Do not ferment in your fish room!

[Gonzo_distills]

I decided to throw a 12 gallon sugar wash in the corner of my fish room thinking the CO2 would be a nice treat for my wintering over plants taking refuge in the fish room until Spring. Three days later ALL of my tanks crashed and I lost several fish overnight. Every tank was clouded and the fish were gasping at the surface.

I opened all the windows and did water changes and most of the tanks cleared in a few days. However here I am a week later and my tanks crashed again last night. I pulled the covers of the HOB filters and they are all COVERED with a thick bacterial infection. Apparently the yeast jumped into my tanks and took over!

This is my PSA for all of y’all who keep fish in aquariums indoors.

[bitter]

ouch sucks RIP

[Dancing4dan]

Ouch! Sorry to hear this!

[Bushman]

Would never of guessed that as a consequence.

[NZChris]

Fermenting in any poorly ventilated space is dangerous and not just for fish and rodents, a NZ home brewer died in his fermenting shed, the coroner blamed it on the CO2. Try venting the fermenters to outside.

[Saltbush Bill]

thinking the CO2 would be a nice treat for my wintering over plants

Apparently the yeast jumped into my tanks and took over!

This might be a stupid question, but what would the yeast be eating in a fish tank to multiply enough to clog a filter?
Are you 100% sure it wasn't just coincidence that it happened at the same time that you had a ferment going in the room?

[MihiT]

Ferment in your greenhouse/glasshouse/grow room. Plants love CO2.

[seamusm53]

[[/quote]
This might be a stupid question, but what would the yeast be eating in a fish tank to multiply enough to clog a filter?
Are you 100% sure it wasn't just coincidence that it happened at the same time that you had a ferment going in the room?
[/quote]

Fish shit? There is an almost infinite amount of organic material in a fish tank to make yeast happy. This is a good corollary to Pasteur's experiment - if 'food' is open to the environment the environment is open to the 'food'.

[Gonzo_distills]

To be fair I jumped to assume it is the yeast. I have extremely stable systems that can go over a month without water changes and have never had any problems with water quality. Either the high CO2 allowed a dormant low risk bacteria to take off and take over or it jumped. I have moved my fish into 12 gallon buckets and started heavy doses of antibiotics in the aquariums. The bacteria is so aggressive I have to do 80% water changes twice per day in the buckets or the water looks like watered down milk. I may have to pass them off to the LFS to hold them while I treat and stabilize my systems.

[bluc]

Never heard of this before....good tip on venting shed. I would have however thought you would need a huge fermenter before it was an issue in a shed like a ibc in a garden shed..

[NZChris]

Never heard of this before....good tip on venting shed. I would have however thought you would need a huge fermenter before it was an issue in a shed like a ibc in a garden shed..

Cold winter, heated shed or fermenters, seal the door to save on heating costs, a couple of aggressive new ferments, shut the door behind you to save on your heating bill while you check progress ....

[bcook608]

Never heard of this before....good tip on venting shed. I would have however thought you would need a huge fermenter before it was an issue in a shed like a ibc in a garden shed..

Cold winter, heated shed or fermenters, seal the door to save on heating costs, a couple of aggressive new ferments, shut the door behind you to save on your heating bill while you check progress ....

Do you think this would be an issue with a fermenter in a house? I was thinking about starting a 35+ gallon batch but I don't have any outdoor heated buildings I can vent to. I have an open concept home with the main living area being over 1300 sqft. I would think that would allow any CO2 to dissipate enough to avoid being dangerous, but I haven't put too much thought into it until I saw your comment.

[NZChris]

CO2 is heavier than air, so It's more likely to be a problem in a poorly ventilated basement than in your main living areas. If you are finding dead rodents and insects on the floor and you have pets or children, it might pay to look into it.

[joschi]

just last weekend, a good friend told me, all of his fish in one of his tanks died while he was away for some days, no idea how this happend (he's got automatic feeding, has several fish tanks since many many years)
very strange, maybe i have to ask him if he was fermenting some stuff

[Rrmuf]

This is a good warning for Canadian fermenters and distillers: we mostly all have basements and they are a popular location for our favorite hobbies and we all seal up our dwellings in the winter.

[Rrmuf]

Perhaps a good topic for reference:

viewtopic.php?f=63&t=85272&start=30

[Gonzo_distills]

My tanks still aren’t back to normal. I took my fish to the LFS for vacation and I am taking my systems down to sanitize and restart them. Luckily my distillation hobby means I have plenty big enough vessels to boil all of my wood and rocks.

[Salt Must Flow]

Are these tanks fresh water or salt water?

I know the damage has already been done, but do you think running a UV sterilizer could help to prevent future infections? I know UV sterilizers obliterate what's suspended in the water, but not what grows on surfaces though. When I used to keep aquariums, running a UV sterilizer made a huge difference in clarity overnight.

I always had overflows in my aquariums, sump below and used a filter bag. That provides continuous aeration, simple filtration, an area to run equipment and do water changes without disturbing the tank. It's a really convenient setup.

[Gonzo_distills]

Are these tanks fresh water or salt water?

I know the damage has already been done, but do you think running a UV sterilizer could help to prevent future infections? I know UV sterilizers obliterate what's suspended in the water, but not what grows on surfaces though. When I used to keep aquariums, running a UV sterilizer made a huge difference in clarity overnight.

I always had overflows in my aquariums, sump below and used a filter bag. That provides continuous aeration, simple filtration, an area to run equipment and do water changes without disturbing the tank. It's a really convenient setup.

Fresh water. I did a test using a big pond UV filter I have on one tank but it flared right back when I turned it off after a few days. I don’t know what happened specifically but I do know I will never combine the hobbies in the same space again.

[1HardWoodsman]

I decided to throw a 12 gallon sugar wash in the corner of my fish room thinking the CO2 would be a nice treat for my wintering over plants taking refuge in the fish room until Spring. Three days later ALL of my tanks crashed and I lost several fish overnight. Every tank was clouded and the fish were gasping at the surface.

I opened all the windows and did water changes and most of the tanks cleared in a few days. However here I am a week later and my tanks crashed again last night. I pulled the covers of the HOB filters and they are all COVERED with a thick bacterial infection. Apparently the yeast jumped into my tanks and took over!

This is my PSA for all of y’all who keep fish in aquariums indoors.

That is solid advice! Sorry about your aquarium! I have a fish tank and will take note of this! Thank you !

[hawkwing]

I recall a guy telling me he used fermentation to add co2 to his fish tank for the plants. He put a hose from the fermenting container into the fish tank. So who knows what the difference is.

[B_Stilling]

I recall a guy telling me he used fermentation to add co2 to his fish tank for the plants. He put a hose from the fermenting container into the fish tank. So who knows what the difference is.

Came here to comment this. I've seen DIY sugar ferments in a PET-bottle as cheap CO2-system replacements. Aquatic plants love co2. I am fermenting in my fishroom too (4 tanks who are semi-open) and havent run into problems so far.