Will cigarette smoke have any negative impact on my tank?

[xxjokerxx0415]

Hello reefer,

I am thinking about moving my aquarium from my store to my home. But were I live we have 2 people that smoke cigarettes in the living room of a railroad apartment. And my room (where I’ll be setting the tank up) is probably about 20ft to 30ft from the where they smoke. Will this have any negative impact on my aquarium? I have two fish some inverts 4 coral and one bta. Two 30g filters and an air pump. 29g aquarium.

Thank you for your responses.

 

[blaxsun]

 

[Birdman Broham]

The smoke will get trapped inside your tank and cause a cloudy affect and may also cause ich due to stress. This happened to a friend of mine

 

[Pistondog]

Put an active air filter between smokers and tank if it becomes a problem

 

[xxjokerxx0415]

Put an active air filter between smokers and tank if it becomes a problem

I have bought one and I’ll test it out thank you

 

[Spare time]

I would be cautious. Personally I would be more worried about your health. A very strong hepa filter with carbon in it and cleaned and replaced regularly would be something I'd be worried about.

 

[The_Paradox]

The smoke will get trapped inside your tank and cause a cloudy affect and may also cause ich due to stress. This happened to a friend of mine

lol. Screw you Louis Pasteur and Daniel Bernoulli. His friend just invalidated your body of work.

 

[2020 Worst Year]

tell them to smoke outside?

 

[Spare time]

tell them to smoke outside?

I'd move to avoid getting cancer lol

 

[BeanAnimal]

lol. Screw you Louis Pasteur and Daniel Bernoulli. His friend just invalidated your body of work.

Ahem...

Actually "smoke" - including cigarette smoke contains many water soluble compounds, including (in the case of cigarette smoke) the chemical nicotine.

Smoke also contains non-soluble compounds with varying specific gravities and ionic charges, ranging from oils to solids.

So yes, being aerated into the water column through the skimmer and/or by settling on the water, the solubles in "smoke" can certainly be absorbed into the water.

In the same fashion, the non-solubles could also easily be mixed into suspension by being aerated in and/or settling o the water and then mixed into the water column where they too could be ingested by living things or react with other compounds in the aquarium.

So it is not unreasonable, impossible or improbable that heavy smoking near an aquarium could possibly discolor the water or affect the health of the fish.

 

[The_Paradox]

Ahem...

Actually "smoke" - including cigarette smoke contains many water soluble compounds, including (in the case of cigarette smoke) the chemical nicotine.

Smoke also contains non-soluble compounds with varying specific gravities and ionic charges, ranging from oils to solids.

So yes, being aerated into the water column through the skimmer and/or by settling on the water, the solubles in "smoke" can certainly be absorbed into the water.

In the same fashion, the non-solubles could also easily be mixed into suspension by being aerated in and/or settling o the water and then mixed into the water column where they too could be ingested by living things or react with other compounds in the aquarium.

So it is not unreasonable, impossible or improbable that heavy smoking near an aquarium could possibly discolor the water or affect the health of the fish.

Tobacco smoke does contain Ich. Read the label people. It’s right under tar and fairy dust. And farting near your tank could alter its microbiome.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Tobacco smoke does contain Ich. Read the label people. It’s right under tar and fairy dust. And farting near your tank could alter its microbiome.

There are some well documented schools of thought that saltwater Ich (Cryptocaryon irritans) and other diseases can be active and go unnoticed in otherwise healthy captive reefs. The argument being that the immune response of the healthy fish keeps the parasites in check but there is no mechanism for total eradication, and likewise that a stress event can lower immune response and allow the infection to become acute.

The responder’s premise was A) that his friends tank became fouled due to cigarette smoke (plausible) and that B) that event stressed the livestock, lowering their immune response and allowing an Ich outbreak to take hold, also plausible.

 

[The_Paradox]

There are some well documented schools of thought that saltwater Ich (Cryptocaryon irritans) and other diseases can be active and go unnoticed in otherwise healthy captive reefs. The argument being that the immune response of the healthy fish keeps the parasites in check but there is no mechanism for total eradication, and likewise that a stress event can lower immune response and allow the infection to become acute.

The responders premise was A) that his friends tank became fouled due to cigarette smoke (plausible) and that B) that event stressed the livestock, lowering their immune response and allowing an Ich outbreak to take hold, also plausible.

I’ll give A could be plausible. Maybe they turned the skimmer into a giant water bong and invited 20 friends over and blew through a qp. Still unlikely though based on math and how many hookah bars have aquariums. But sure, it’s plausible like Big Foot.

B not so much. If that scenario happened then the tank already had ich. As for it being exacerbated by smoke, only if you account for how long you would have to ignore any tank upkeep before you smoked so much that the tank turned cloudy.

 

[BeanAnimal]

unlikely though based on math and how many hookah bars have aquariums.

You are being formally called out. You invoked Bernoulli and Pasteur and have cited math - Please present said math and show your work.

Meanwhile - a single moderate indoor smoker can literally foul every surface in a modest size home where the furnishings and walls absorb odors and stains that are permanent, including Items in the attic and storage areas. Food in the refrigerator, the ice, and anything open can and will easily absorb foul odors and taste from the smoke as well. It doesn’t take a hookah bar.

B not so much. If that scenario happened then the tank already had ich.

Yes that is the very premise, Ich present but unnoticed until a stressor event lowers immunity and cusses an outbreak. You responded but didn’t bother to read or respond in context.

You just tied yourself in a knot dithering and still had to rely on glib hyperbole to obfuscate the point and not simply admit that you were wrong.

Bottom line, you intimated that the guy’s friend was an idiot for even thinking heavy cigarette smoke could foul the water and/or stress fish and cause an Ich outbreak, and did so in a rather back-handed manner.

I am not here to verify or refute that claim, I am simply calling out your response as being ironically uninformed given the context of your post intimating that fish tank smoke-Ich guy was uninformed.

This exchange, like that in the other thread, is ridiculous. And, like the other thread, I have nothing more to say (unless of course you present that math that you cited).

 

[jda]

In 2023, who decides that the hill that they want to die on is that cigarette smoke does no damage?