Spray Painted PVC in Refugium

Hello, I have been pluming up a new 75 gallon drilled tank this week and I have been planning for a fuge install. I will have the supply plumbed to the fuge and a single 1" line going to the bottom of the fuge capped off (with lots of holes drilled into the pipe. My main question is... everyone knows how ugly pvc looks especially when you are not a plumber and get primer all over. I wanted to spray paint this pipe black or something to make it look a little more pleasing due to the fact that my fuge will be outside of the cabinet in the open. Is there a problem with painting the pvc pipe, letting it dry obviously then washing it thoroughly to remove any loose particles and dirt? Or is there another paint that would be better suited for this application?

 

I've heard Krylon Fusion is used alot. I used it for my overflow box.

 

Krylon Fusion just painted my corner overflows with it tonight for my 150 build.

 

Thanks guys, I was pretty sure it was ok but I wanted to double check before I caused a disaster. I will take some pics tomorrow of my 75 build in progress. I currently have a 55 but I bought a light fixture that was slightly wider than the 55 so i figured it was time to upgrade to a 75. It is pre-drilled and I just finished up most of the plumbing. I built a stand (frame only at this point) that is pretty beefy. Once I get everything in place, my brother (more of a skilled woodworker than I) is going to help me make the panels and doors for it and trim it up. The legs of the stand are 4x4's and 2x4s for the rest of the frame with a plywood top. I cut a hole out of the top for the plumbing to go through.

 

I did the same with my PVC (black). It was the Lowes brand but for plastic like the Krylon......so far, so good.

 

Seabass, do I have something for you! So there is no "BFD" right? Ha ha ha, I love it.

 

I never stop at being amazed how people come up with ideas to change a simple concept then just go all over the place with it.. A pipe going to the bottom with a cap and holes drill ed it ? why a cap with drilled holes ? How long do you think it will take for the holes to plug up totally ? ask anyone who ever had the great idea to make a spray bar . Just remove the cap and control the flow with a Valve and on the bottom of that feed pipe add 2 90's to form a U to prevent the water from disturbing the sand or mud.

The the fact its a 1" feed being used to supply the fuge with water is a huge amount of overkill , all you needed was 1/2 tops and I use 1/2 cpvc myself with a globe Valve .
Then you want to paint it ? Why in a few months if its a healthy running refugium you will never see that pipe for the slime and hard algae growing on it then not to mention the main algae species you seeded it with . The again unless you have it up for display long side the main tank its to support who will see the pipe with primer on it ?

Now for those who worry about the aesthetics of it simple use clear PVC primer and go to Lowe's or Home depot and get the grey PVC electrical conduit pipe is dark and you can not see purple primer all over it.. The only reason purple primer was put out was to help the plumbing inspectors to be certain the joints had been cleaned and primer and not to have to crawl up under a House or into a ditch The clear primer is just as good .
But to get back to the looks of the refugium ? in a few months you will not be ables to see a inch into it. The bottom line is a refugium is a lot of things but beautiful is not one of them and to run the chance of messing up my system with paint I'd not do it . But thats me..

I'm not trying to sound like a Butt Its just that I see people always just overly simplifying a simple concept and not really knowing their nature or true function, A swamp is never as pretty as the reef its to help keep clean. And I'd never put pain into a marine system unless it was a marine grade epoxy paint and they run about 75.00 a gal last time i used any .

 

Well I appreciate your input. My fuge will be on display outside of the main tank which is why aesthetics were an issue. I don't have enough room under my stand for my sump and fuge so I was going to install it on a small cabinet / night stand next to the DT. I have never built a fuge before so I figured that capping the end and drilling several holes on the bottom would break the main force up and disperse it evenly, didn't know the holes would get clogged. I will try both methods out ( I have plenty of pipe and fittings). And if you are saying that the paint would be a bad idea but algae and what not will cover the pipe in time, i guess that will work for me. Plus I will have some mangroves in there to hopefully block some of that crap.

 

A refugium is a nasty looking item and they are never pretty its a swamp and I can't see a inch into mine or any I have seen that function properly. The DSB gets all nasty looking the slime and cyanos on the top and bottom and all the green hair algea covers everything .. But its better to have then isolated in a area thats more to their liking then in the display tank and all you needed for size would have been a 5.5 gal tank or a 10 gal maximum . I will not stick my bare hands into my refugium .. god knows what all is in there I can't see in

The fed line should go to the bottom one the opposite end of the outlet to sump then U back up , The drain bulkhead is usually drilled up just under the tank top rim and then on the bulkhead inside the fuge I use a 90 on the vertical to create a overflow like a old farm pond with the overflow drain pope in the middle .
That way all the incoming water is forced up and then it has to travel the length of the fuge to allow all the solids to settle out and when I use a 10 gal I run just 10GPM through it and mangroves do not tend to do well in slow flow areas they like and need very very fast flows and to see any difference with a mangrove about 3 per gal is needed as a rule .

 

First let me say that I agree with Tangster on the aesthetics of a fuge. If it is not going to be a "display fuge" - which I've never really seen but could be a possibility - then how it looks really doesn't matter.

With that said, Krylon works. I've used it for 20 years. Got turned on to it by the curator of one of the Sea World marine exhibits who used it to paint dead coral pieces in fish-only exhibits.