water question

[truck0000]

Is there away to test for chemicals in you water? I have had a fish die off lately.
90 gal system with 125 lbs of live rock and a 4 inch sand bed.
Water parameters:
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0
Amonia 0
PH 8.3

The wife was cleaning and spayed carpet cleaner and some air freashner by my tank.
The other thing that has happened was A 2 cup full bag of activated carbon busted in my sump. Can the small chucks hurt or contaminate the tank?
Im also running phos ban from two little fishes. This stuff has really cut back my hair algea problem but could it be hurting my fish?

All inverts appear to be doing well assorted hermit, snails, and shrimp.
I lost a set of true percs last week. today I get home from work and my lawnmower blenny is belly up.

[ansonluna]

I have heard of Lysol killing fish. Probably the chemicals causing your problems. You have to be careful with that stuff.

[GaryP]

No, there is no practical way to test for those sort of chemicals. Running carbon will help remove them. The busted carbon shouldn't cause a problem. Something like Lysol can have bacteriacidal chemicals in it that can be toxic to fish but you are probably talking about very low levels actually getting in the water from the aerosols in the air.

Anytime you are going to be using any sort of houselhold chemicals in the house, especially aerosols or pest control products, its a good idea to shut down your cooling fans, turn off the lights and cover the tank with plastic. You can get a large roll of construction plastic (visquene) or a drop cloth for painting at Home Depot for this purpose. Also, replace the carbon with fresh material. Anything that leaks through can be pulled out by the carbon. Discard the carbon and replace it again after 24 hours. Many pesticides are phosphate based, so a phosphate absorber like Phosban or Phosguard might also be helpful.

If you live in an apartment, let your property manager know you have an aquarium that may be affected by pesticides and they give you plenty of advance notice before pest control treatments.