Ornament Of Death?!

[LunaBug]

So I've had this nagging suspicion about an ornament that I purchased for my tank. The local petsmart had this lovely porcelain looking Buddha statue in their aquarium ornament section and I didn't think twice when I purchased it. I've been having issues with the tank that I put it in having seemingly random ammonia spikes. I've done water changes, cleaned gravel, checked for dead plants, and used chemicals to try and fix this situation but it just keeps happening. The Buddha has been cleaned multiple times now is hot water to help get rid of the diatoms that seems attracted to it. Well I started to take notice that its once smooth porcelain finish is now bubbled like there is paint detaching from the statues material.

Is it possible that the ornament itself has been causing these near deadly ammonia spikes? It has been the only common factor when dealing with this tank. If so, its a tad ironic that Buddha is what is poisoning the water.

 

[attibones]

I know what you mean! I almost bought the exact decoration but went with a replacement elephant (I really love elephants) instead. Now my new elephant from PetsMart is doing the same thing as the Buddha you are talking about. Have you tried putting the ornament in a bucket of dechlorinated water and testing the water? I'm thinking about doing the same with my elephant. It's like the decoration wasn't sealed correctly. If you test the water with the decor in it, you'll know if it is causing your ammonia spikes.

 

[LunaBug]

Thanks! It's really been insane and with ammonia spiking plus the brown algae that has decided to grow on everything, my poor fish are being housed in a freshly cycled tank. I'm planning on just forgoing the pretty ornaments and sticking to my planted tank with maybe some driftwood or a rock to add depth. You can see the Buddha in my profile picture now that I think about it. I'm pretty sure that is what caused my two corys to die, they especially loved playing on it so Im thinking that they may have gotten a potent dose of whatever chemical is in the now bubbled paint.

 

[IndySE]

I've had this before with an artificial tree stump and roots type thing, it took out all my cory's and a platy as they'd try and swim through it, get stuck and die.
 
Ended up covering the holes they'd swim down with a fine mesh.
 
So not the same situation as yours but still an Ornament of Death!
 
Cheers,
Indy

 

[DerpPH]

A more natural ornament like driftwood could replace that.
 
There may have been ammonia released by organic matter in the statue.
 
Well this goes to show that artificial deco are not good for fish

 

[Ch4rlie]

Wow! 

 
I would have though these pet stores or LFS would be selling tank decor or products that would be safe to use inside a tank!
Otherwise its a kind of a contradiction!
Or simply put, maybe some stores or some LFS are just after your money and are not particularly bothered about what happens after you leave their stores with their products? I know thats kinda cynical but that really is what happens sometimes. 

 
By looking at threads like these, its a good thing for others to see this so they should now be wary of buying decor that could be detrimental to your tank and/or stocking if are not careful!
 
Probably would have said that most LFS or aquarium safe decors are safe enough but need to be on the lookout for certain things like possibly types of paints, plastics, ceramics, and chemicals used in the productions of these that could turn out to be toxic.
 
But how would you know what to look out for if there is nothing on the product itself?
The stuffs on LFS or pet store shelves usually only have a price tag and maybe a brand tag or something like that.
 
Perhaps if have a marking or labelling that show they are aquarium safe then that should be ok to use in your tank.
 
I would not really know the differences to be honest so it might be a good idea to have a pinned thread that kind of shows dangerous products or ingredients or something like that to show people what is safe and what is not safe to put in an aquarium. 

 
For example -
 
I have learned that 100% cyanoacrylate is usually safe for glueing plants to bogwood for example.
 
Smooth glass should be fine as long as it is not / or does not contain - antique (old glass commonly has lead), paint, unsealed mirror, lead crystal.
 
Ceramics - if it is not safe or cannot be used for humans to use for foods or drink then it is probably not safe for aquariums.
 
Green wood is not safe for aquariums.
But branches long dead from hardwood trees like oak CAN be ok but need to be made safe by boiling and soaking for some period of time to kill bugs and beasties inside the wood.
 
I do not know anything or know very little about plastics, terracotta, rocks, slate, shells or corals so cannot comment about those or if these can be used in aquariums. 

 
Please do feel free to correct me or add to on any of these as I would dearly like to learn about that sort of thing. Very interesting! 

 
Perhaps may start a thread with this sort of information.........

