Nicotine Affects On Fish

[BallyBoo]

Alright, I'm not sure if this is the place to post this, but I've run into a problem. I work for a large pet store chain and I've worked in the aquatics section off and on depending on what day of the week it is. Well, the fish have been dying, which is to be expected because we never get high quality fish. The assistant manager noticed and came to the conclusion that fish were dying because of the fact that I'm a smoker. I smoke maybe 3-4 cigarettes a day, and I make sure my hands are as clean as possible.

What are your opinions? I'm a little put off by it because I really want to learn about fish and be helpful while I'm at work.

 

[Donya]

What sort of symptoms do the dying fish have?
 
I've known plenty of hobbyists who smoked; some were or are still pretty big chain smokers. Similarly, there are a good many LFS works I've seen over time who clearly smoked during their breaks (although not in the store), so I rather doubt it's anything to do with that unless you either light up around the tanks or have some sort of unusual cigarettes. If you aren't smoking in the store and the management is suggesting it's something to do with getting stuff on your skin and then putting your hands in the tank, you could use latex gloves for a bit and see what happens. I doubt it would save the fish; if it did, then I'd still look at lotions and soaps as potential culprits first. If the fish problems continue and have no other good explanations, then the gloves would at least be a demonstration for the management.

 

[Blobfish]

I used to smoke a lot more than that with no problems with the fish.  In fact if I come to think about it me, OH and our lodger were all heavy smokers and our friends smoked too so I really can't see that this is what is causing a problem at your work.

 

[Tongue_Flicker]

Unless you keep air-breathing fish then no problems. Nicotine will always be a poison to air-breathers. Nuff said.