HWF refinish? Impact on fish tank?

[Scuba Diver Gal]

We had a flood in our house this past fall (not related to fish tank) and need to have our hardwood floors refinished. I am told it's 99% dustless (my friend used the same company and it was virtually dustless) but I know their house smelled terrible for several days after the floors were finished (apparently they use Bona Traffic, which is VOC compliant).

My son's 150g tank sits at the bottom of our open staircase in our basement (directly below the floors that are going to be refinished.

If we can tarp off our basement to ensure nothing falls into the tank, do you think there will be any troubles with the odour or anything else for the tank?

I would assume that there's someone out there who has refinished their floors with a fish tank in their house…
Thanks!

[WarDog]

If you could air-lock the basement stairs with vapor barrier and painters tape for several days (just to be safe) I'm sure you would be ok. If you have a forced air furnace system then this defeats the purpose. Only problem is you will need to go around outside to get to the basement. This ties into Darkreefs recent nightmare with airborne chemicals.

[rynoe]

Chances are that if the house smells that bad after the fact then the reef is not going to fair well. My wife last year spray painted two small picture frames with VOC compliant paint and it nearly wiped out the whole tank.

[rival10]

Being VOC compliant means that the company manufacturing the product has complied with regs involving certain chemical compounds. There are chemical compounds in the products that are not currently being measured for VOC's. They can be as bad, or worse, than the ones being regulated. In many cases the company selling the product complies to the new regs by taking out certain chemicals, and then adding in new ones not regulated. You can get wood finishes now that are "water cleanup". They still contain chemicals that are not good to breathe. Isolating the area being worked on from the tank is your best bet.

[Slick Fork]

Is a window close to the tank? If so, you could possibly completely isolate the tank with plastic and vapour barrier tape and run a dryer hose or something to an open window to get fresh air to the tank?

[FishyFishy!]

Is the tank running a sump?

[Scuba Diver Gal]

IT is about 15 feet from a window but right in the opening of our stairway to the main floor. If you look at my son's build thread (FishinGoalie) you can see the photos of where the tank sits in relation to the main floor/stairway/windows, etc.

I also have a phone call in to the restoration company to see if they have dealt with fish tanks before. Maybe they have a way to isolate it and almost tent it...

And our sump sits in a fish room directly behind the tank. It has a door but certainly wouldn't be air tight.

[FishyFishy!]

I would seal the top of the tank the best you can (you could use some poly and a good tape), and leave a window open for air circulation. I think you'd be fine.

You could also make a tarp-like thing over the tank, seal it to the back wall and floor the best you can.

I think i'd be more worried about particles getting into the tank, than chemicals in the air.

[FishingGoalie]

Thanks everyone. I'll ask my restoration company as I am certain they have dealt with this before. And if it's too uncertain we will wait to do the floors. I think the tenting and fresh air sounds like a good idea.