Incensed

[TbyZ]

My 18yo daughter is some kind of hippie, or yoga master, or
Hare Krishna, I don't know, but she insists on burning incense, in the house. It stinks.

Is there any chance that this wafting incense stench could cause my fish or corals to have an out of body experience, or something, & die?

 

[Maritimer]

I don't think that incense is likely to be a good thing for your tank ... but I also think that scented candles or Febreeze would be rather worse, so . . .

~Bruce

 

[boozeman27]

Um, it's your house. Try setting some rules. She's 18! She has no say

 

[Valkyrie]

I burn incense in a back room where my pottery studio is currently. I have birds now, as well as fish, so I don't burn it out in the area where they are located anymore.

For the record, I've burnt incense & candles for almost as long as I've had fish. Never have I had trouble. I don't know the exact reason, but it has something to do with the weight of the molecules. When I was a kid and stripping furniture in the family kitchen, my aquarium in my bedroom on the other end of the house became saturated with the paint stripper. I saved my fish, barely, but I learned that if you can't see something in the air drift upwards then you don't use it around aquariums.

 

[tyler1503]

I burn incense in my house occasionally and I have two tanks. I burn it in the living room ~5m from one tank and the second tank is in the bedroom down the hallway, ~7m away.
I've never had issues, although my tanks are less than a year old so I don't know it would be long term. I don't see it being much of an issue though as incense seems to disperse through the air fairly easily and a little air ventilation should stop it being an issue.
I always keep the bathroom fan on and keep the windows open to let fresh air in. It doesn't suck enough of the incense smell out to worry about.
That's just my experience though.

 

[Mr. Bill]

When you're burning incense or candles, they mainly produce small amounts of CO and CO2 which do not magically mix with the water on contact. Chemical cleaners are different- the fumes are the gaseous form of the chemicals which can be harmful or even lethal in high doses, that's why the labels say, "WARNING: Use in well-ventilated areas only".

I agree, though, that you need to set some rules if you don't like the smell in your house.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The organics it adds to the water might drive some bacterial growth, but I doubt the incense is a problem.