# Is nail polish harmful to bettas?



## aqua001 (Jan 13, 2012)

I was wondering if the nail polish on my nails would become toxic if I submerged them in the tank water for about five minuets? The brands I usually use are: new york color and sinful colors.


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## ktlelia (Jun 27, 2012)

Good question, I've wondered it myself too. 
I hope someone here knows, sorry I couldn't help.


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## MyRainbowBettaFish (May 9, 2012)

If they are freshly painted *maybe* they could leak and evidently harm your fish. If its harmful for humans and animas to ingest, imagine what it could do to a fish's gills *and*their tank. I have no idea, but i would *definitely*not submerge anything that isn't fish-safe into your tank that isn't dry yet.

Once its dry though with a topcoat, it should be fine. I put my nails in the tank with no problems, just make sure its dry


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## DragonFish (Mar 31, 2009)

I used to be rather hesitant to paint my nails because my hands were always in tanks doing one thing or another......but the past three months or so I've had my nails painted almost constantly and haven't had any sort of problems. I'm, of course, very careful to paint at least a day before water change day to let my nails dry thoroughly and wash my hands a couple of times and whatnot, but so far no issues. 
I think, like MyRainbowBettaFish said, so long as you're not sticking freshly painted/wet nails in the tank you're fine xD


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## aqua001 (Jan 13, 2012)

Thanks! Do u know any particular brands that might be more toxic than others ?


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## DragonFish (Mar 31, 2009)

I don't think so.....I use quite a variety of brands, including Sinful colors and I'm pretty sure one of mine is NYC, and I've never had issues....no not that I know of XD


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## ccam7591 (Aug 5, 2012)

I'm sure it would be fine as long as the polish has completely dried, but I wouldn't test this if I were you.


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## babystarz (Aug 3, 2012)

Do you use topcoat? I would just make sure to do that and always wait 2 hours between nail painting and fish aquarium fiddling. It'll protect your fish from whatever is in the polish (clear has got to be better than tiny flakes of glitter or neon orange or what have you) and keep the polish from chipping.

And just a general FYI in case anyone wants to know, acrylic nails are notorious for trapping/spreading harmful bacteria. They would not mix well with fish tank submersion.


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## PaintingPintos (Dec 27, 2011)

They're definitely not going to be harmful.....not that many toxins can leech out in that time, and even if they do, it wouldn't be very harmful to the fish. Now, leaving a dried glob of around the size of a quarter in there for an hour would definitely leech, but for now you're alright!


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