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Hello everyone! I've been thinking for the past few days about the possibility of setting up an aquarium in my bathroom. I think guests may be frightened by the presents of fish gazing at them while they go about their business... but obviously my main concern is for the health and safety of my fish, so my main question is whether or not this is safe? My bathroom is probably the largest and cleanest room in my house and because of the possible proximity of a bathtub and sink it would make water changes a breeze. To give you an idea the toilet would be about 12 feet from the tank. Would my fish be at any risk of bacterial or other contamination?

I wouldn't be too worried about bacteria. Chemicals are what would get you. There are a lot of heavy-duty cleaning chemicals used in bathrooms that have nasty fumes which could have disastrous consequences for your fish. Furthermore, guests who have used your bathroom in the traditional sense and washed their hands with soap and water may feel an urge to stick their hands in the tank wanting to "pet" the fish, reasoning "Hey, I just washed my hands, they must be clean!". Any soap residue on their hands gets into the tank and wreaks havoc.

Cool idea, but I think it would just be more of a hassle than it is worth.

Now in saying all that am I correct in saying it is a big combination bathroom with every thing in one large room?

They are many problems here and it could be in your cleaning and keeping the bathroom spotless.
If you are using chemicals the fumes and spray types could easily get in the tank.
If any one is using any powders, spray perfumes and deodorants it will get into the tank one way or another.

I recently say a LCD screen which continually showed a beautiful fish tank and the only care it required was keeping the screen clean.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info
Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

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My main concern would be soaps and perfumes getting into the tank. Unless you are cleaning with vinegar and bicarb, I'd suggest against it.

I know people have successfully kept fish in the bathroom, but they tend to be people who licve alone or with others who understand fish, so they don't have to watch many people to make sure they aren't going ape spraying deodorant around etc.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Hi,
I agree with all the observations that have been mentioned.
However, I do think that you might be onto something - If,
the tank were built flush into a wall so that it could be
observed while using the bathroom, much like a living
picture. Access to the tank would only be through
a closet in a room on the other side of the wall.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Ohhh, that could work! Though, for modesty's sake you might want to paint the background I can just imagine someone going to put away some linen and getting a bit of a surprise.



For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Its a great Idea, but if you have kids or often have guests it can be a problem. The "living picture" idea is a good one, but also it can make it difficult to maintain the tank and would defeat the purpose of it being proximal to the toilet/sink/tub for water changes...

if you do the living picture thing you should build it so it has access from two areas. (inside a closet and from the bathroom). this way you can take advantage of its location in both senses (ie when you are doing the daily tidying you can feed them and you can do the water changes easily into the bathroom... (build or have made a picture frame that fits the tank and you can slide it off the wall for access arround the tank in the bathroom.

if this is the plan then take some serious planning if not maybe when you have guests a little sign saying "hands off/out" would be a good idea... keep it in a well ventilated area too.

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

My fish that lived and bred happily in my bathroom for a couple years would be horrified to know that they were long killed by all the horrible fumes and chemicals...

Don't squirt toilet cleaner into the tank and they'll be fine.

how about if you build a shelf that could swivel out in the bathroom. the tank could be on the shelf which swivels, the back of the shelf would be locked in place from the closet side that why guests/ kids cannot swivel it out and stick hands in when they are in the bathroom. all you would have to do would be go into the closet, unlock it, go back to the bathroom swivel the shelf around and then you have easy access to the faucet. it would kind of be like a lazy susan that people have on there dining tables.

not sure a lazy susan type deal would support the weight, but if the tank was smaller it could work although the shelf would have to be wider than the tank and also have a rounded corners.

its worth the research to check though... how about just getting or making a wood hood/top that you can lock with a little luggage lock in the rear, would save you from the entrance of hands although not from odors or etc...



\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

A really good lid and hood should be enough, and a good deal of care with what gets sprayed around and put on top of the tank.

I guess it really depends on what you have and do in your bathroom, and how well the other members of the household deal with fish.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett