Paint dripped into my tank!!

[zyblack]

My mum in a over-zealous mood decided to paint the place where I kept my tank and in the course of painting, dripped quite a few drops into the water causing it to be milky. Would this be hazardous to my fish? I am doing water changes now but is there anything else I need to do to reduce the toxicity? The paint is ICI Dulux Pentalite.

[Shadow]

since you already do water change, activated carbon might help.

[zyblack]

I just rushed down to a LFS and bought a pack of carbon but since I am running a OHF, I just placed it in the compartment where the water flows down. The problem is that only a portion of the bag of carbon is in contact with water. Will this work?

[planted86]

why not put it into the tank directly??

[benny]

Avan,

Paint is a source of concern as it might be toxic. I think the concentration determines the damages.

Looks like a water change and carbon would be your best bet at the moment. If your water turns cloudy, it probably means that your filter's bacteria may be 'killed' and hence a whitish bacteria bloom. Otherwise, there is no reason that a few drops of paint will turn the entire tank cloudy.

As planted86 had pointed out, put the whole back of carbon in the tank if necessary.

Do keep us updated if you can. Hope no serious damage is done.

Cheers,

[ranmasatome]

The last time i painted a room with a fish tank in it.. about 70% of the fish in that tank died from the toxic paint. I really do hope that you are in time to save your fish.

[Shadow]

How about chaging/washing the filter media?

[zyblack]

I just checked my tank early this morning with the lights on and the water in tank has cleared up. In fact it looks crystal clear! Think the carbon in the OHF did it's job. I was lucky that I managed to get the carbon before the LFS closed. So far no fish death and did not observed any erratic behaviour. Everything seems normal. Even the molly that I saw pecking at the paint stain on the soil seems to be fine.

Hope none of the nitrifying bacteria died since I can't tell now as I have dosed Seachem Prime liberally last night and it might have helped with controlling any ammonia spike.

Keeping my fingers crossed that when I get back home tonight things are okay. Going to get another pack of carbon to keep just for future emergencies. Guys, thanks for the help and concern.

[planted86]

maybe next time you can use plastic sheet to cover the top of the tank before you paint.

preventive is better than cure..

[zyblack]

Haha I wished I was home when my mum was painting..She is really stubborn and wanted to paint herself when I told her I will paint during the weekend since I care more for my fish than she ever will. Maybe...it is her scheme to murder my fishes so I can give way to her plants.

Anyway my fish is doing fine and nothing out of the ordinary. Seems like the paint drops didn't cause much harm or the carbon did its work. I bought a pack of carbon as standby just in case. Thanks for reminding me that carbon is the remedy since in my state of panic I forgot entirely about it.