Fire! Need help!

[dkerns06]

I recently had a kitchen fire in my apartment. This is going to mean 3 weeks of restoration, cleaning, sealing, and 2 coats of paint on the walls, carptets all need cleaned, plus replacments of cabinets and stove. I don't know what to do with my tank during all this. I'm worried though because my father had his carpets cleaned before and it wiped out his freshwater tank. Now with this we are talking a lot more fumes and chems. My thoughts were to try reanolds wrapping the whole tank like leftovers in the fridge and doing the same to my sump. I don't know what else to do at this point. Any advise would be much appreciated. Thnks.

 

[Big Dog]

I recently had a kitchen fire in my apartment. This is going to mean 3 weeks of restoration, cleaning, sealing, and 2 coats of paint on the walls, carptets all need cleaned, plus replacments of cabinets and stove. I don't know what to do with my tank during all this. I'm worried though because my father had his carpets cleaned before and it wiped out his freshwater tank. Now with this we are talking a lot more fumes and chems. My thoughts were to try reanolds wrapping the whole tank like leftovers in the fridge and doing the same to my sump. I don't know what else to do at this point. Any advise would be much appreciated. Thnks.

How big is the tank? How much livestock?

 

[Enyo]

I think if you reanolds wrap the tank to keep chemicals out, your tank will be deprived of oxygen within an hour if not quicker. Your best bet is either banking the livestock at a friend's or bucket them in the basement.

 

[AHDOnline]

Depending on how close quarter it is you might not have an option. I assume you are talking about your 54gallon corner tank?

You could tent it (like a tarp not too tight)while work is being done and hope for the best keeping water on hand to do small changes after each day that work is being done. Keeping air in the place circulated and fresh. You can also try to pump air into the sump from outside if its going to be bad.

I would have to have to see you tear it down, but if you need a place to store anything or fish kept please let me know Im not too far from you

 

[Raceimage]

I did some research because I am totally renovating my basement which is where my 120gal tank is. Most of the "chems" enter your tank through the skimmer. It draws the vapors in and directly injects them into the water as it is operating. Sounds stupid;however, you can extend your air input hose on your skimmer so it is drawning air from a fresh air source. I have painted, stained, applied finish, and sealed my cement block in a rather large basement with no adverse affects to my tank using this technique. No quarantee - just how I dealt with a similar situation.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Sealing the tank and sump with plastic is an option if the need is short term. The problem here is the length of the project.

The idea is to provide positive ventilation from a clean outside source to airstones in the sealed tank, sealed sump and to the skimmer. That means a fairly decent air pump (Alita AL-15 or AL-40) for example. You only need to run the lights sparingly if they are going to create a heat issue. Covering the tank may also create a heat issue. So in the end, moving the livestock to a safe location may be the best bet.

 

[cloakerpoked]

I have 2 20 gallon tanks that could be linked to my system and could probably accomodate a lot of what you have if you want also. I tore down my tank and moved it to my bedroom when I painted and spackled my livingroom (adjacent to the bedroom). My wife was thrilled, but as long as I was careful to keep the door shut and rags under the door to prevent too much airflow, I had no problems. The better option for you if it can be done might be to put plastic to isolate your kitchen.

 

[dkerns06]

So as it turns out the clean up wont be to bad at all. The rooms being painted will not be the one the tank is in and my landlord is paying me to do my own wipe down of the walls that the tank is in. At least this way I can be conscious of the tank. I probably will run an airhose out the nearest window just in cast but there shouldn't be any fumes and I probably wont even have to move the tank being that I can reach around it to clean. Thanks for all your tips. I think I dodged a bulltet here.

 

[bnmir]

I'd use activated carbon, too