Paint flaking into tank!!!!

[Startup]

Ok, deep breaths.

For the last two days the water in my 16gal has been fairly cloudy, so I increased water changes etc checked levels. But I've found the cause.

My aquarium light (old, a gift) is flaking paint and some of it is falling through the little hole where the filter fits through ! My platys are showing signs of stress - some breathing at the surface and I saw one flick once.

I just did about an 80% change but the water is still murky, and although I've fished most of the flakes out and cleaned the gravel, there still seems to be heaps of it floating around. I'd bet money they've been eating it thinking its flake food, and I'd hate to think what it is doing to their gills!

What can I do apart from more water changes tomorrow? How dangerous is this stuff?

Please help!

 

[Startup]

Oh, and uh - just in case it needs to be said - have definately removed the light.

 

[nerfhearder69]

What kind of paint was on the light? if it was water based and has dissolved I would put the fish in your quarantine tank a.s.a.p. oil based paints should be fairly indigestable though. the same happened to me a while ago and after changing most of the water and replacing the fish they seemed o.k. dont think mine ate any though.

 

[BobK]

Some fresh carbon may help rid the water of anything that disolved. Sorry to hear of your troubles. :

 

[blue_ram]

What can I do apart from more water changes tomorrow? How dangerous is this stuff?

From your description, it sounds like you have water based latex paint dissolving in the water. Water based latex paint aren't very toxic. But if the fish breathes it, it could clog their gills. Good news is that since it dissolves in water, it can be purged out of the gills in fresh water. The bad news is that if you don't act quickly, depending on the amount of paint in the water, the fish could suffocate and die.

Forget the water changes. You need to take more drastic action. Get a couple of clean 5-gallon buckets and fill it with fresh conditioned water. Keep the fish there until you clean out the aquarium throughly.

Can you list the fish you have in your tank? If there isn't too many (or large fish), you can nuke the bio filter, and give the tank a through cleaning. If not, you may have to clean it the right way.

 

[Startup]

Thankyou for the advice - will go do that now.

There are only three platys in the tank. Has been for about 6 months now.

Thanks