Can smoke from a fireplace kill fish?

Yeah, I am trying to get over it by thinking that things could have been a lot worse. It sucks to lose fish, but at least they can be replaced.

Had something like this happen when I was in Italy in 2001. I had a girflriend taking care of my 3 hand sized red belly piranha and when she went to feed them she just dumped an entire bag of feeders in the tank. The piranha killed them all, but didn't consume barely any of them. Imagine what the water was like after a couple of days. Anyway, I was in Italy for 3 weeks and was checking my e-mail regularly. Got an e-mail from the girlfriend that all 3 fish had died, and I broke down crying in front of my sister and her friend. I'm trying to control my emotions on this one.
 
Trust me, I know how to start a fire. Usually, it starts with step one, open the flue.

The tanks are at my parents' house and it was my dad that was starting the fire. He skipped stop one completely. My mom said she had to open all four doors in the house, including the french double doors to the back, and several windows to get all the smoke out. I wonder how long it took him to realize the flue wasn't open?

As bad as it smelled when I arrived 6+ hours after the incident, I cannot imagine how bad it was when it happened.
 
Why do you keep a fish tank at your parents house?
 
I was there when he put on the fireplace tonight. He had the flue open in the basement, and admitted that he forgot to open it last night. However, smoke was still coming into the house from the fireplace on the main floor. Exactly how this is occurring, I have no idea. I mentioned having a pro come and look at it, and his reply was "we've been putting fires on in this house for 22 years, why would it be an issue now." I wanted to say, "uh, maybe because smoke is NOW coming into the house somehow." However, I just let it be. I moved the carbon monoxide tested from the third floor bedroom area to the basement, and told my mom to move it back to the third floor when they went to bed. Tomorrow, I'm buying them two more carbon monoxide sensors so they can have one on each floor.

The more I think about it, the more it seems like it was some type of poisoning. The only other time anything came close to this level of death was when the CO2 controller went haywire and the fish were all at the top gasping for air. I lost a couple of fish that time. This time, they were all on the bottom, with a lot of them wedged into plants, and two butterfly plecos were belly up laying on the bottom. Luckily, the butterfly plecos came around after the water change.

This is the first time I have absolutely no clue why a large number of fish died. Actually, this is the first time I have ever had this many fish die on me at once. It is going to bug me for quite some time.
 
Because there isn't enough room at my townhouse for tanks that size and I have had those tanks there since they bought the house (i.e., 22 years). We are in the process of getting a single family home, and then the fish, and probably the tanks, will be coming with us. I've been looking at a 240 that I want for the new house, which should be really nice. We are waivering between buying an already built home, or buying a lot and building our own home. If we build our own house, I can get a dream fish room that will be 19' x 9' with two walls that I can use for display tanks, one in my office and the other in the entertainment area. I'm holding out for building our own house.

Trust me, if I could get those tanks in this townhouse, I would. However, it just isn't feasible right now.
 
I forgot to ask. Between he and my mother arguing about the fireplace, it slipped my mind. Plus, he will feel bad if I tell him it might have been the fireplace, or even hint that it might have been the fireplace. He has been continually asking me what I think killed them.
 
It would be best if he new that was the possible cause so it doesnt happen again. Even if it makes him feel bad, you can explain that no one new and we learn by making mistakes, of which im sure your dad already knows this.. For peace of mind, I would ask.
 
Things in life aren't always black and white. His mother and his uncle died from Alzheimers, and he has been worrying about it himself lately because he has been forgetting things and doing some stupid things here and there. So, while it would be great to know why I lost $250 worth of fish, and one of the plecos I enjoy the most, I am going to have to handle this pretty gently.

With that said, I'll probably give him a call tomorrow and talk to him about it and casually ask how he started the fire, what kind of wood he is burning in it, where he got it from, and if it could have possibly contained any chemicals in it. He and I usually do better talking one on one when my mother isn't involved. Same goes for my mother and I too.
 
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