Formaldehyde fumes around aquarium

[Aquadork]

Hey there folks, perhaps I'm overthinking this and I don't want to cause any unnecessary aggravation in the household.

I've been informed that tomorrow my roommate/friend will be using a product in her hair that will strip it of toxins before some sorta Keratin treatment will take place. I've been warned about the heavy stench of the stripper product and that it contains formaldehyde that puts off heavy fumes. I've done some pokin around and understand that some aquatic meds contain small amounts of formaldehyde in their compounds, also that it is dissolved differently when put in the water.  

As general good practice, I follow protocol of keeping fumey cleansers and aerosols in general, away from the aquarium and when I do need to, I do so sparingly, spray directly into the rag, towel, sponge etc., set up a small fan and ventilate the room accordingly. 

I see literature that states to keep it away from babies and that it's often lethal for pet birds, for me that's plenty reason to take precaution but not much about the fumes around aquariums. 

I'm sure there's gonna be some dwell time for her to let this product work it's toxic magic where she sits around for a recommended time. My issue will be that her general chillout/lounge area is very near my aquarium. I already intend to have her keep it in the bathroom where doors can separate the rooms and a cracked open window can handle fresh air exchange. My prediction is that after she applies the product, she'll wanna wander back to the lounge near the aquarium during the aforementioned dwell time. When I give that maneuver the proverbial giant loud buzzer, it's likely she'll act like a brat about it and pick a fight. 

It's my place, my aquarium and if I'm not off base and overthinkin the toxic fumes scenario, I'm not hesitant to enforce her isolation during the usage of this product. Needless to say, our roommate experiment has pretty much run its course and will come to a close in the near enough future so I'm not lookin for insight to that, I wanna preserve our friendship moving forward. She's been made aware in the past about fumes/cleansers around the aquarium but has a tendency to shrug off common sense in the wake of her general laziness and impatience. 

Temps are in the single digits here or I'd simply open the entire place up to ventilate. 

Please chime in and share your thoughts about my concern for formaldehyde fumes and that general harsh stench of a salon near our aquatic life. 

 

Edit: The setup runs 2 coarse sponge filters as well as HOB filtration so there's a lot of gas exchange happening on the surface to ambient air...

Edited February 19, 2022 by Aquadork

[Colu]

I would turn off your air pump and wrap   the tank with a cover i use the plastic dust sheets you get for decorating

[Mmiller2001]

Formaldehyde is a known carcinogen. I would ban it from my place but that's just my thinking, post cancer.

Edited February 19, 2022 by Mmiller2001

[Torrey]

On 2/19/2022 at 6:21 AM, Aquadork said:

Hey there folks, perhaps I'm overthinking this and I don't want to cause any unnecessary aggravation in the household.

I've been informed that tomorrow my roommate/friend will be using a product in her hair that will strip it of toxins before some sorta Keratin treatment will take place. I've been warned about the heavy stench of the stripper product and that it contains formaldehyde that puts off heavy fumes. I've done some pokin around and understand that some aquatic meds contain small amounts of formaldehyde in their compounds, also that it is dissolved differently when put in the water.  

As general good practice, I follow protocol of keeping fumey cleansers and aerosols in general, away from the aquarium and when I do need to, I do so sparingly, spray directly into the rag, towel, sponge etc., set up a small fan and ventilate the room accordingly. 

I see literature that states to keep it away from babies and that it's often lethal for pet birds, for me that's plenty reason to take precaution but not much about the fumes around aquariums. 

I'm sure there's gonna be some dwell time for her to let this product work it's toxic magic where she sits around for a recommended time. My issue will be that her general chillout/lounge area is very near my aquarium. I already intend to have her keep it in the bathroom where doors can separate the rooms and a cracked open window can handle fresh air exchange. My prediction is that after she applies the product, she'll wanna wander back to the lounge near the aquarium during the aforementioned dwell time. When I give that maneuver the proverbial giant loud buzzer, it's likely she'll act like a brat about it and pick a fight. 

It's my place, my aquarium and if I'm not off base and overthinkin the toxic fumes scenario, I'm not hesitant to enforce her isolation during the usage of this product. Needless to say, our roommate experiment has pretty much run its course and will come to a close in the near enough future so I'm not lookin for insight to that, I wanna preserve our friendship moving forward. She's been made aware in the past about fumes/cleansers around the aquarium but has a tendency to shrug off common sense in the wake of her general laziness and impatience. 

Temps are in the single digits here or I'd simply open the entire place up to ventilate. 

Please chime in and share your thoughts about my concern for formaldehyde fumes and that general harsh stench of a salon near our aquatic life. 

 

Edit: The setup runs 2 coarse sponge filters as well as HOB filtration so there's a lot of gas exchange happening on the surface to ambient air...

I have been in similar situations with roommates. 

Choice A: enforce the boundary and permanently get the a.hole label

Choice B: proactively protect the aquarium and Inhabitants by saran wrapping the tank, placing air pump away from the potential fumed area (I found it beneficial to have an extra air pump and long air tubing) to pump fresh clean air into the tank. Either preserve filter material by placing in a bucket of tank water and storing in another room, or wrapping to prevent potential contamination. 

While choice B took more work on my part, the extra work reinforced the importance of the fish to me, and also preserved the friendship because I made their needs important enough to accommodate. 

There was a roommate I had zero interest in maintaining friendship, and since I owned the home I had included in the sublet paperwork that no known carcinogens were allowed in home, no strong scents (2 kids with chemical sensitivities) and violation of the lease could result in termination of lease.

Choose what works best for you. 

My enforcement by choice A and the eviction process got messy in court.

[Tom H]

I would run activated carbon in your filter, the more the merrier. I would think it could pull anything toxic out of your water fairly quickly so I would not be super concerned. It's your place so you can fine her if the fumes have any negative effects on your fish at the very least.