Painting house interior

[fandaga]

My wife wants to paint the interior of the house, and I’m terrified that the fumes will kill my fish, inverts, and corals. Any advice on how to protect my tank?

 

[AydenLincoln]

Can you cover the tank? And use fans and open windows for ventilation and help the pain dry.

 

[fandaga]

Can you cover the tank? And use fans and open windows for ventilation and help the pain dry.

Yes, to some extent. I have tank covers but some air will come from inside the house. Any ideas about paint that’s reef safe?

 

[AydenLincoln]

Yes, to some extent. I have tank covers but some air will come from inside the house. Any ideas about paint that’s reef safe?

I’m not sure because when I painted near my fish tanks I wasn’t too concerned. But here is a helpful thread: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/painting-a-room-with-a-reef-tank-in-it.385685/

 

[fandaga]

Yes, to some extent. I have tank covers but some air will come from inside the house. Any ideas about paint that’s reef safe?

I’m not sure because when I painted near my fish tanks I wasn’t too concerned. But here is a helpful thread: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/painting-a-room-with-a-reef-tank-in-it.385685/

Thanks for finding that thread. That looks like good advice.

 

[Reginald Reefer III]

Run good carbon during the entire time and try to keep the tank covered during painting.

 

[UncommonSense]

I had great luck when painting around my 180g freshwater tank by roughly sealing off the tank with plastic sheeting and tape, with a big, pond air pump pumping outside air (or air from an area not being painted) into the tank itself!

This creates a bubble of positive air pressure inside the plastic sheeting, bleeding air out through every crack, preventing pain fumed house air from contacting tank water!

— the same principles can be applied in a reef tank! You may just be able to plumb your skimmer to outside air to achieve the same effect, but a high volume air pump may be the safest option! (And, it would feed the skimmer fresh outside air from the positive pressure bubble!)