Kitchen Sponge Catastrophe - Need Advice

Greggz

Greggz

AC Members
Feb 2, 2008
255
68
31
Novi, MI
I got back into the hobby recently, after a about a 20 year lay off.

Everything has been going absolutley great. The set up is a 70 Gallon, two Rena XP3's, 2 Penguin 660r Powerheads, and 2 Rena Smartheaters. The tank cycled right on schedule, and my mostly Rainbow tank has been active and a joy to watch.

So yesterday I am doing my usual 25% saturday morning water change. I notice a small amount of brown algae on the glass, and ask my wife is she has a new sponge. I proceed to clean off a few spots on the glass, and refill the tank.

About 3 hours later 3 fish are dead. I am confused, and it finally occurs to me that the only thing different was the sponge. My wife starts reading the package, and it says NOT FOR AQUARIUM USE.

I feel like a complete idiot, but it just never occured to me that the sponge could be dangerous. The thought never crossed my mind.

So now I've done a few large water changes, added charcoal to the filters, but I am very concerned about the survivors. They are gasping, have little color, and are obviously under duress.

Has this ever happened to anyone? Did the fish recover? I am not too optimistic, and am just sick about what I've done.

Any comments or suggestions would be well appreciated.

Thanks.
 
Sorry to hear about that.

Only thing i could suggest is do as big a water change as you can and hope for the best.

I am interested to see if anyone could tell you what is exactly in the sponge that makes it not safe for aquarium use.
 
Wow that is so strange....I also wonder what could be in the sponge that could make it so toxic to fish when it is brand new out of the package??
 
davexstumpe said:
could of been one of those antibacterial sponges... that'd do the trick.
Click to expand...

Yes, it's an antibacterial sponge. I had no idea. It was only in the tank for maybe 20 seconds. Apparently that's enough.

I hope my mistake can help someone avoid this type of tragedy.

I have a strong feeling I am going to lose most of the tank.

I'll post an update later.
 
Usually it is a anti-bacterial or soap/grease dissolving issue. I have heard of it happening before.

Keep up with the water changes, daily for the next week and monitior your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels, as you could also lose some substantial bacteria. If you have some sponges or media you could bring over from another tank, after the first few water changes, it could be of benefit.
 
Really sad to hear about it Greggz and I know you feel bad aboout the fish...but you have probably saved other people's fish by this posting, cold comfort as that may be. I for one will double-check everything I put into my tank from now on.
 
oscaremmy said:
Really sad to hear about it Greggz and I know you feel bad aboout the fish...but you have probably saved other people's fish by this posting, cold comfort as that may be. I for one will double-check everything I put into my tank from now on.
Click to expand...

I hope you are right, and it saves someone else from going through this. To be honest, I was embarrassed to even write the post, because in retrospect it seems so idiotic.

Imagine the sinking feeling I had when I read the package, and saw "Not for Aquarium Use".

One of the sad things is that I have quite a few Rainbows that I bought when they were very small. In only a few months they have colored up and have been maturing into some beautiful specimens (Turquoise, Millenium, Goyder River, etc.).

Unless there is a miraculous recovery, I have a feeling I may be back to the drawing board, and starting over.

I'm also wondering if I am going to cycle again, as I could have killed my beneficial bacteria. I'll be testing daily to see what other damage I have done.
 
Geesh, sorry to hear that.
 
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