I am painting the interior of my house. We have a fairly open floor plan, so I can't close the door to the room with my tanks. Do I need to move them, or will they be OK in a room that is next to one being painted? We have a ton of windows, too. I guess my question is, really, how deadly are paint fumes to fish, and what can I get away with without killing my pets?
Painting around fish . . .
- Thread starter Megan9mm
- Start date
Turn off any air pumps, unless they are the only filtration. If this the case, check the pump for an air filter. If there is one, replace it with a new one, preferably one with carbon. If you're running a UGF with it, replace the tube filters with new ones that have fresh carbon.
Cover the tank with a large sheet when you're actually painting. Make sure there is adequate ventilation throughout the process, and at least 2 days after completion.
This is probably overkill, but safer. I recently painted my bedroom and bathroom, and didn't worry about my tanks, but they are one floor away from where I was painting, and I don't use an air pump for anything. I did cover my tank when the patio door right next to it was replaced, to keep the dust out. Didn't have any problems.
Cover the tank with a large sheet when you're actually painting. Make sure there is adequate ventilation throughout the process, and at least 2 days after completion.
This is probably overkill, but safer. I recently painted my bedroom and bathroom, and didn't worry about my tanks, but they are one floor away from where I was painting, and I don't use an air pump for anything. I did cover my tank when the patio door right next to it was replaced, to keep the dust out. Didn't have any problems.
Modern waterbase paints aren't as deadly as old-fashioned oil-based paints were.
The trick is not to pump fume-laden air into the system unnecessarily. So unplug any airpumps and raise water levels to minimize splash from your filtration. Don't stop the filters, but put brand-fresh activated carbon in appropriate places. If you drop the temperature a few degrees, you'll slow metabolisms, which can't hurt.
Keep the lights off. Disable the timer, because you'll want to wrap the aquarium in plastic amd you don't want the lights to come on under wraps.
If you're nervous about delicate fishes, you might follow up with a water change.
What do y'all think? Anything that should be added? Anything that's unecessarily finicking? Anything dead wrong?
The trick is not to pump fume-laden air into the system unnecessarily. So unplug any airpumps and raise water levels to minimize splash from your filtration. Don't stop the filters, but put brand-fresh activated carbon in appropriate places. If you drop the temperature a few degrees, you'll slow metabolisms, which can't hurt.
Keep the lights off. Disable the timer, because you'll want to wrap the aquarium in plastic amd you don't want the lights to come on under wraps.
If you're nervous about delicate fishes, you might follow up with a water change.
What do y'all think? Anything that should be added? Anything that's unecessarily finicking? Anything dead wrong?
Thanks for the tips. I'm very relieved that I won't have to break down two tanks and carry them down to the basement . . .
Like was mentioned modern house paint doesn't have the same toxic fumes of yesteryears house paints, unless you are using some sort of very special primer. Maybe put a house fan near the tanks to blow air away from them. You probably get worse fumes from daily household cleaners in the air.