Painting

HayleyK · Aug 18, 2013

So my house is getting painted, well all of the ceilings and my room will be painted completely which is wear my babies live. My tank is 3ft and well established and fully cycle. WHAT DO I DO?! I'm scared fumes will affect the water and I have no idea where to put them, what to do with the water. My tank is so big to move around I can't take it to another house. Any suggestions please and ASAP? Mums planning to start in a few days

pookiewn · Aug 18, 2013

Is there a room that isn't being painted? Or do you have a shed you can move them to? If you can keep 20% of the water while moving the tank, it will be like doing a large water change which will be fine for the filter.

My house is being renovated at the moment, so to save the dust and fumes etc I moved the tank into my outhouse. Not an easy thing to do with a six foot tank, but with a couple of friends and a couple of hours it got moved safetly with the cycle still going. More importantly all the axies are safe and undisturbed.

HayleyK · Aug 18, 2013

Unfortunately no, every ceiling is getting done but my entire room is getting done and my garage is jammed packed! It's really heavy.. Do you think if I removed the filter/air pump and covered a sheet of plastic will work? The only option I have is putting them in buckets and I still don't know where to put them..

snuggly time · Aug 18, 2013

Some other threads on the topic, perhaps fridge them or can you get a large tub and keep them at someone elses house for a while?

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...newt-salamander-help/86159-painting-help.html

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...otl-general-discussion/65928-paint-fumes.html

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...l-discussion/75123-redecorating-axolotls.html

HayleyK · Aug 18, 2013

Thank you for finding those threads, Beks! How long can I not have a filter running if they're in a big tub? And how long would you suggest until I put them back in the tank/ in my room?

Petersgirl · Aug 19, 2013

If you're prepared to do daily dechlorinated water changes then you can have them in a tub indefinetely - alternatively, if your tub is big enough, you can fix it to the side of that, but personally I'd just do daily water changes.

Also, I'd see the back of the paint can for details on how long to leave your axolotls out of the room - I'd say a minimum of 2 days after all the painting has finished, but it depends how volatile the mixture is. It needs to have time to evaporate the remaining chemicals and also to dry - since your whole house is being done this might mean essentially a week or so in the tubs, but with daily water changes water quality shouldn't be a problem

Petersgirl · Aug 19, 2013

Ooh, also, don't forget to cover your tank if it's staying in your room, and Dark Maverick suggested on the other thread to perhaps use Zeolite or Activated Carbon if the filter's left in the tank, and 20-30% changes on the tank's water to ensure that any fumes aren't left behind when your bubbies move back!

HayleyK · Aug 19, 2013

Okay here's my plan tell me what I should change.

Buying a 48L tub with a sealed top to place most of my water in so I don't crash the cycle. I will be leaving it in my sisters room where it has a lot more ventilation, and Im actually not sure if her ceiling is being painted.. With the remaining water/plants in tank I will also move to my sisters room and completely seal off the top. How do I not let the water go stagnant in both tank and the big tub? I plan to water change daily for the tub but not 100%... My filter is a hang on filter and can only work if there's at least 50% water and that's still too much to carry so I can't have it on? And I heard switching off the air pump is a good idea also?

Do you think that will work? Thanks for your help guys means a lot to me

pookiewn · Aug 20, 2013

You don't need to worry about the water but you do need to keep the filter on to keep the cycle going. Its the filter, tank walls and ornaments etc that hold the bacteria to keep the tank cycled. The water hold very little bacteria to make a difference. If the filter is kept alive then it will be able to cope with a 100% water change.

Put the filter in a bucket and make sure that you feed it everyday with the poops from the axie tubs. If you are keeping water in the tank I would leave the airstone on, this will keep the tank from going stagnant.

When everything goes back into the tank, you will have to keep your eye in the parameters as you might get a spike or two with the tank going into a mini cycle.

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