Krylon Fusion Paint?

[thedasher]

I want to paint my plumbing pipes and fittings and was wondering if anyone has used krylon Fusion paint or some other plastics paint on their plumbing. First of all most importantly, is this paint safe and what paint would be reef safe? How did the paint hold up, any flaking after time?
Thanks

 

[Hermie]

krylon fusion is great for external pvc

personally, I wouldn't paint anything going into a tank based on my experiences with flaking in a freshwater tank

 

[asting]

Is the plumbing submerged?

I have had a hob refugium return PVC I painted that was submerged, no issues.

 

[diverpat]

I currently have some pvc inlets that I painted with black Fusion and I’m not seeing any issues. It’s covered in coraline algae so it didn’t inhibit it’s growth.

I had a large DIY overflow painted with Fusion in a tank that ran for 2 years and didn’t see any problems then either.

Prep the surface to get good adhesion and give at extra dry time and I think you should be good.

 

[thedasher]

I don't plan to fully submerge any of the painted pipes, but I was worried about the ends of the pipe that will be in fittings, so I just wanted to be sure it would be alright and I pretty confident with the feedback I'm getting from you guys. Thanks

 

[JoshH]

Krylon Fusion is generally the go to suggestion for PVC and it works fantastic. As mentioned above make sure you do a little prep work first for best results! For underwater applications there are PVC coloured pipe shrink wraps you can purchase. The wonderful thing about these is they are an exact color match to any colored PVC pipe.

 

[Peace River]

I want to paint my plumbing pipes and fittings and was wondering if anyone has used krylon Fusion paint or some other plastics paint on their plumbing. First of all most importantly, is this paint safe and what paint would be reef safe? How did the paint hold up, any flaking after time?
Thanks

If you use the R2R search feature to look for "krylon fusion" then you will find that many people successfully use it in their tanks, however I am in the other group that only uses it on pipes and surfaces that are not submerged. For example, in addition to PVC I also paint the outside bottom of bare bottom tanks with Krylon to reduce the reflection. For PVC I do recommend lightly sanding the plastic before painting to promote adhesion. Good luck!

 

[thedasher]

If you use the R2R search feature to look for "krylon fusion" then you will find that many people successfully use it in their tanks, however I am in the other group that only uses it on pipes and surfaces that are not submerged. For example, in addition to PVC I also paint the outside bottom of bare bottom tanks with Krylon to reduce the reflection. For PVC I do recommend lightly sanding the plastic before painting to promote adhesion. Good luck!

That actually got me thinking, does this also stick well to glass cus I'd just paint my back glass (the outside) with this stuff

 

[thedasher]

Krylon Fusion is generally the go to suggestion for PVC and it works fantastic. As mentioned above make sure you do a little prep work first for best results! For underwater applications there are PVC coloured pipe shrink wraps you can purchase. The wonderful thing about these is they are an exact color match to any colored PVC pipe.

I'll check it out, thanks

 

[Michael Gilbreath]

stuck good to the back and sides of my 180 outsides. I painted them because I am doing a inwall and only wanted viewing from front.

 

[Peace River]

That actually got me thinking, does this also stick well to glass cus I'd just paint my back glass (the outside) with this stuff

Does it work, yes. I have painted the outside of many tanks with this paint after taping off the plastic trim. Does it stick well? Not great, but it is okay. If it stays inside with little to no contact then it holds up just fine, however it will come of with scratching (both intentional and unintentional). In my mind this is both a positive and a negative because this lets me scrape it all of with a razor blade. I recently took down a 10g tank and decided to sterilize it before using it again. I rinsed it and left it outside for a few days before I could fill it with diluted bleach - when I got back to the project I noticed that paint on the outside bottom of the glass was coming off in sheets. I have also found that it doesn't hold up to other aquariums that I have set up outdoors.

 

[asting]

I don't plan to fully submerge any of the painted pipes, but I was worried about the ends of the pipe that will be in fittings, so I just wanted to be sure it would be alright and I pretty confident with the feedback I'm getting from you guys. Thanks

I would paint after you are assembled, if possible. i would expect trying to force painted pipe into joints will just peel/rub the paint off.

 

[HawaiianReef]

I found sanding to be a pita.
The best results I've had has been "etching" the surface with some acetone.

 

[BZOFIQ]

I found sanding to be a pita.
The best results I've had has been "etching" the surface with some acetone.

So you just wipe the pipes and wait a bit to dry and then paint?

 

[Hermie]

So you just wipe the pipes and wait a bit to dry and then paint?

aceton dries super quick

 

[Devaji]

Did did this years ago. The paint will flake off at least mine did. This was 10 years ago so maybe there is better stuff today.
the primer will mess with the paint. So like said paint after.

my suggestion is just get colored pipe it’s cheaper from home depo than BRS. The fitting is where it get spendy.
I just use white

 

[BZOFIQ]

Did did this years ago. The paint will flake off at least mine did. This was 10 years ago so maybe there is better stuff today.
the primer will mess with the paint. So like said paint after.

my suggestion is just get colored pipe it’s cheaper from home depo than BRS. The fitting is where it get spendy.
I just use white

I got colored pipe for most of the project but am trying to paint the whole return assembly to make it disappear over the tank.