High Tide Aquatics

Painting Acrylic Tanks?

Gomer said:
I'm guessing the Krylon fusion has MEK or CH2Cl2 and that's why you want it?
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Out of the stuff listed in the MSDS, these look to be the special nasties:

toluene
ethylbenzene
xylene
acetone
methyl isobutyl ketone

Pretty much should be able to dissolve most plastics :D
 
Gomer said:
I'm guessing the Krylon fusion has MEK or CH2Cl2 and that's why you want it?
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CH2Cl2 based spray paint probably would be great for plastic, but you might not be around to enjoy it for very long, haha :D
 
Wow, those are a lot of nasty chemicals. I did pick up the Krylon Fusion paint at ACE tonight. The directions on the can stress ventilation-- I will make sure my painting area is well-ventilated and away from the livestock!
 
99sf said:
Wow, those are a lot of nasty chemicals. I did pick up the Krylon Fusion paint at ACE tonight. The directions on the can stress ventilation-- I will make sure my painting area is well-ventilated and away from the livestock!
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No kidding.

Reminds me of when I was in 5th grade and one of the girls in class was spraying paint into a rag and huffing the fumes.
 
I had a friend die doing that in 8th grade, Holloween night, she and a friend were huffing out of a bag, she fell and cracked her head wide open on a curb..... Like pumpkin, kinda ironic...
 
Update: I painted the Krylon Fusion black on the back of my acrylic tank today. Maybe my technique was bad, but the result was horrible. I had beads form in the paint, which resulted in areas that are not opaque. Later coats did not seem to solve the problem. :( Now, should I just hope for fast growing coralline? Or try that Blue Life adhesive sheet? Already plumbed the back of the tank.
 
How many coats did you do? IME you need to do at least a few coats for it took look right. If its still a bit translucent just keep on painting.
 
Ian, I used three coats. I think the bubbling took place after the first coat. Later coats could not overcome the bubbling.
 
Thanks, Tim & Mario for the suggestion of sanding. Should I sand the entire back, or only the parts that created beads? I have sandpaper in these grains: 400; 600; 1000; 1500 and 2500. Which one would be best? Wet sand or dry? I also have a regular foam sanding block that has coarser grain.
 
I'd hit it with 400, you may find that the paper loads up pretty quick, so you may want to wrap the paper around a small block to get even coverage. Don't use too much pressure or you'll cut too deep and load your paper up.
 
Sand lightly with a block like Jeremy said. You don't have to go out and buy a sanding block. Just use a scrap piece of 2x4 or whatever you have around and then use it with the sandpaper.

With the Krylon you want to do several light coats so that it doesn't bubble on ya.
 
several light coats but wait until they pretty much dry in between spraying. If you hit it when it's stil wet, it'll have a greater chance of forming a bubble IME.
 
Update: I added another coat of Krylon this morning, and it looks much better. Seems like I just didn't have enough paint layers, and I was trying to make the first layer too thick. One more layer tonight!
 
So did you sand it at all? In the past as long as I put enough coats on, even if there was beading it was a non-issue. You basically want to put enough coats on to not allow any light penetration.
 
Ian, you are right. With enough coats, even the beading gets covered (although I did go a bit heavy in a few areas, creating some drip lines that run a couple of inches). I decided not to sand the beads, fearing that I would scratch the tank underneath the paint.
 
I like to use Dri-Dek brand decking underneath tanks and sumps instead of styrofoam. The problem with styrofoam or rubber mats is that any water spilled underneath your tank sits there indefinitely and eats away at whatever it comes in contact with. Dri-Dek creates an air gap so that the water can be wicked away or simply dries up on its own.

This stuff is fairly cheap in the sizes we use. It is used in restaurants to coat bar surfaces and in locker rooms or around pools to keep people's feet dry.
dridek.jpg


$66 for 12 square feet
https://www.dri-dek.com/order-dri-dek.html

Hope this helps.
 
Matt, thanks for the link to the Dri-Dek mats. They do work really well around swimming pools! That's a good point: if water gets underneath the styrofoam underneath the sump or display tank, it will not be able to evaporate. Hopefully, my method of cutting the styrofoam to fit the stand will prevent water from getting beneath it. The stand already has some water damage on the base, but seems structurally sound--especially the vertical supports.
 
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