Putting a tank in the kitchen...

[houndour]

Before I go any further I'm _not_ putting my tank in the kitchen.

But I was going to have my new 5 gallon (Betta tank) in the kitchen. It's only now that I've put it there that I thought "bugger it's next to the microwave".

I've googled a bit on microwaves, and they do emit tiny amounts of radiation when turned on, but these are negligible to humans. But I would assume they might harm a fish?

I did a search on here also, and found a post by someone who had a betta bowl in their kitchen and their betta bowl over heated after a pot left to cool down was put near it.

Anyway, I'm not putting my fish there anymore, but I was wondering if anyone knows for a fact that microwaves harm fish. I've been to several peoples homes and they've had fish tanks on the kitchen work top. Surely even a microwave a few feet away can't be doing the fish good?

 

[Dangerousdan]

Breed some guppys next to it and see what happerns

 

[GSD]

never heard of fish being harmed by them myself.i suppose it could happen.Id be more owrried about overheating

 

[Tolak]

I would worry more about contamination from airborne cooking byproducts. If you do a lot of frying this will create a film on the surface, inhibiting O2 transfer. If you do more baking it should be ok. You know your cooking habits better than anyone else, I would just keep an eye on it.

Tolak

 

[UBigBobby]

A tank in the kitchen would have more problems than just cooking byproducts. Make a normal dinner in your kitchen on a hot summer day. If you don't have good central air, it heats up like a mofo. I'd think temperature fluctuations in a kitchen would be a big problem.

 

[houndour]

my kitchen is basically the same room as my living room. I have the fishtank in the living room.

I don't think temperature would be a problem. Only if you put a hot pot of something infront of the tank. The only space I had in the kitchen was in a nook where I do not use for anything. But it's next to the microwave which is my main concern.

 

[fatguppy]

I would have thought that the glass on the fish tank and the cover on the microwave would be protection - but then what do I know - I'm not a nuclear physicist

 

[playfulalliecat]

My 55 gallon tank has been setup in my kitchen for almost 8 months now. I had to move it from the living room after a filter messed up and ran water all over the floor. The subfloor had to be replaced. Thankfully, the tank didn't crash through the floor!

I have had no problems with it. We do not have a hood on the tank and it is between the computer and refrigerator. The stove is several feet away with the microwave being a couple of feet on the other side of the stove. Yes, the kitchen heats up in the summer afternoons but we've had no adverse affects in water temperature. Maybe because of the size of the tank, the water takes longer to heat up than a small bowl or tank. Years ago, I had an 18 gallon tall tank that sat on a bar, there again a few feet from the stove. It had one celestial eyed goldfish and I had no problems with that one either but I had an excellent central air unit so room temperature never really changed.

I wouldn't recommend putting betta bowls or small tanks in the kitchen or a laundry room because of temperature fluctuations. As for the microwaves I have no clue. That could be an interesting study to do but I'm no scientist!