Vapors from Spray Painting and the Reef Aquarium

[mtp]

I have a 110 built into the wall so it is visible from two rooms. The system is a mixed tank with a bias toward SPS. Several of my colonies are very rare and have been grown out for a number of years. I have a couple of hard to find fish that would not be easy to replace.

My wife is wants to paint our wood paneled den. That is one of the rooms the system sets in and the room that has louvered doors for the cabinet under the tank for air circulation and that houses the chiller, skimmer, calcium reactor, refugium etc. I am concerned about the effect the paint vapors could have on the system. Two coats of spray paint, taking down the ceiling acoustic and replacing it is not an ideal environment for a sensitive ecosystem.

Anybody have any experience and strategies to keep my reef and my marriage survivable?

Thanks, Mike

 

[billsreef]

Hang some plastic sheeting as a barricade for the tank on the side that's being painted. Also seal off that room from the room that the other side opens too. That should be sufficient to protect your tank. Even better, scratch the spray paint and go with brush on latex water based paint...no toxic fumes

 

[mtp]

paint vapors

paint vapors

I would like them to use a brush but the spray application will look better. When we did the kitchen, the other room the tank is in, I had them triple drape the reef and seal off the room. Of course it was only roof acoustic removal and the paint has brushed on.

I also thought about have them vent and purge the paint vapors outside with fans placed in the windows. The other thought I had was to have a canister of oxygen being aerated into the reef in the kitchen.

Any thoughts?

 

[billsreef]

I wouldn't use the O2 canister, but forced ventilation with fans will work well Use a fan to force good air into the kitchen and another set up to vent the bad air our of the room being painted. Also a large load of fresh carbon placed in the tanks filtration will hedge your bets.

 

[mtp]

Thanks Bill

The fan in the Kitchen may be an issue since the exhaust vent from the den will be on the same outside wall of the house only about 20- 25 feet away. Likely some vapors would come back into the house. I do like the carbon load idea.

Mike

 

[tcmfish]

I read an article in CORAL magazine about a reef tank in a dentist office where the place had to be kept clean so they were using disinfectants in the dentist office and the tank was in the reception room area and in a hallway going towards the offices I guess and they had problems with the tank until it was seal off because the chemicals they were using got into it. They went way overboard and sealed it off and used a seperate air source for everthing but I would just try and not let fumes get to it.

 

[billsreef]

Depending on wind direction, that distance between window's might be a non issue. Does your kitchen have another entry that you use to set up a fan to bring in air from another part of the house?

 

[mtp]

Bill,

I could probably do a fan progression to bring fresh air into the kitchen. Do you think I need to have a kitchen air extraction strategy as well? I could introduce fresh air into my study, closest room to the reef and exhaust through the kitchen into the utility room.

Mike

 

[billsreef]

I think just bringing fresh air into the room not being painted and exhausting the air from from the room being painted will be more than sufficient.

 

[mtp]

Drape the fresh air side or let the fresh air create a natural equilibrium through unrestricted aeration?

 

[billsreef]

I'd drape it off on the side being painted, ie the tank on the painted room side and the entry to the painted room.