Paint in reef tank... Oh boy

[N.Sreefer]

My 150 gal mixed is a used aquarium, I recently took off what I realized were painted aluminum braces x2 on the top of the tank. When I started cleaning off the algae on it I realized more than 50 percent of the paint has flaked off into my tank. So what kind of problems can I expect and will poly filter actually take the metals out of the water or should I run carbon, something else possibly? Id like to avoid carbon, my tank has tangs in it. The braces are 2.5 inch wide and 19.5 long. Any help would be appreciated I'm freaking out

 

[reefz]

Depends on what paint it was. The only know spray paint I know of that is reef safe is black krylon fusion. If it is, you shouldn’t have a problem. If it was any other normal brand of spray paint, it’s definitely toxic and will break down. I’d siphon the pieces and run mechanical filtration and carbon just to be safe.

 

[N.Sreefer]

Depends on what paint it was. The only know spray paint I know of that is reef safe is black krylon fusion. If it is, you shouldn’t have a problem. If it was any other normal brand of spray paint, it’s definitely toxic and will break down. I’d siphon the pieces and run mechanical filtration and carbon just to be safe.

Thanks I wish I knew what brand paint it is I sanded the rest off then washed it before putting them back in. I'm going to pick up poly and carbon at the LFS tomorrow. Odd that I haven't seen my corals recede guess that's a good sign.

 

[shwareefer]

I would think whoever originally painted them would have used aquarium friendly paint, no?

 

[N.Sreefer]

I would think whoever originally painted them would have used aquarium friendly paint, no?

Hope for the best prepare for the worst. Its an old tank and I only paid 300 canadian for it I'd rather veer on the side of caution and do what I can to minimize risk to my livestock.