Paint chips?

[Lagavulin]

I am having a bad run of luck all of a sudden. I had not lost a fish in my tank until now and, as I posted in another thread, I have tried a Manadrin and now my luck seems to have changed. Anyhoo...on to my point of this post.

My water parameters look pretty good, zero on the really bad stuff, low nitrates. A little high on the phospahtes but I am addressing it and they are coming down.

I had what outwardly appeared to be a healthy Lawnmower/Algea Blenny for several months. He died "overnight". My brittle star was snacking on him yesterday morning. He was eating well, and I made sure he had greens, (sea veggie and/or veggie rounds), in his regular diet. Well as I look around my tank I think I know what got him although obviously I can't be sure, (predation by the star or my Sallylightfoot or other "natural" causes...who knows).

I used a "fish safe" spray paint on my closed loop spray bar when I put it together as well as what was on my sump returns put together by the guy who made my tank/cabinet set-up.

Well these where natural places early on for some hair algea to bloom, (hence my getting said fish), and true to his nature he went right after it. Well now I see clearly where in the process of tearing the algea off he has scraped away paint with his teeth and in all probability ingested it.

Now, my understanding of "fish safe" is that alledgedly it won't leech chemicals or metals back into your system...that doesn't mean it is safe to eat....especially by a relatively small fish.

So...the moral is that I don't think I can have a fish with the "comb teeth" like a Blenny that will really attack and tear algea off a surface because sooner or later they will get more paint.

Has anyone had this particular problem? If so what if anything where you able to do about it? TIA. Lag.

P.S. Also a word of warning for any of you with little paint chip eaters out there...

 

[Lagavulin]

Well it would seem by the silence no one has done this. Uhmmn. Well I used the paint out of ignorance following the advice of the guy who assembled my tank whom I trusted...at the time anyway.

I mentioned it to the guys at my LFS and they looked at me with pity and said something like, "They make fish safe paint?", (translation = What kind of idiot paints anything they put into a saltwater tank).

Well shite. To correct this will require a complete tank tear down and rebuild of my close loop spray bar. I am fargin bummed. To add insult to injury the skimmer I have is homemede by the guy I bought it from, (I got it off a famous auction site), and the materials in that are now suspect.

I guess after I get done crying I can go post in the confess your sins thread. Right now I would throw a cat into a burning pile of you-know-what to fix this.

 

[wrightme43]

relax, its going to be ok.
I cant speak for everyone, but I sure have done some stuff that looking back wasnt all that bright.
There is paint you can use around saltwater, as far as I know though it doesnt come in a can. Two part epoxy paint when dry is pretty inert. I still wouldnt reccomend it as a fish food though. LOL
Chalk it up to a learning experience.
What about this skimmer do you feel is unsafe? Is it acrylic or pvc or what?

 

[Lagavulin]

It's PVC and he painted it. It's in the sump so it won't be chewed on, but the paint did come from a rattle can...

I'm probably going to hire the guys from my LFS, (they do consulting/in-house builds...you name it), to help me tear down/rebuild. The main reason is they have the capacity with holding vats and so forth that i don't have to hold my livestock & corals during the process.

This is going to equate to several hundred bucks + plus I'm in the skimmer market now. I just don't want to chance it. The skimmer actually seems to work rather well but I don't have confidence in the materials now...TARTER SAUCE!!.

 

[Lagavulin]

Dang....actually it isn't PVC I don't know what it's called. Basically the plastic that sewer drains in a house are made with. When exactly does this hobby become "fun"? It's been pretty much all work a not much play so far. By the time I get this fixed & a new skimmer I bet I'm into it another $500. Which means I'm closing in on about $40 bucks a gallon of water capacity now. If my wife would have known I would have had a credit card suppository, lol. Hell if I would have known I would have helped her...I still like my tank, lol.

That advice of doing it right the first time is good advice. I didn't exactly skimp but the few corners I have cut have reliably come back and chewed off a big piece of my backside...

 

[Detri]

Is the pipe black or grey? If it is black it is ABS, which from what I understand it not bad. It's basically the same as PVC.

 

[Lagavulin]

It is black ABS but parts are painted. I watched him do it in noob ignorant bliss. I'm going to buck up and get one that I have confidence in.