Renovation dust and a SW reef

I have recently moved and have temporarily set up my tank up in the basement. I eventually want to have it in the main floor entrance hall built into the wall. (but I digress) My first reno in the house is in the next room beside my tank. I am going slow and easy to minimize the dust but some is inevitable. Should I be concerned?

hi. It depends on the type of dust.... can you tell us more about the type of renovation? Painting? bye -ck-

I am building a wine cellar. I have to remove completely the existing drywall, insulation, studs, flooring, sub floor etc. Take it back to the bare concrete. Then re vapour barrier, restud, insulate with Dow SM foam, Drywall, and paint with Latex paint. Basically building a R2000 bubble in my basement. The dust will be from drywall, and drywall mud.

insulation?.. what kind... fiberglass?.... gets everywhere...

No. Small cell rigid styrofoam. The pink and blue stuff.

I am trying my best to keep the area clean and minimize airborne dust, but there is no way to stop it altogether. Even if I turn off the lights and cover the tank with plastic, some dust will get in.

I have done allot of remodeling in my house in the last 4 years when I was concerned about dust I would cover my entire tank with a heavy cloth drop cloth. I had dust from Drywall, insulation, ceiling tiles with no apparent harm to my tank. I am almost done with the house for now and my tank is doing well. Good luck with the project.

Probably the worst danger would be if you were using an airpump for some purpose such as an air driven skimmer. The air pump might pull in some dust unless the pump was located out of the work area.

Hi Todd

I have been a renovation contractor for many years. I also own reef aquaria myself.

Whenever I was working in a home that had any type of aquaria, regardless of the project or location in the home, I would cover the tank and/or tank & sump with a lightweight vinyl cover, held in place by elastic. I had a multi-stage filtered air-pump that was adjustable from about 50cfm all the way up to 500cfm. I would place this filtered pump outside and run a hose to the aquarium and place it under the vinyl cover. Turn on the pump and adjust it so the tank was always under a slight positive pressure. Thus no dust or fumes of any kind could get to the water surfaces or existing air intakes of the homeowners system.

We also use the same airpump when we are working in an individual room, like a bathroom off a master bedroom. By placing positive pressure in the master bedroom and venting the bathroom, no dust fumes or odors permeate into the rest of the house.

TTUL

Thankyou all for your suggestions. The air pump idea is very intriguing. I'm not sure how I would rig up such a unit up but I will think about it. That is a great suggestion. What is that type of air pump normally used for? Can you rent them? Do you have any suggestions as to how I could rig something up.

thanks Todd.