Found Non-toxic Paint --- Its Safe For Tanks!

[TheeMon]

ok i found these little bottles of paint at walmart and they said non-toxic, so im thinking just for people right? well i asked the store lady and she said itd be fine, i bought 2 bottles and pulled some slate out of a tank of mine, painted it & let it dry, bought 10 goldfish and put it all in a spare 10gallon tank... ive put air bubbles directly on the paint & dumped alge waffers(goldfish love them) right on the (heavily) painted rocks, goldfish aint right off the paint and it didnt kill um.... theyve been in there for 5-7 days and not 1 has died...

any further tests i should try before i use the paint in my real tanks?

 

[Scott MacAdam]

well the problem with paints and such is that they may, over time, leech out some nasty chemicals......

And also, not to discourage you, but in my experience, WALMART IS CLUELESS!!!!! well, generally speacking that is...... (especially with the fish..)

sorry for anyone who works there, i know this is discriminatory in a way but I have heard sales associates say the DUMBEST things ever!!!

anyone backing this up??

 

[gsta13]

well the problem with paints and such is that they may, over time, leech out some nasty chemicals......

And also, not to discourage you, but in my experience, WALMART IS CLUELESS!!!!! well, generally speacking that is...... (especially with the fish..)

sorry for anyone who works there, i know this is discriminatory in a way but I have heard sales associates say the DUMBEST things ever!!!

anyone backing this up??

yeah leave it awhile and do water tests every few weeks i would say...not dead sure tho tbh, id judt paint theoutside of the tank.... no risk
Greg

 

[TheeMon]

i i know walmarts clueless- thats not what i was getting at...


i dont wanna paint my tank... im hoping to let my children paint rocks for my tanks...

 

[Scott MacAdam]

that sounds cool, i'd just leave it a week or so and do lots of water tests...... your call though

 

[TheeMon]

dude did you even read my post? or my other thread... if you would have read my post i said its been like a week(5-7 days) and they are still alive...

 

[Scott MacAdam]

hahahaha, yes! i read your current post.... (not the other thread though)

I simply meant that it could take quite a few weeks to start the contaminants going into the water.....

 

[pica_nuttalli]

let me guess, acrylic paints? i agree with Scott, there could be more long-term ramifications that would only appear after weeks or months of exposure. while acrylic is generally more inert than most other paints, i still wouldn't put it bare into a tank as i suspect that it would ultimately deteriorate and come loose. and i imagine that a fish eating bits of acrylic paint wouldn't be that different from a turtle eating a plastic baggie--we're talking intestinal blockages here. very bad stuff.

what you can do, however, is allow your children to paint rocks and then coat over the entire painted area (or even the whole rock) with aquarium-safe silicone. that should prevent most of the nasties from leeching into your water.

 

[Scott MacAdam]

Yeah Great Idea! I have seen HUGE jugs of aquarium safe epoxy for a decent price! that seems great, should the pain turn bad on you....

 

[Dorkhedeos]

well, goldfish are really really tough fish. i poured koolaid to the water when i was little and they still lived back then i thought they would like to drink some

 

[crazie.eddie]

What do you have in your tank?

When it says non toxic, it's usually meant by humans. It may contain chemicals that could pose harm to the inhabitants of your tank. For example, copper in low levels, isn't toxic at all. It IS toxic to inverts. The average test kit doesn't have any tests for copper or any other heavy metals.

Also if you have wrasping fish, like a pleco, it may end up eating off the paint.

Another thing to think of is, it's probably not meant to get wet. The paint may breakdown faster being soaked in water.

It's commonly known NEVER to use any type of paint, varnish, sealent, etc. inside the aquarium with the fish.

 

[vancouver]

It would probably depend on how much paint is in the water too... obviously if you paint the whole background and chemicals come out at a later time, you're probably going to have problems.. but a little 3'' x 3'' area obviously wouldn't be as toxic as a 24'' x 18'' background or whatever.

 

[Tolak]

Give it more time, and put a few plecs in there. I've had bristlenose suck the paint off of these in about a month; http/www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl36...teelthermometer

The only paint that is safe long term is the 2 part epoxy paint they use to coat the inside of water storage tanks with, and it's not cheap. This is what you use when building plywood tanks.

 

[TheeMon]

it is fabric paint, not acrilic(sp?)

just thought id share... + like the whole bottom of the tank is covered in paint, i painted tons of decore then put it in there with 13 goldfish... its been a while and none died

 

[Opcn]

The thing is that whats not toxic to us can in fact be toxic to fish, or can turn toxic if left under water for a great deal of time. It takes a lot of money and a great deal of time to determine if something is toxic or not, just putting some goldfish in with the paint won't tell you a whole lot.