# Aquarium safe paint?



## Kravin Morfish (May 7, 2003)

I'm setting up a new tank and using an UGJ system. My problem is that I'm going to use black substrate and don't want white PVC jets coming out of the black substrate. Is there a safe way to paint my UGJ system? If not I guess I will coat with silicone and dip it in the black substrate.

Thanks.


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## ohio420jb (Mar 15, 2004)

why not just do that cause after the gravel on the pvc will look better thatn the paint, if u do paint though, its got to be potabl, like for water tanks and such


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## dogginfox (Mar 28, 2003)

if you have access to an old pot you can mix the black RIT dye and put it on the stove over just less than boiling heat, and soak the pvc pieces in that for a little while and they should come out black as can be and looks very professionally done if you ask me


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## Kravin Morfish (May 7, 2003)

I was skeptical at first but decided to try the RIT dye and I so appreciate that tip. These pieces came out perfectly black. It really is unbelievable that these came out the way they did. There's a pic of some of the fittings below. Thanks again for the tip dogginfox!


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## dogginfox (Mar 28, 2003)

no problem.


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## Pastor John (Oct 24, 2003)

Hey thanks for the rit tip I'm going to dye all my pvc. Looks great, how long did you soak them?


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## FlashPoint (Mar 19, 2004)

I tried it today....and it works great!

I just put my pvc parts in and let them simmer away for an hour. I'm not sure if they needed that long, but that's how long I left them in.

Just be sure to rinse them in soapy water after your're finished (I rinsed mine in clean tap water until it ran clear, then noticed that when I towel dried them, quite a bit of black dye came off on the towel. After I cleaned them in soapy water, I rinsed them extra well to be sure I got all the soap out, and no more dye came off on the towel.

They're back in the tank now, and look great....I mean, they're practically invisible against my black background. Can something that's invisible look great?


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## Kravin Morfish (May 7, 2003)

I brought my water to a boil and backed off on the heat just a bit to a simmer and put the pieces in for 15 minutes and they are solid black. The pieces shrink a bit though so I would suggest putting the "jets" in the fitting that you are using before the dye process.


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## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

What's RIT dye, and where do you buy it?


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## FlashPoint (Mar 19, 2004)

It's fabric dye. It can be found at most drug stores, department stores, and hobby/craft shops. Runs about $3.00 here for a small box, which is enough for mixing in a large pot.


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## praetor (Apr 4, 2004)

Please post any problems you might later encounter with the RIT dye such as if it slowly starts releasing dye into the aquarium water. Great idea if it doesn't leach out dye.


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## Wolf (Jun 9, 2004)

Awesome!

I found this thread while I was searching google for a way to color the PVC pipes in my saltwater tank. How has this worked out for you guys? I'm anxious to find out how they held up after a while of being in operation.

Thanks!
Wolf


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## Kravin Morfish (May 7, 2003)

I've had the dyed pvc in my tank for over 2 months now and no problems at all. It is still as dark as it were 2 months ago. I'd recommend it.


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## Guest (Jun 9, 2004)

in my days as a restuant waiter I used rid to dye my pants and found that it bled quite a bit til it it faded but that was on cloth


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## Tuckernotis (Feb 1, 2004)

I don't know what we did wrong but when we tried the Rit dye it came out blueish. We put them in a simmering pot and all. Tried to do the long pieces but could only get the ends. Anyway, we coated them with silicone and sand too so it still looks good. Have one jet that was left white because we didn't dye enough. Oh well.


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## Wolf (Jun 9, 2004)

Thanks for your responses! I think I'll try it out and put some saltwater in an empty tank for a while and see how it runs.

Tuckernotis, maybe too much water and not enough dye? I had the same problem dyeing some black shirts once when I was in the military. I just did it again and added more dye the second time and they came out as black as the day I bought them.

:?


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## apartmentB1 (Aug 16, 2002)

excellent thread all!


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## motorfin (Mar 19, 2004)

I had the same experience, bluish-green parts. Nothing like the great looking pics shown. I also had the shrinking thing. I ended up having to sand the nozzles and then wax them to get them to fit. Still looks better than white.


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## Fugazi (Apr 13, 2004)

seems like a few people are having problems. i haven't used rit dye myself, but i plan to dye the weird blue/green intake pipes of my XP3 filter. would anybody care to make a short article on how to do this process correctly?


