Polyurethane fumes

[leftygerbino]

The hardwood floors in the room where my tank is need to be refinished. I heard some time ago that the fumes from the polyurethane are harmful to a reef tank. Does anyone have any knowledge of that? Any information would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[naprestsleep]

I hope not. Just finished 2 doors and 16 pieces of trim with Polyshades(stain and poly in one) and have seen no issues.

 

[naprestsleep]

PS -- Id worry more about the dust from sanding.

 

[leftygerbino]

I can protect against the dust. I know I heard something about the fumes so I thought I would inquire. Thanks!

 

[sandworm]

the fumes get stronger as the poly dries,burning eyes kind of strong. is it just one room being refinished or a whole level? refinishing generally take three coat, with 24 hours to dry in between.in this weather/temp you wont be able to leave windows open for fresh air. If it was me I would move the tank. I know this isn't what you want to hear.

 

[divementia]

Water based is going to be less toxic if at all. If you can't move tank make a tent over it with positive airflow from another room.

 

[leftygerbino]

The floor in the family room (where the tank is) is only going to be buffed and polly'd. The other rooms (on the same level) are being refinished and will have more coats. My guys are great about sealing up rooms that they are working on to minimize the dust. They have done a lot of floors for me over the past ten years. I'm not going to do it until its warm enough to have the windows open. I'm pretty experienced with the process just not as it relates to a tank.

Option 1 right now is to seal the tank and open all 6 windows until its dry.

Option 2 is to leave that room alone since the floors look good now. It's just that the rest of the floors are going to look so much better.

Thanks guys!

 

[NirvanaFan]

I (with the wife's help) have refinished most of the hardwood floors in our house. I had my breeding setup downstairs in the basement. We sealed off the doorway to it and had no effects when we did our floors. The reef tank was not running at the time.

 

[EllieSuz]

Just to be on the safe side, I'd turn off the skimmer.

 

[Posidion]

I refinished over 50% of my house a few years ago. My system had a display in the Lr and the rest in basement. My display had to be moved in order to rip out carpet and do floor. I experienced no problems with any of the tanks down stairs.the display was moved to the basement and put together temporarily this is where losses occurred and frustration was rampant. Display was never the same.this was likely due the move twice in as many weeks rather than the floor or poly urethane especially given the other tanks were mostly unaffected.

 

[SkiFletch]

DO NOT seal the tank. Everything in there needs oxygen, so sealing it will be a big problem. If you do want to wrap it, you need to set it up with positive airflow from the outside as someone earlier reccomended. If you do that, it would definitely be OK. Some flex-hose, a fan, and being creative with tape and plastic should do that

 

[leftygerbino]

Great info! More things to protect against. Regarding sealing the tank: I meant the display. The sump in in the basement. I'm thinking about sealing the tank during sanding and removing the plastic when they are done sanding and cleaning. Since the sump is in the basement does anyone see any need to turn off the skimmer? I attached a couple pics as well. I also don't need to move the display because I modified my built in cabinets to hold it.

 

[tmz]

The fumes will get in the water.It is considered harmful by Randy Farley et alia. There have been reoprts of tank crashes .

 

[SkiFletch]

The fumes are/can be nasty, though with the basement sump, you might be OK. Your best bet would be to seal off the display real good, then seal off any ductwork in the basement and if possible weather strip the basement door. Keep the skimmer and sump running, and you should be OK. Your lights might make things interesting temp wise, so make sure you watch that. A shorter photoperiod might be in order.

 

[tmz]

^^
+1

Maybe running an outside airline to the skimmer would be helpful if the fumes are getting to the air intake.

 

[cjbtech]

I have installed,refinished hardwood floors for the last 20yrs. If you use a quick dry sealer(for an oil look) and a waterbourne poly (for low VOCs) you should have no problems. I have done numerous homes with fish tanks with no problems. The fact is if you let the floor set up for a few hours then set a fan in a door or window to suck air out of the house you should be good.
Talk to your contractor about your coating options and you'll be fine. I have personaly coated 1500ft of my own home (oil) with 1000+ gallons of fw tanks running in my basement with zero problems. Just my exp. PS Oil poly looks better to me. Mike

 

[leftygerbino]

Thanks a bunch for the info!

 

[block head]

Friend crashed his tank an hour after ac workers did a service. I don't hesitate to cover tanks with a blanket when i'm in doubt. Don't forget the sump. Sometimes shite happens . A blanket isnt airtight, but will filter dust, airborne chemicals, etc. Every tank is unique. Sometimes little issues can cause tragic results. Usually tanks can be quite hardy.