# Does this hurt my fish....



## neven (May 15, 2010)

Guess what my son did, if you had 5 guesses i'd doubt you'll guess what he dumped in my tank while i was at work.

it was coffee mate powder..... now i got a tank full of milky looking water and i need to know just how bad the stuff is for the fish.

Whats in is is: GLUCOSE SYRUP, HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL (MAY CONTAIN COCONUT, PALM KERNEL AND/OR SOYBEAN OIL), SODIUM CASEINATE (A MILK DERIVATIVE), DIPOSTASSIUM PHOSPHATE, SODIUM ALUMINUM SILICATE, MONOGLYCERIDES, ACETYLATED TARTARIC ACID ESTERS OF MONO- AND DYGLYCERIDES, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOUR, COLOUR


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## beN (Apr 21, 2010)

thats crappy!...

im sure all of those ingredients are terrible for fish. 

I hope you can fix it though.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

imo....I wouldn't think it would hurt the fish too much unless it was a major amount. Did he put alot in it? sounds like a definite water change is needed...best of luck


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## Maxxxboost (Jun 29, 2010)

That sucks,

Your son remind me of myself when i was young. I dumped milk into my uncle's tank.


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## teija (Sep 30, 2010)

Hopefully you will be ok, but I'd start straight away with a good water change and then continue with smaller ones regularly... Then I'd get a locking lid 

Good luck and keep us posted!


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## Nicklfire (Apr 21, 2010)

i saw on myth busters that stuff is flammable in powder form !


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## crazy72 (Apr 22, 2010)

Put him in the tank, that'll teach him.


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## roadrunner (Apr 25, 2010)

keep anything that could be dumped into tank out of your son's reach (including fish food).


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## joker1535 (May 23, 2010)

If you got a cover on top of your tank, lock it. I locked my door to my office where my tanks are. Better safe than sorry


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## Edarion (Apr 21, 2010)

If you havn't suffered any casualties already, I can't imagine that it would be too too harmful...

its not like he poured a cup of acid in there. 

Nonetheless, change the water. just in case


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## PeteAce (Oct 23, 2010)

Oh never mind the fish, just make sure you don't hurt the kids  I'd be so mad!


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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

I would worry about the oil and the acidity. Maybe the oil is floating on top and can be siphoned off? If it were me, I'd do a major water change. 

Good luck. Between the baking soda spill and the Coffee Mate crisis, it's easy to see that your son is a budding chemist or cook and very interested in the properties of powder and water. For Christmas, why don't you give him a big metal bowl, a wooden spoon, and a bag of flour? That should keep him happy!


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

Morainy said:


> For Christmas, why don't you give him a big metal bowl, a wooden spoon, and a bag of flour? That should keep him happy!


my wife does that when she's baking. But once she forgot his history with putting things in fish tanks and he fed that tank's fishies some flour...

Also, I stopped him once when he got his hands on the box of cream of wheat luckily. We doe our best to keep everything high up in cupboards or locked away, but sometimes being exhausted lets something slip


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

lmao... poor guy.


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## Discus (Apr 23, 2010)

if it were me I would do a 60 percent water change and after the water change clean your filter. Then wait about 5 dayes and do adleast another 50 percent water change. Be sure to clean your filter with tank water and if needed another water change.


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## tarinalynn (Oct 26, 2010)

forget brewing a new pot of coffee... dip your mug in and have a drink! poor fishies I would get water changers done as quickly as possible!


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## RedVulcan (Dec 7, 2010)

maybe the fish will like coffee mate.. like ME 
Jokes aside, I hope your fish is doing okay !


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

update:
I had to do some errands that couldn't wait the day of the coffee mate, and they took a long time thanks to transit issues and wait times in offices... needless to say, no fishies died that ngiht and the water began to clear up, so i didn't water change.

2 days later, crystal clear water, no deaths, sensitive fishies still acting normal, so i'd say it isn't harmful


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

A bit of protein, a bit of sugar. May be the fish like them 
Just kidding. Glad everything is good.


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

Maybe your son was just trying to discover a new denitrator.


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## Sandy Landau (Jun 4, 2010)

Hey, that is good to know. I'm glad that your fish survived. It's surprising how hardy fish can be sometimes.



neven said:


> update:
> I had to do some errands that couldn't wait the day of the coffee mate, and they took a long time thanks to transit issues and wait times in offices... needless to say, no fishies died that ngiht and the water began to clear up, so i didn't water change.
> 
> 2 days later, crystal clear water, no deaths, sensitive fishies still acting normal, so i'd say it isn't harmful


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

today he put in the following in the span of 10 minutes while i was playing with my youngest

Pee filled daiper the wife left out.
Robertson screw driver
antiskid rubber furniture pad
glow stick
cotton ball
cardboard
plastic spoon.

i really need to make a new hood, maybe in my week off i'll pick up some sheet metal and do a completely new fixture that covers the tank better.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Holy moly he's a busy kid lol


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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

Wow...your poor fish, Pee filled diaper? *shudders*


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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

Well, the pee filled diaper probably bumped your cycle up to another level, lol. 
The glo stick would probably look quite cool at night time. 

Your son is really exploring the world, isn't he? He sounds very bright.


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

i dont even know how he got the screw driver it was on top of a hutch


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## mikebike (Sep 8, 2010)

get over to the local building supply and get a sheet or "Chloroplast" the plastic sheet that looks lie cardboard.
you can cut it with a utility knife and score it in one side to make a hinge.
silicone or tape it on for now to keep the kids from putting things in the tank.

Buy a motion detector alarm and put it on top of the tank to alert you of intrusions<G>


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## InfraredDream (Jun 24, 2010)

WOW, that sure makes keep the tank clean very difficult. I feel for you! My son was the same, but not with fish as I was out of the hobby when kids were small.
Good luck with making the new cover!


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

mikeike said:


> get over to the local building supply and get a sheet or "Chloroplast" the plastic sheet that looks lie cardboard.
> you can cut it with a utility knife and score it in one side to make a hinge.
> silicone or tape it on for now to keep the kids from putting things in the tank.
> 
> Buy a motion detector alarm and put it on top of the tank to alert you of intrusions<G>


lol thats what i have on there already, with a custom fixture made from 6"duck. Assembled an angled piece with sides that sits on the lip of the tank. Worked for a long time, but now he figured out if he pushes down hard enough it pops into the water :/


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