painting a concrete floor near a reef tank

[mfinn]

I have a friend that has a reef tank that is in a basement on a concrete floor.
She wants to paint the floor.
I know that to do it right, would required a acid etch prep and then a 2 part epoxy materials.
There is no place that the tank can be moved to, so anything used would have to be safe to use with it in the room.
Anyone have a idea?

[billdogg]

I did my entire 2200sf basement (except where the tank sat) with no problems. You need good ventilation anyway, so what I did was put a fan in one window blowing in, a fan in the other blowing out.

Try not to get the etching solution or the epoxy in the tank!

[mfinn]

I did my entire 2200sf basement (except where the tank sat) with no problems. You need good ventilation anyway, so what I did was put a fan in one window blowing in, a fan in the other blowing out.

Try not to get the etching solution or the epoxy in the tank!



Was it a low voc product?

[mfinn]

The house this is in is old. At one time this area was a garage ( under the house) and still has that pull up 9' garage door.

[billdogg]

Was it a low voc product?

I don't think so. It pretty much stunk up the whole house even with the fans. It also takes LOTS of water to clean up after etching.

[atarjanyi]

I would run the air intake for the protein skimmer outside. Add extra activated carbon. And if possible tent the top of tank and sump with plastic and pump fresh air in from outside to keep a clean air space above the water surface.

Rent large ventilation fans for the basement air for occupant protection, your local tool rental service should be able to help with correct sizing. The fumes from both parts can get bad, I had to keep the garage doors open when doing it.

Alex

[mfinn]

Not sure I would want to go with this process.
Would be interested in other options.