[AquaticLife] Can painting bother the fish ?
You should “tent” the tank with a plastic garbage bag or plastic drop cloth and tape the bottom edge of the plastic to the glass of the tank all the way around so that none of the fumes can get into the tank. If you have an air pump, either put it inside the “tent” or put it outside (if you have enough airline hose) so that it is sucking in fresh air and pumping that into your tank. The pump being outside will also cause an increased pressure inside the “tent” so it will kind of blow up a little and this will further keep any fumes out. Your filter system should be inside the “tent” also and should be kept running. You could put some fresh carbon in your filter which will also aid in filtering any possible paint fumes that might get into the water.
You never want to leave your filter system turned off for more than an hour or two as the good bacteria will begin to die off and the water in the reservoir will become stagnant and toxic. If you ever do have a power issue where your filter is off for more than an hour or two, you should unplug it and do filter maintenance after the power is back on and start off fresh. You may have a mini-cycle but at least you won’t be pumping toxic water into your tank.
Lenny Vasbinder Fish Blog - http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com
Category: Philippines Internet Koi Society
