HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I come across some aquarium décor and was hoping to use it in the crab tank and my aquarium. But both pieces are dirty (was left outside) and I noticed while washing/rubbing them a little of the paint was coming off, so can I still use them or not? They weren't flacking though if you've ever tried to wash algae off one I'm sure you know what I mean. After I rinsed the dirt off I went ahead and boiled it but figured I'd wait and see what everyone thought about using it.

@jenok, the fact that even a little of the paint was coming off indicates that the sealant that was originally used has lost its bond to the paint this typically happens after painted aquarium decor items have gotten some age on them.Personally I wouldn't use them for either one of the tanks as the risk for continued peeling is or color bleeding is a bit too high.

That stinks! Is there anything I could reseal them with?I really want to use them. One is a large hollow log replica (4 crab tank)and the other is designed to go at the back of the tank and is castle like which is as long and tall as the 10g tank. Would've looked awesome with my bubbler behind it in the fish tank.

@jenok, unfortunately there are no commercially available sealants that are fish or hermitcrab safe as the majority of them have a massively high aquatic toxicity level.

Well, shoot. I guess nothing comes free and easy anymore.

If you don't mind a little expense, you could reseal them with some epoxy resin. Just make sure everything is clean and dry, mix the resin and brush it on the entire piece (inside and out) with a foam or bristle paint brush. Let it cure for about a week and you should be good to go. You could also then add a second coat and bury it in play sand or fine beach sand to make the sand stick into the top layer of epoxy. This should hide the old paint that would be visible through the first clear epoxy coat and give it a rougher surface to help the crabs climb on it.