Okay Another Question....
I am redoing my family room, a little dry wall repair, and Painting.
Does anyone know if the fumes from paint are toxic to the fish, I really don't want to move my tanks (75 & 90 gal) to another room, but don't want to kill them either.

Painting the ceiling 500 square feet and 1/2 the walls (other half wainscott)

Supposed to do the ceiling tomorrow, hope there is someone out there that might have the answer tonight.

I have a stucco ceiling and paint store suggested a quick drying oil based low odour oil based paint. My painter thinks it would be better to use latex, cause he thought it might be bad for the fish.



Thanks

Yeah I don't know about the oil based paint. There is a "green" paint available that I can't remember what it's called V something. It's supposed to be odorless and pretty much the same as latex. If you can't find that paint or already have the paint your gonna use, cover the tank in plastic and make sure you cover your filters if you have HOB's.

Thanks CT

I had purchased an oil based primer, and cover paint. When my painter said that, I called paint store and they had a oil based primer/finish paint, low odour and fast drying. So I bought that to.
Now I wonder if I should just go by a Latex primer.....

I quickly checked the net.... there are some that say to keep it well ventilated. Others say if you have air pumps shut them off. and keep the air circulating in the room. I have a window air conditioner, I will put it on high. open all the windows .
shut off the air pumps. and cover in the fish tanks in plastic
I have xp3 filter and hob and air pump on a 90 gal tank.
I have xp2 filter and hob and air pump on a 75 gal tank.

I guess I could remove the fish tanks, it would be an awful lot of work. Then do the painting afterwards.

Wow, never considered the paint fumes being toxic to the fish.

I called Big Als in Barrie, cause I bought a lot of the fish there. They say that there is no problem with painting fumes, provided I don't put it in the tank. Wow, ya think!!!

Kinda worries me with an answer like that. That maybe they don't really know.

Any one else out there deal with this in the past??

Well you should be okay as long as you keep it well ventilated. I've painted around my tanks plenty of times. All I did was turn the hob's off and cover with a drop cloth. I've never had any problems.

Unfortunately there are too many paints out there to give you an answer that is guranteed accurate.

Low odor doesn't necessarily mean low risk. Low VOC paint, however, will minimize the amount of material that gets into the atmosphere, and subsequently your tank.

Fast drying paint sounds like a great idea, unless of course it simply means the copious amounts of solvents all flash off quickly into the air. Personally, I would rather have small amounts flash off over a longer period because I believe the processes in our tanks can handle it easier this way.

I have always done what cturner recommends - plastic over the tank. I also do a water change beforehand and add fresh activated carbon because it will adsorb the VOC's that potentially could make it into the tank.

Please understand that I am not trying to alarm you with any of this. I work with toxics each and every day. I have no doubt that I inadvertently bring some home with me from time to time, and yet I still stick my bare hands in my tanks with no apparent ill effects the last 22 years.

Last suggestion - if you want to know what you are up against, Google 'paint brand & type MSDS' such as 'Valspar interior latex msds'. The material safety data sheet will give you information on the chemicals in the paint as well as how to protect yourself when working with it. If you see 'organic vapor' cartridges listed for respiratory protection, load up you filters with activated carbon to do the same thing for your fish Tres Bien!

Good luck with your project. With a little prep, I'm sure you will be fine. Personally, I'd be more concerned with the drywall dust as it gets absolutely everywhere (but my fish made it through this just fine as well).

oops..missed your comment on the air pumps. I would definitely shut them off while the paint dries.

http://www.zinsser.com/PDF/MSDS/odorless.pdf

http://www.zinsser.com/product_detail.asp?ProductId=14

This is the second batch of paint I bought, thinking it was better if it dried quicker and only needed one product instead of 2.
The MSDS might as well be latin to me, but I don't see any organic filters mentioned.

Thanks for the suggestion Trainer.

JD1960,

I read through the MSDS and checked out the isoparaffin component, which is really the compound of highest concern - basically it's the naptha base. Cover the tanks, turn off the air pumps until the smell is gone, and make sure you put fresh activated carbon in, because it will adsorb the isoparaffin, and you should be good to go! Just remember to change out the carbon after 24 hours or so to physically remove any of the material adsorbed.

Trainer,

I will change it out and put in fresh...

and again after 12 hrs or so

Thanks for the info and suggestions.

Much Appreciated.

Evening...

Well all went well with the plaster patching and sanding.
Also went good with the Primer.
Hardly any smell at all, and all the windows open.
Down side is that it's pretty humid today.

The fish are happy, and swimming about like nothing was going on at all.

Thanks to all for the advice.

Cheers.

JD

Glad to hear the first steps went well! the Clap