concrete floor epoxy coating fish/coral safe????

[MrineLfRlz]

The heart of my system is all in my basement sump, frag tanks and so on...
Ive started to paint my block wall foundation with Kilz slowly and i like the way its starting to look but the concrete floors will need help after im done with the walls. I dont want to have to tear everything down to do it if i dont have to.I want to epoxy cover the floor is there anything safe enough out there that i can use (i can even do alittle at a time if necessary) that wont harm my tank inhabitants while doing it?

[BossHoggin]

The epoxy you use on concrete in a garage takes a long time to cure in regards to the fact it off gases a lot. also very toxic obviously. My garage stank for days with windows and doors wide open. You could cover your sump and have your skimmer draw air from outside. Run carbon and polyfilter changed out quite often. I do not reccomend this.

[MrineLfRlz]

what about floor paint?

[BHHOWARD]

did you use epoxy or floor paint?

[hllywd]

I've used a water based floor paint from Lowes, I don't think I have the can anymore to reference exactly what it was, however there was little if any odor. I can say it doesn't get much traffic in my application, but it cleans up nice, and still looks good after a couple years. I've spilled fermenting beer on it several times, and lightly scrubbed the residue back off after it had dried. Certainly it won't be as durable as epoxy, but it would be very easy to recoat if necessary.

[kc350twin]

Man I used drylok on my walls and single stage epoxy on the floor and man it was a real hassle. My skimmer went nuts and I'm guessing injected the fumes into the tank. I lost a lot of corals and I can't say for sure but I feel like it still has a effect on things. I'm not quite sure which one it was because I did both in the same day.
Needless to say I only did one side of my basement. I won't do it again.
Keep us posted on this.

[BHHOWARD]

thanks for the quick reply. I like the idea of a water-based paint, but I'm a little concerned as salt water can be caustic. Have you had salt water on the paint?


I've used a water based floor paint from Lowes, I don't think I have the can anymore to reference exactly what it was, however there was little if any odor. I can say it doesn't get much traffic in my application, but it cleans up nice, and still looks good after a couple years. I've spilled fermenting beer on it several times, and lightly scrubbed the residue back off after it had dried. Certainly it won't be as durable as epoxy, but it would be very easy to recoat if necessary.

[BHHOWARD]

Sorry to hear. I have the tank upstairs for now, but sounds like I should be safe and wait until I can open the windows in the basement to let the fumes escape.

Man I used drylok on my walls and single stage epoxy on the floor and man it was a real hassle. My skimmer went nuts and I'm guessing injected the fumes into the tank. I lost a lot of corals and I can't say for sure but I feel like it still has a effect on things. I'm not quite sure which one it was because I did both in the same day.
Needless to say I only did one side of my basement. I won't do it again.
Keep us posted on this.

[kc350twin]

Yeah should be fine. If I had to do it again I'd Saran Wrap my basement sump and run a temp air line outside for the skimmer. The strange thing is that the smell really wasn't bad at all. It was quite mild and I was not concerned at all when I started the project.

[hllywd]

thanks for the quick reply. I like the idea of a water-based paint, but I'm a little concerned as salt water can be caustic. Have you had salt water on the paint?

No, it's in our unheated sunroom. I doubt the salt water would affect it with the exposure it should see, I mean do you plan to have salt water on it all the time?

[MrineLfRlz]

Sorry for the delay but i havent done anything yet still waiting to find what others have used that worked but didnt harm aquatic life