Incense in fish tank

[mattybecks]

Hi guys,

There are two parts to my question

1 - I kept some old drift wood right next to an incense burner. A decoration of sorts. The smoke would drift and swirl through it. If I wanted to reuse this drift wood in my tank, how long would you soak it for? Or would you never consider to use it again?

2 - this makes me wonder if it would be ok to burn incense in the same room as my fish. Thinking of air that gets sucked through the pumps into the tank. The incense is burnt across the room, and has been burnt almost every night for the last two years with the fish tank. It has never seemed to effect the fish in Anyway, nor the other residents of the room (cat, spiders, plants etc). Just wondering if this is something to be advised against.

 

[piranhaman00]

"Incense"?

 

[Gourami Swami]

Probably won't see drastic results like your fish dying from it. I wouldn't worry about it. But I would not let the room get too smoky, make sure the room is ventilated from a window or door, for your sake and the pets. Incense smoke does contain harmful chemicals, though it's not as bad as smoking a cigarette, since you don't inhale concentrated amounts into your lungs.

 

[Poly Pinni]

I think in your position I would scrub the driftwood well and then see if I could smell incense on it, if so I would soak it until I couldn't smell it anymore.

 

[mattybecks]

Thanks for the responses.
The room has a fan, and a small extractor fan that is continuously on. So it doesn’t ever get “smoky”. Just direct smoke onto the wood was worrisome for me.

The wood did have faint smell before I started soaking it, it’s day three of soaking it now (Empty bucket out and soak in fresh water in the morning and evenings) and I don’t smell anything now.

Thanks for laying my mind to rest.

 

[krichardson]

The fish might get high .

 

[Steve_C]

While I agree it is always good to be cautious with tanks/fish, I will also say I have yet to find any fumes in the air that have harmed any of my fish at all. All of my tanks are in my basement "mancave" witch is also my workshop where I make my 3D background (paint fumes from spray paint, fumes from woodburner on foam board, and yes even Balsa/Pine scented incense from time to time )....and never had any issues at all.

Just rinse it off well and you should be just fine IMO.

 

[Yoimbrian]

The incense fumes I'd break in to two categories - volatiles and ash

The volatiles would be mostly CO2, but there is likely a ton of random small organics mixed in there as well. Those would likely off gas from the tank and not cause any issues.

The ash would likely get sucked in and get stuck in the water column. It would either get taken out with your filter or water changes. I doubt it would hurt the fish either way.

There are plenty of studies that claim incense burning is as bad as second hand smoke, since you are breathing in ash all day. So I'd say you should worry about yourself more than your fish....