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How to minimise paint fumes risk.

JaExile

New Member
Joined
22 Apr 2020
Messages
15
Location
Lichfield
HI - the hallway where my tank is housed will be redecorated soon.
The tank is 120x60x60 cm with sliding glass condensation covers and a hood with 4 ventilation grates.
Filtration is via an Oase biomaster thermo and a jbl Co2 system.is in use
Other than putting a cover over the top is there anything else I should do - e.g. fit a polifilter to the filter and if so do I put it with the coarse filter media or on the sponge ?
Any suggests gratefully received.
 
Thank you for asking something very important to many members. We have seen posts where paint has destroyed entire tanks, and this tends to be from even the smallest droplets that mist into the water (10-15 microns in size are problematic; 1 micron = 1/1000 mm).
A lot depends upon the paint that you use, but even emulsion used nearby has killed a tank.
I think you should simply temporarily relocate your livestock into a bucket and put this in a safe sealed room. You probably will not need a heater in this weather, with an air stone this has never let me down. Cover the tank with film. Paint. You can then change the water and put the livestock back. Jobs done.
 
You could use an air pump in a sealed box that has been modified to make an air intake that fits a solvent filter cartridge for a painters face mask, or just put an air pump somewhere in fresh air (need waterproofing if outside on a window ledge etc), pump the air into the enclosed space above the water surface so that there’s an over pressure and solvents from the paint in the room can’t get in.

:)
 
Thanks both for the ideas. I may use a hybrid of both as my quite heavily planted tank has bulldog plecs, Corys and Oto’s which would be impossible to capture. I might have more luck with the rainbow fish and tetras. @X3NiTH any suggestions on how best to Distribute the air so that is widely dispersed.
 
Depending on the air volume output of the air pump then pumping air into your lid may or may not have enough positive pressure to keep contaminated room air out because of the ventilation outlets on the tank lid, using a small aquarium air pump in this instance probably wouldn’t provide enough positive pressure, however reducing the volume of the air gap above the water with a film over the tank and keeping the air exhaust outlet aperture small should be sufficient to allow this. Going large on the delivery air volume with a kitchen/bathroom extractor fan cobbled up to the lid vents would certainly be enough positive pressure to ensure no contamination ingress provided its delivering clean air.

Ingress of air in both situations should provide enough movement to have even dispersal, if there is also rippling on the water surface then this would augment the effect by inducing air currents.

:)
 
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