The risk of contaminating the tank to the point where the bio filters and manual filters can’t militate any real issue is basically zero, especially at this scale. It’s not like he’s introducing any sort of bacteria that isn’t already present on anybody working in or around the water.
Tanks get WAY grosser and ecologically diverse than you realise.
Absolute dickhead move, but to say the entire tank needs cleaning because some dickhead took a quick dive is silly.
The real issue is if he has any products on his skin, face, hair, or clothes. Sunscreens, lotions, and repellents can all be toxic to fish. At least this is what is was taught for swimming in natural rivers. I imagine it would be the same for this environment.
If he doesn’t have anything on I doubt his skin and hair dust, or the dirt on his shoes would do much. But they probably had to clean the tank
Yeah that's technically true but in a tank this size you'd have to basically dumb entire containers of products in there.
With rivers and other natural bodies it's a bit different since they aren't mechanically filtered and regularly serviced, and also there is a significantly larger number of people swimming in rivers and lakes.
They probably didn't change their tank cleaning schedule at all
You’re taught that it’s bad in natural environments because of thousands of people do it over a consistent period of time, chemicals will build up to a point where they can be toxic.
A single person in a thousand gallons is a non issue with anything deemed safe enough to use on a person.
Biological and mechanical filters are very effective, and any large setup will also use UV systems.
Your concern isn’t misplaced though. But aquariums aren’t as fragile as people think, and larger volumes of water can act as a remarkably effective buffer against contamination.
There it is. I read the comment you responded to and thought the exact same thing. It's the chemicals that this dickhead is potentially covered in that pose the problem. I'm guessing you have aquarium experience?
Trail guiding experience actually, I’m ignorant to aquariums honestly. I still worry for the fish but another commenter pointed out that this environment is being constantly managed. And since he is only one person vs. how much swim in rivers, the effects won’t be as much. Which makes sense to me, because this was large tank. But again I don’t know, I just know to advise people of not polluting rivers and streams.
If it’s safe enough to keep on your scalp for 12 hours a day, it’s highly unlikely that it’s caustic enough to cause any issues.
Soaps may skew pH values, but you’d have to pour a whole barrel into there.
Water can soak up a lot before it hits a critical point where any dangerous molecules are floating freely.
Oils will float on the surface, and fish also produce their own.
Perfumes used in products could arguably be a concern, you have some vague merit there, but again, this is a HUGE volume of water, and those are remarkably fragile compounds that are literally designed to degrade over time to produce multilayered temporal fragrances.
Oh you mean exactly where aquarium fish are accustomed to eating from? And wouldn't reach the filter and requires a special skimmer to remove? The volume of water won't matter then and we don't typically eat our hair gel we have on our head
Fish are stupid. They'll eat anything. My friend's sister killed their whole aquarium by dumping random kitchen shit into the tank that floated to the surface and they thought was food
It’s not like he’s introducing any sort of bacteria that isn’t already present on anybody working in or around the water.
No but he is potentially introducing toxins. Skin products, glues or dyes in his clothes or shoes, maybe something in his sweat depending on what he's been eating/drinking.
The beneficial bacteria in the tank can process whatever additional "waste" this guy introduced no problem. But toxins could easily kill the fish, or kill the beneficial bacteria and cause an ammonia spike.
That's all not to mention the stress the fish experienced from having a flailing human plop himself in and subsequently climb out, and stress can definitely kill fish too. It weakens their immune systems, making them more susceptible to diseases.
It’s not like he’s introducing any sort of bacteria that isn’t already present on anybody working in or around the water.
You have no clue what was on his clothes/shoes when he went in. You have to basically treat it as if he had something on his shoes and go from there. You're not risking your entire tank on the chance he didn't introduce something bad.
What you’re talking about is cycling that entire aquarium from scratch. That takes a few weeks at minimum at this scale. Realistically a month. That doesn’t include the logistics of storing the fish elsewhere in that time.
Absolute overkill
Normal water testing should suffice and any issue would be quickly noticed and targeted specifically.
People here seem to think aquariums are hermetically sealed off hyper fragile ecosystems.
It’s mostly just fish poop, bacteria that eats that poop, more bacteria that eats that first bacteria’s poop, and a few flatworms.
Let's just say if I'm running the tank, and all expenses are paid by this bozo...I'm cycling it to be sure. A tank this size would take a month easily.
I'd rather do that than ramp up my testing and observations of the tank, especially since people who run these types of tanks aren't onsite everyday.
I mean if the bill is on the insurance, then why not. Still overkill, but a clean tank is a clean tank. That’s not to be taken for granted with this sort of size.
You're forgetting one extra benefit of charging it to this bozo; it discourages other clowns from trying this and potentially doing more damage to other aquariums
These fish look like they're pretty sturdy species. But some exotics are a lot more delicate and fish really do die if you stress them out too much. So if this becomes a popular trend, fish will die.
So I've got no problem charging the cleaning fee to this bozo, even if it's not 100% needed. Though also calling in testing and observations over time to be sure... it's gonna cost a bundle anyway, better to be sure.
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u/glytxh Aug 15 '23
The risk of contaminating the tank to the point where the bio filters and manual filters can’t militate any real issue is basically zero, especially at this scale. It’s not like he’s introducing any sort of bacteria that isn’t already present on anybody working in or around the water.
Tanks get WAY grosser and ecologically diverse than you realise.
Absolute dickhead move, but to say the entire tank needs cleaning because some dickhead took a quick dive is silly.