 

[Meeresstille]

There seem to be quite a few ornaments out there with this problem: http/reviews.petsmart.com/4830/2769124/decorations-reviews/category.htm?sortOrder=avgRatingAsc
You could try covering a questionable aquarium decoration with aquarium silicone sealer to help prevent the paint from bubbling and peeling.

 

[LunaBug]

It makes me sad that they would sell this kind of decoration. I called the store this morning and complained telling them about their defective merchandise and they claimed that since it was not printed anywhere on the packaging "for aquarium use" that it wasn't their liability. First off most ornamental aquarium statues that I've come across aren't even in a packaging and do good to have a sticker or tag for even a barcode. Secondly, even though petsmart is a chain store it is still considered a pet specialty store. Why would they stock any item that is unsafe for pets to begin with? Third, there should be some form of responsibility since I was in there just day before yesterday and the same ornament was still on the shelf with all the other aquarium ornaments. As a customer how am I supposed to know whether they stocked something under the wrong category?

 

[AlitaConejita]

I had a castle decoration - from the aquarium section at the petstore which I bought because it was 25% off . I kept it in my ADF tank. I threw it away two weeks ago because my whole bedroom was smelling somewhat like damp dirt. I sniffed everything and determined it was the aquarium. I tested the water and noted that the ammonia was above 1ppm. I did a 90% water change and washed everything in the tank with warm water. I sniffed everything in there and realized the smell was coming from the castle. Parts of the castle also crumbled when I washed it. I threw away the castle and haven't had an issue with ammonia since.
 
I didn't buy the decoration at petsmart, but I did see it on their online store a few months back. I tried to find it now, but it's not there anymore. The castle looks just like the "midieval" castle 131 on this ebay site: http/www.ebay.com/bhp/aquarium-castle

 

[Donya]

Is it possible that the ornament itself has been causing these near deadly ammonia spikes? It has been the only common factor when dealing with this tank. If so, its a tad ironic that Buddha is what is poisoning the water.

 
It could be. Is it hollow? It could also have been trapping debris that caused the ammonia. As others suggested, if you soak it in a bucket for some time you should be able to reproduce the spikes if it is something leeching out as the materials degrade. However, that wouldn't test for a more obscure case like if the ornament was somehow harming the biological filtration and causing spikes indirectly.
 
 

I would have though these pet stores or LFS would be selling tank decor or products that would be safe to use inside a tank!

 
You would think so, and I think the vast majority are fine, even the ones were fish like suckermouth cats can eat the paint away. There are exceptions though. For example, I encountered a supposedly aquarium-safe ceramic ornament several years back that caused some very bizarre fish deaths. It mainly affected livebearers, which became covered in blisters and died. I tried many things, but the only cure was taking out the ornament. As soon as I removed it, the deaths stopped and ill fish that hadn't died yet returned to normal. I don't recall whether I got measurable chemical spikes unfortunately. Once I removed the ornament, while it was still wet, I noticed an un-glazed area on the bottom that it had a very strange smell and was also softer than it should have been (could scratch with a nail). I have to assume that there was either something wrong with the material and/or how it was baked. In the more distant past I used to make and glaze my own aquarium ornaments in a sculpture class and never had problems, so it was really perplexing.
 
On plastic/resin ornaments, I've actually seen no harm from the paint coming off or even when fish have eaten it, although that doesn't mean there couldn't be exceptions. At any rate, it's worth giving ALL ornaments a lengthy soak to see how they behave in water before going in an aquarium. Even natural things like rock and wood can have pockets of hidden bad things, so it is worth soaking everything. I might have caught the ceramic ornament of death if I had thought to do that with it, but I didn't. These days, I soak everything (natural or not) for a week or so, run a battery of tests on the soaking water, and then give the object a thorough inspection looking for any irregularities before trusting it in a tank.

 

[MaryOski]

I wanted to alert people to this deathtrap, unsafe ornament. In the past year or two I've mysteriously lost 2 Cory Catfish, never found. Well the other day,after cleaning the aquarium, a 3rd Cory vanished soon after. I looked everywhere inside and out. Shaking plants and decor. Finally I took THE PICTURED ornament completely out of the tank and shook it vigorously over the sink. Out dropped the Catfish, alive thankfully!
Long story short. Always examine ornament for potential hazards. This particular, hollow one should be recalled!