[ArcticRain]

This question may sound a little weird but, I'm am going to try and make this question as short as possible.

I put on Nail Polish a few days ago, I have never cleaned a tank while wearing nail polish before an I wanted to make sure it was safe to do so.
I need to do a 100% water change today and I can take off my nail polish if needed. But, I thought it would be a good a idea to ask everyone first.

So, can cleaning a fish tank while wearing nail polish harm your fish? Should I take it off, then clean the tank? Thank you everyone for your help!

I'm sorry if this was posted in the wrong part of the fourm!

 

[Bombalurina]

I've been wondering this too. I've done it before and my fish seemed fine - I don't feel comfortable doing it, though. I also would be wary of doing a clean with nail polish remover on.

Maybe wear some clean gloves?

 

[ArcticRain]

Well, the only gloves I have on hand say "Don't exspose gloves to water". So, that may not be the best option. At least I know that you have done it with nail polish on and have had no problems.

 

[Draug Isilme]

I'm the same way as Bombalurina- I've done it before with nail polish, but never felt 100% comfortable... Gloves are definitely a good alternative. If not, make sure you wash your hands thouroughly, ESPECIALLY if you're going to clean it after you're going to use nail polish remover... Main reason why I say that is I've waited a day or so without washing my hands after using nail polish remover... ate some food- it got on my fingers.. I used my mouth and BLEH! >.< That stuff can really cling... I can only imagine how much of that stuff can leak into a tank if it was that way with me... Definitely does better to be safe than sorry!
So yeah, if you do clean the tank without gloves, I'd say leave the nail polish on- Now that I think of it, I remember that you can treat snail shells with nail polish if they have small cracks (you apply it on them out of the water and wait till it dries before putting them back in their aquarium- it's not harmful when it dries and if it is I assume the toxicity level is not noticeable for you tank mates; kinda like low ammonia ppm- won't hurt them in small quantities). It seems like if you cleaned your nails the nail polish remover would definitely leak into the tank and be more harmful to your fish than the nail polish.

 

[ArcticRain]

Thank you both for the advice! I will go ahead and do the water
change as normal. I will just make sure to keep an extremely close eye on my betta afterwords.

Just for future reference. If I was to hold off on doing the water change till tomorrow and if I took of my nail polish now. Do you think a day of washing my hands would get all the nail polish remover off and make it 100% safe to do a water change without contamination?

 

[Draug Isilme]

It's really hard to say. It sounds plausible if anything! Just make sure to get under your nails- hell even use a toothbrush or one of those pedicure brushes that are specifically used for cleaning nails- that way you can be sure you get under very crevice of your nails/hands rather than just trying to scrub them insanely with only your hands and still not be able to get in those hard to reach areas... Plus the nail polish remover has a lot of... god knows what (maybe rubbing alcohol?) that evaporates so I assume that will help some with getting rid of it.. If you feel really ambitious with this particular subject, you might want to google the ingredients so you're familiar with what's toxic, what's not, how to properly wash away the stuff if any other procedures are provided, how well certain ingredients wash away in comparison to others, etc etc... Just be open with it when researching!

 

[ArcticRain]

Thank you very much for the info! You have really helped a lot!

 

[Draug Isilme]

No prob ^.^ I really do hope it helps!!!

 

[a123andpoof]

I cleaned my tanks with nail polish on didn't have a problem. I would say as long as it's been on a few days, you have washed your hand, showered etc your probably fine.

 

[Gen2387]

I ALWAYS have nail polish on or fake nails or some of those nail polish stickers and I never take them off to clean my tanks even when I put my hands in the water. Once te nail polish is dry there is no danger. If you've had the nail polish on for a while and it's starting to fall off piece by pieces, then I suggest to take it off before and wash your hands a couple of times to makes sure there is no nail polish remover residue on your hands.

 

[AcrimoniousArbiter]

One less thing us males don't have to worry about ;-)

 

[kfish]

I cleaned Mr. Fish's tank with nail polish on all the time... never had any adverse effects. It DESTROYS your nail polish, though, rofl. I couldn't keep nail polish on at all, but I tried

 

[Theraggy1]

So long as your nail polish is all the way dry and doesn't smell like anything, it makes sense that it wouldn't hurt them. Since all the fumes and what not are gone by then.
I mean I wouldn't leave a hunk of nail polish in the tank or anything, but for briefly digging around in there, it doesn't seem like it would harm them at all.

Now if your nails are flaking or have just been done, that's another story. In that case leave your hands out of the tank.

 

[MandiceP]

If you were going to use gloves I would make sure they are meant for use in water and not like latex gloves... those have powder in them and if you fully submerge your hand and get any of the powder in the tank that is probably no good... But I know we sell "aqua gloves" at my store that are meant for use with fish tanks. Just wanted to add that. I never put on nail polish so I'm not sure. lol