Painting room - how long can I seal tank up at one stretch?

[hprmom]

We're about to start painting the rooms where the 65g is (two rooms open to each other). I did a quick forum search and found I can just seal the tank up, paint, and wait a day to re-open the tank. However, we're going to have to spread the painting over several days, doing a little each evening and bigger areas on the weekends. How long can I seal the tank up at one stretch? And how long should I wait for the fumes to dissipate before opening the tank?

A weekend schedule, for example, might include putting a coat on one wall in the morning, then putting a second coat on in the afternoon, then moving to another wall the following morning, etc. such that less than 12-24 hours elapses between painting times. I'm trying to figure out how to space the areas so there is sufficient time for the fumes to dissipate, open the tank for air and food/water changes, then seal up and start again.

Thanks for any input! We're going to slap up test swatches tomorrow morning, and start moving furniture and priming while we make a final color decision.

[soilentgringa]

How long total would the process take?

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[hprmom]

How long total would the process take?

I'm hoping we'll get it done in the next two weekends, plus the evenings in-between. So could I, for example, paint in the evening; then next morning (10-12 hours later) open the tank, feed and water, and then seal it back up and paint again? Is 10-12 hours enough time for fumes to dissipate? That's my main concern.

Other option is to seal the tank for the whole weekend, say from Saturday morning to Monday night; that way the last paint would be Sunday night and I could wait 24 hours before opening the tank on Monday evening, feed/water and seal it up again to do a little painting Monday night. Is 50-60 hours too long to have the tank sealed without fresh air coming in?

Also, I'm assuming that taping all the lid edges with wide masking tape and throwing a towel over that would be enough to seal it.

[soilentgringa]

You could also tape trash bags around the tank or saran wrap it.

I'd try to do it in one weekend and get it over with. I have bubblers and my lids have no airholes. I open my tank once or twice a week.

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[hprmom]

You could also tape trash bags around the tank or saran wrap it.

I'd try to do it in one weekend and get it over with. I have bubblers and my lids have no airholes. I open my tank once or twice a week.

I see I'm not the only night owl.

I'd be afraid to run my bubbler because wouldn't that be pulling in tainted air while I'm painting? My lids are glass with no holes, but they're not airtight. So if you're opening your tank once or twice a week, I should be okay sealing them up for 2-3 days...

Gonna be impossible to do in one weekend. We have large, heavy bookcases and furniture to unload, move, then paint, plus boxes of stuff everywhere. Going to be playing "musical chairs" moving the furniture and stuff from each wall to the middle of the rooms, not enough room to move it all at once! Then we have dark walls and heavy plaster from the 1950's, so it's going to take a few coats to cover. Plus it's just me and the Hubs, and my eight-year old to keep occupied (since you know, when kids "help" it takes longer!). We'll knock out as much as we can at once, though!

Thanks!

[soilentgringa]

Not so much a nightowl any more but in too much pain to sleep atm. #nannylife #singlemomlife lol

I would turn the bubblers off. Forgot to add that part. I need to sleep lol.

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[hprmom]

Not so much a nightowl any more but in too much pain to sleep atm. #nannylife #singlemomlife lol

Sorry, hope the pain improves, I've been there. I get drowsy about the time my kid goes to bed, but I push through it to get stuff done that i can't do while he's awake... then I get a second wind, and wind up laying awake on the computer! Good night, er, morning!

[hprmom]

Progress report: One weekend of painting has bled to over three weeks. I hope we finish this weekend, I'm so tired of paint and take-out food! But about the crabs, they're doing great. We seal up the lid with plastic wrap on the days we're painting, until about 24 hours after the last coat. They've gone three days at a stretch sealed up without issue; in fact, judging by their level of activity I think they enjoy being left alone! I put plenty of dry food in before closing up the tank, and feed fresh on the days we're not painting. Another thing we've learned, plastic wrap raises the humidity by up to 4% and the temperature by 2-3 degrees, so there's a little boost for when the weather turns. Also, even without the bubblers running, bamboo soaks up moisture like nobody's business!