Please Help - Child Poured Milk Into Fish Tank!

[Basil Fawlty]

I'm so upset.....

We have a relatively new, fully cycled tank (biorb - sorry!) with a pair of small guppies and 5 small tetras.

All has been brilliantly well for about 4 months, the fish are doing brilliantly and I love this new hobby.

I only feed every other day, and my 3 year old daughter likes to help. Biorbs have a lid with a small feeding hole in them. I came into the room last night to find milk puddled round the bottom of the tank on the table, and the water totally clouded up - couldn't even see the fish.

Daughter is sat with her bedtime milk, most of it still in the cup. She got very upset and said she thought the fish wanted a change from fish food. She can only have poured a small amount in - my guess would have been maybe 50ml max, bearing in mind it was a small cup, she has a bad aim, and most of it was still in the cup / on the table. However the water looked horrendous!!!!

I did a 50% water change immediately, the filter is 3 weeks old, and before this happened all my levels were spot on and had been consistently spot on since cycling the tank.

Despite the 50% change, the water is still very cloudy and I don't know what to do for the best now. Another water change today? Tomorrow? Leave well alone? Is the water going to start to stink / bloom furiously, or if I leave well alone will the filter clear it eventually? and of course are the fish going to survive? As it happens they look perfectly okay at the moment. This all happened at 7pm last night so 16 hours ago.

I'm really gutted..... Anyone got any ideas??

 

[mossonthemoon]

I would change as close to 100% of the water as possible. Just leave enough for the fish to be able to remain upright. Perhaps swish the sponges in treated water as well. Good luck, that sort of thing is one of my biggest fears with having a four year old and a tank. The worst thing I have found him doing so far is standing with the net, trying to go fishing.

 

[Basil Fawlty]

So it won't hurt to change more water again today then?! Was worried they'd been through enough trauma!

 

[fluttermoth]

No, it won';t hurt to do another water change (or more than one, back to back), as long as your new water is temperature matched and dechlorinated

 

[coolie]

I think a bag of activated carbon in the filter may have cleared it, but if you're changing the water anyway...

 

[Basil Fawlty]

The biorb filters have a layer of carbon underneath which is three weeks old so will that be helping? It doesn't look any less cloudy than it did after I did the 50% change last night. Will do another change as soon as the baby is asleep after lunch.....

 

[Aquascaper]

The actual milk won't do much harm apart from creating ammonia as it breaks down and annoying the fish so don't panic too much.

Regular frequent water changes as suggest until it's back to clear

 

[LucyB]

Aww bless her! It's the thought that counts!

 

[Basil Fawlty]

Thanks all. Have done another change this afternoon. They seem happy enough, and I can at least SEE them now.... Must be like swimming in fog?!!!

Lucy...hmm! Not sure about that!! She is v worried about what she did; I hope she has learnt not to do it again! She has said more than once "I hope I haven't deaded them..." - me too !! Keep thinking there are worse things she could have posted in there.....

 

[magpie]

Well that's a unique fish health emergency...

Hope everyone fares fine!

 

[LucyB]

Lucy...hmm! Not sure about that!! She is v worried about what she did; I hope she has learnt not to do it again! She has said more than once "I hope I haven't deaded them..." - me too !! Keep thinking there are worse things she could have posted in there.....

"I hope I haven't deaded them..."

That is the cutest thing I ever heard ohmygosh

so sweet! Deaded!

She sounds like a little angel...

 

[bmonki]

i suspect i'd have posted this by now if my two could get at the top of the tank, bless her for trying to make the fishys happy though, she sounds adorable!

 

[PrairieSunflower]

I've actually heard this happening before! There should be a manual out that says small children with glasses of milk are dangerous to fish. Luckily, I think I've passed the stage of my own children doing anything weird.

 

[Tankboomshazam]

Phew, hope your fishes are okay! I've never had milk poured in my tank before, but when I was younger, my brother spilt orange Juice and I can swear the water was orangy, but the fish were ok, I think.

 

[Becky Kastelz]

Thank you so much for posting...my toddler just spilled milk into our brand new 29 gallon tank that I just filled by hand...glad to know the fish will be ok and when I change the water it should clean up the foggy water. Thanks everyone for the responses!!

My toddler also is worried about the fish...(two guppies at the moment HAHA the bigger fish come next week)