faverites are cichlids and recently discovered shovelnosed catfish.

 

[Mak]

Just do lots of big (I'd go up to 50%) water changes until it clears and watch the test results. It should be ok. Fish can be pretty tolerant, and cichlids are tough buggers!

 

[Damummis]

Been there done that. Except my DD fed the whole tank Ajax, thought it was the fish food. They all died.............

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

How's your fish doing today?

I'd bring the kid in the bathroom with me from now on. When my kids were little they always came in the bathroom with me. In fact, I'd have kids, dogs, and cats follow me in there.

Kids are gone but the dogs routinely follow me in there.

Good luck with your little one. He will be raised and gone soon enough.

 

[woodmort]

Keep changing water to dilute it and hope for the best--it should clear in a few days and, hopefully there wont be any residual problems. I've know of tanks that survived beer, wine and liquor, even cat pee. The worst is if someone drops in cigarette ashes.