Painting my room with fish tank in the room

[megatsea]

My husband is painting one wall this weekend in our 10 X 12 den ...if we cover the 30 gallon reef with plastic and use a fan to have air exchange to ease out the fumes...would this keep the tank safe? It is in the same room.
The tank is eclipse 3.
Thanks , Meg

[Hoggn]

Shouldn't be a problem.. You can run some carbon to be safe but I did this about a month ago and seen no bad effects...

[megatsea]

Thankyou for your reply. Any idea how long it would be to see adverse effects in case I need to transfer fish ,coral and critters to another tank while replacing with a fresh supply of salt water?
Meg
ps we might not take the chance....haven't decided on it yet. Appreciate all imput.

[Hoggn]

Do you have any coral that normally start to look bad when your water gets a little funky?

[Sk8r]

The saran wrap is a good idea over a few hours. You have a skimmer, right, in case something builds up. Your air intake area should be closed off, pump shut down. Don't forget the same treatment for your sump. Shut down lights to avoid heat build up, turn off heater ditto. And ventilate the room. By the time your instincts would, say, oh, bring a baby into the room, it's about right to turn on power and unwrap. I'd run carbon. Watch your mushrooms and fish, fastest reacters. In general I've done this for fumigation which takes about 8 hours for the process and gotten off scot-free.

[megatsea]

Thankyou. Good idea, forgot about lights and heat build up...I would hopefully had remembered in time to shut down the lights when covering the tank..... We haven't done anything yet, but want to think it through first before I regret painting.
No skimmer, but I have carbon filter. Just changed it this morning. I have had the tank for only 18 months and haven't had sysmptoms of poor health yet...except the hair algae problem. So , I gather mushrooms, and the sinularia would be most sensitive, and show ill signs if affected.
I will keep checking in to gather more feedback before(if) we paint.
Thanks everyone!
Meg

[Subrafta]

You shouldn't have any problems if you use a good water based latex interior house paint and have decent ventilation. I'd use water based latex just for the easy of cleanup and lack of fumes, even without the tank to consider.

[megatsea]

Thankyou.