Painting around a tank

Meh, not sure where else to put this, so...

When we bought this house 3 years ago, it had a really really dark chocolate (S**t) brown paint in the living room. At the time we didn't have time to paint, we had to move in immediately, my husband deployed to Afghanistan for a year, and I figured it wouldn't bother me. Recently we repainted our bathroom from the same brown to a light blue and green, and the difference is amazing. I started thinking what it would be like if we could repaint the living room some other color...

The walls are extremely complicated to paint though, and the big question being THE TANK. I know I've heard of painting in the same area causing PH issues, spikes or dips, I don't remember. Also, what if a drop or two were to get into the tank? The tank is sitting in a corner, in front of a window. (I know, I know, in front of window is bad, but there isn't a single open wall in this entire room) Emptying and moving the tank is just not an option, but what about painting around it? Above the tank line, and forget the brown where the tank is covering it and we can't reach anyway?

Has anyone ever tried this? Any success, or lack thereof? Anything I'm not taking into account, or tips that may make things go more smoothly? Or should I just scrap the idea?

What sort of risks would this pose to my tank?

 

Regardless of *how* you want to paint the walls, I would highly suggest covering the top with plastic, then tape it down to seal it. I had paint overspray get into my tank years ago and it wiped my tank out, down to the ground. The contractors did not cover my tank, so paint and dust got in my tank and killed all my fish, even the bacteria in the tank!
I would say that using paint rollers would be safer than powersprayers, but I would still cover up the tank top to make sure nothing gets in.

 

That's a tough one . . . how far away from the wall is the tank? You might have to look into the expensive 0 VOC paints made for people with extreme allergies. Also I would ventilate the room like crazy while painting and while its drying.

I would try to cut in around the tank first with the tank loosely covered in plastic (go as fast as possible) then remove it, and continue to paint the room as normal.

~Will.

 

The plastic is spot on. You can't have the paint get into the tank at all.
I would also open all doors and windows to avoid the fumes building up. Also, turn off the skimmer till the fumes die down. In the event the fumes are toxic, you don't want the skimmer pumping the fume filled air directly into the water column.