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## dogginfox (Mar 28, 2003)

Id be happy to type up an article if someone could point me in the right direction on where to submit it and donate some pics as my Digi cam is out of service at the moment.


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## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

I believe I know now why some people are having problems and others don't. Today I tried to dye a huge UGJ system that I had put together for my new 240G. I ran into the same troubles others had reported about; that is my fittings did not turn jet black like in the picture that Kravin Morfish posted but a weird blue/green color.

I had attempted to dye the fittings last night. I placed the fittings in a stock pot of about 3-4G, added 1 packet of rid dye, about half a cup of salt, and about 2 tablespoons of washing powder (Cheer), and filled the pot with water. I then brough the whole contraption almost to a boil, switched the hotplate off, and let everything stand over night. By morning the fittings had hardly changed color.

After consulting this thread again, I decided that more vigorous boiling might be necessary, and tonight I placed the pot outside on the hotplate attached to my gas BBQ so that I woudl not have to worry about it boiling over. After about 1h the fittings were certainly changing color in the blue green direction, but we were a far shot from black. I doubled the amount of RIT dye, washing powder and salt, and continued boiling the mixture vigorously for another 3h (!), occasionally adding some more water (preheated to boiling point), to replace the water that had evaporated, and ensure that the fittings remained covered by the solution. During that time the fittings might have become somewhat darker blue/green, but not black.

It then occured to me that I had seen different types of PVC when buying my fittings at Lowes and Home Depot. I opted for a sand-brown type of pipe instead of the pure white stuff, simpy because I had used that for my the UGJ system in my 29G long before I read here about the option of dyeing the UGJs using RIT dye. The fittings are of a similar sand-brown color. Upon closer inspection, my pipe is labled: "CPVC 4120 100PSI @ 180F hot-cold water tubing". I also remembered that I had erroneously bought some white fittings as well, which turned out not to fit the brown pipe. I got one of those, and the fitting was stamped "PVC 1". Unfortunately I don't have any pipe, which might have a more extensive label. Anyway, I added the fitting to my still vigorously boiling dye solution, and it turned dark blue/green almost instantaneously. I inspected it again after about 15min, and voila - it was jet black like the fittings shown by Kravin Morfish. I also was very soft, while my sand-brown fittings and pipe remained much more solid even after continued boiling.

I now assume that the sand-brown pipe and fittings might be for hot and cold water application, and consist of a different type of PVC from the white pipe which is probably for cold water only. It appears that the PVC used for the hot and cold water pipe (CPVC) is not suitable to be dyed with RIT dye, also I will try once again tomorrow with an even more concentrated solution of RIT dye, and continued boiling. Unfortunately I have a truck load full of fittings for a 21 jet UGJ system, half of which by now is partially dyed, and can not be returned


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## PCircle85 (Jan 4, 2004)

fmueller said:


> added 1 packet of rid dye, about half a cup of salt, and about 2 tablespoons of washing powder (Cheer), and filled the pot with water.


I put nothing but the Rit dye in the pot and my fittings came out jet black. Do you need the salt, etc?


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## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

> I put nothing but the Rit dye in the pot and my fittings came out jet black. Do you need the salt, etc?


You answered your own question 

Seriously, I believe if you use the regular white PVC pipe, there is not much you can do wrong. I wonder if you even need to really bring the stuff to a boil, because on the packet they suggest that you can dye fabrics at the highest temperature setting of you washing mashine, and I dare say that would be well below boiling.

On the other hand, if you are using the hot water CPVC pipe you can use all the help you can get to force some color in there, and on the packet it said that salt and washing powder help.

My fittings are still boiling as we speak







Should have had about 8h by now. They are getting darker - or at least that's what I'd like to believe. I've now got 5 packets of RIT dye in the pot, because I added one red, one brown and one black today. Maybe I can't get them black, but I could survive with an earthy sort of color, but not blue/green. That's why I put the red and brown.

If I ever do this again, I will avoid CPVC like the plague, and I might still ditch the whole setup and start from scratch for my 240G.


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## BrianR (Aug 19, 2008)

I know this is an old thread but has anyone ever tried dyeing their filter intakes? The color of the rena intake is a weird blueish gray and sticks out sorely against my black back ground, the AC intake isnt quite as bad but if they were both black they would almost dissapear against the background like my heater. I am worried about the parts shrinking like some people have talked about with the pvc, maybe I should just try putting them in the washer with the dye on the hottest setting.


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