ok so im cycling my fish tank and i see alot of water has evaporated (tropical with 3 danios). so i find this really old water holder thingy.. its like those box shape 3 gallon water bottle (square shaped) and u just have to squeeze the little nozzle and water comes out… it’s been sitting on top of the cabinets in the kitchen and when i found it it was reall really like dusty and greasy.. like when u touched it it would feel sticky on your hands.. there is a little oppening at the top that you can twist open and close, anyways i closed it and i used a sponge with a little bit of dishsoap in it… the sponge is used for cleaning dirty dishes (i know i wasn’t thinking at the time and now im regreting it)
so im scrubbing the outside with the dish soap ( very little amount) ( it was on the sponge already , i didnt squeeze any new soap btw) and it started to become clean.. i cleaned the little nozzle with just water and im not sure if i cleaned it enough. after i cleaned the twist off lid… with soap on the top but not on the inside… after i filled the inside of the water hole/bottle with warm tap water and shook it really hard about three times… and did it over and over until the inside was clean…. so then i smelled the inside. before it smelled just like really strong platic.. after it smelled like normal i guess?? not too strong of a plasticy scent.. anyways i filled it with water (78 degreesf) and added water dechlorinator…. i shook the water bottle/holder and it became a little foamy but probably because of the water dechlorinator… after i squeezed the nozzle and let the water flow into the tank slowly… so i finish and i smell my hands by accident and i can smell a small amount of dish soap traces… it was very light and it was like the smell of your hands after u wash ur dishes and wipe it with like a cloth and u can still kinda smell the soap… but i didnt put my hands in the tank yet!!! then after i smelled it, i carefully washed it with just water and dried it with a napkin and did some rearrangeing/moving stuff… i moved the heater and filter position… after everything i just put the lid back on and the light… so now…. its been around 4 hours and the fish seem fine… i do see a little more bubbles then i used to see in my tank… theres is a very small white foam layer that u can see when staring directly at the surface from a front view… i never put my hands in the tank yet but.. i finished the water and then realized my hand was a little soapy.. then i washed my hand and moved the heater around.. the fish seem fine kinda… their still swimming fast (danios). the big one is chasing the little one again after adding water back.. he stopped chasing the danios for like 3 days but everytime i add water or do anything it starts chaseing…. i don’t know what to do now… i know alot alot about fish and i help people alot on these fourms with fish but i never had experience with soap troubles so its all new to me… if any soap got in the tank it wasn’t like takeing the whole thing and squeezing it.. the soap was used to wash the outside of the bottle/holder and it was on my hands that were not complety soap free… im just worried that it will kill the fish although they are still swimming.. i did feed them after this and they ate it… it is 2 weeks into cycling and i have a an aqueon filter a tetra constant automatic heater. ( also i dropped this thermometor into that bottle so i can match the temperature, that i used to use for a saltwater tank.. but i did rinse the thermometer a little) after i added the water, i was worried so i opened the water bottle/holder and twisted it and smelled the water… it had a slight scent of somthing like rotten eggs… like a rotten egg smell kinda? so i didnt get that smell when i rinsed the inside without the soap… but it smelled like that after i added the dechlorinator and thermometor into that holder/bottle of water… here is a video on youtube with someone that has the exact same bottle/holer!! crazy i know…. his is 3 gallons but mine is half the size…
video link:
PLEASE HELP!!! i know i know alot about fish but this is very new to me.. i never delt with soap b4….
i should have just used my water changing bucket….
after watching that video i realized i had the same water holder/bottle so thats why i deided to use that old greasy thing… the guy made it look so conveniant… (it was but the saop part)
also do you think the it might have been the grease from the water bottle holder thingy or maybe it’s the grease from the sponge used to clean dirty dishes… im so worried something’s going to happen.. i don’t wanna cycle my whole tank over again… the tank does seem fine but…
ok so thanks for reading this whole thing and taking your time.. please help me
Thanks guys… i did my 25% change and the white foam seems to be very little now… the tank was still cycling but the 25% won’t do anything.. just slow it down..
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Tags: box shape, btw, cabinets, danios, dirty dishes, dish soap, fish tank, gallon water, little bit, nozzle, old water, sponge, tap water, three times, traces, ur, water bottle holder, water flow, water hole
w i have never dealt with soap in my aquarium but have had experience with other unwanted items in my tank
it sounds like if at all you only introduced a small amount of soap into your aquarium i think i would watch fish and water parameters closely for the next few days in the mean time i would do at least a 25% water change
You should take your fish out and put them in a temporary tank while you wash it out. But don’t leave the fish in the temporary tank for too long, especially if it’s small. The fish can run out of oxygen.
If I were you, I would do about a 25% water change. DO NOT USE THE SOAPY THING THIS TIME
Hope this helped some. If you have any more questions, feel free to contact me 
you dont put soap in your tank while your cleaning it because it can kill of the fish and it gets into the water. you put your fish in a separate container/bag/tank while your cleaning. it could also be the greasy stuff that got in the water to make it smell like that.
By the sounds of it the amount of soap was tiny. I wouldn’t use the bottle thing again. If the soap was biodegradable the fish should be fine, just keep an eye on them and do a little water change everyday for a week or so