yet another Pothos question .........

[Mr Pleco]

I have started using Pothos in an effort to reduce nitrates in my tanks...
Have searched this forum however never found anything definitive..

Pothos is considered toxic to pets if they ingest? googled info : "Both the stem and the leaves contain insoluble calcium oxalates. Chewing or biting into the plant releases the crystals which penetrate tissue resulting in injury. These steroidal saponins and glycosides cause tissue irritation and possible swelling when chewed."

I had a couple of unexplained deaths in one tank and went down the usual checklist to see if there is a reason..? nothing really stood out as to why nothing else in this tank was different or suspect except the pothos plant was growing and the leaves and vines where growing into the tank .....

my wet pets that were affected where my red and albino BN's and snails...? coincidence? feedback ?

 

[Judyok]

I don't know about fish, but my cat chewed a pothos and wound up with a swollen mouth and salivating heavily. The vet said she'd be okay, but she was uncomfortable for a couple of days.

 

[MrsE88]

I have pothos in two tanks. Both have had the leaves go into the water. It's been this way for months. Both tanks have snails, and one has a pleco. No weird deaths.
I also have dogs and a cat. No issues there either.

Have you checked other factors? What is their diet?

 

[Judyok]

Well I'm not saying the pothos will likely poison your fish. I doubt the fish will take bites out of the pothos. If there's algae growing on the leaves a pleco might try to scrape the algae off, but even that won't likely poison the fish. As far as the previous post goes, just because your cats and dogs have had no issue doesn't mean the pothos doesn't have poisonous properties. The reason your pets haven't had and issue is because the didn't chew on the pothos. My cat did chew on it, I know because I witnessed it. I moved the pothos away from the cat and a few minutes after that she began drooling and the rim of her mouth became swollen. After I took her to the vet I looked up the properties of pothos and they can be toxic to pets. Maybe not lethal toxic, but they can be an irritant to your cats and dogs.