Do You Paint Your White PVC Plumbing ?

Reef-junky · Mar 5, 2019

sp1187 said:
your's cost more per foot when you add your paint time in, or your time isn't worth anything?

I don’t think of the time it takes to do something in that way. No body is forcing me to do it and I’m not getting paid. Honestly it didn’t take that long and wasn’t that much work.

It’s 3 something for a 10ft pipe and another 3.60 for the paint. Don’t get me wrong the pipe looks nice.

ylreefer · Mar 5, 2019

Just to add to the photos. Lol. Wanted coloured pvc but couldn't find any here in Hong Kong so went to hobby store and bought 2 cans of orange. Not a perfect job by any means and not sure I'd do it again. But it's done now so hey [emoji23]

Reef-junky · Mar 5, 2019

ylreefer said:
Just to add to the photos. Lol. Wanted coloured pvc but couldn't find any here in Hong Kong so went to hobby store and bought 2 cans of orange. Not a perfect job by any means and not sure I'd do it again. But it's done now so hey [emoji23]

Nice

doughboy · Mar 5, 2019

Reef-junky said:
I can’t bring my self to pay $13 for less then 4 foot of pipe when I can get 10 foot for under $5 from the hardware store.

lol to the reply about how much your time is worth. It's not like you will get money if you sit on the couch twiddling your thumbs. lol.

krylon is hard to find and can cost a lot more if purchased online. I used the generic home depot spray that works with plastic/acrylic on pvc that goes into the water and it works just fine.

Reef-junky · Mar 5, 2019

doughboy said:
lol to the reply about how much your time is worth. It's not like you will get money if you sit on the couch twiddling your thumbs. lol.

krylon is hard to find and can cost a lot more if purchased online. I used the generic home depot spray that works with plastic/acrylic on pvc that goes into the water and it works just fine.

I don’t think like that when I work on my house or make my kid something out of wood. Everything we do takes time. It takes even more time when you have to figure out how to do something for the first time so should I assign a higher value to that?

Reef-junky · Mar 5, 2019

.

krylon is hard to find and can cost a lot more if purchased online. I used the generic home depot spray that works with plastic/acrylic on pvc that goes into the water and it works just fine.

I found it at Menards and it was was only 3 or 4 dollars. Walmart has it as well.

427HISS · Mar 5, 2019

Reef-junky said:
I don’t think of the time it takes to do something in that way. No body is forcing me to do it and I’m not getting paid. Honestly it didn’t take that long and wasn’t that much work.

It’s 3 something for a 10ft pipe and another 3.60 for the paint. Don’t get me wrong the pipe looks nice.

I agree and some people don't have pride in their work. I built my Shelby 427 Cobra and the underside is just a nice as the top. Does it now have chips, grease, scratch's,...of course. Will my sump a have salt creep, chips, scratches, algae etc, of course....So what.

Reef-junky · Mar 5, 2019

427HISS said:
I agree and some people don't have pride in their work. I built my Shelby 427 Cobra and the underside is just a nice as the top. Does it now have chips, grease, scratch's,...of course. Will my sump a have salt creep, chips, scratches, algae etc, of course....So what.

And honestly it took a couple of seconds to spray paint the pipes. I used less then a can to do one color for all the pipes.

MnFish1 · Mar 5, 2019

Frankly - I like looking at the color coded beautiful plumbing some of you do. For Me - id rather have clear tubing - to see if there are any blockages/worms/etc. But Some of the tank sumps here are works of art. IE I have very little PVC plumbing.

427HISS · Mar 5, 2019

MnFish1 said:
Frankly - I like looking at the color coded beautiful plumbing some of you do. For Me - id rather have clear tubing - to see if there are any blockages/worms/etc. But Some of the tank sumps here are works of art. IE I have very little PVC plumbing.

The problem with clear tubing is algae and just dirty water. It will stain so you won't be able to see through it anyway. I guess you could attach a coat hanger to a cleaning brush, if the length isn't over a few feet.

MauiMarineAquarium (MMA) · Mar 6, 2019

scriptmonkey said:
Smart thinking!

I second that notion!

doughboy · Mar 6, 2019

Reef-junky said:
.

krylon is hard to find and can cost a lot more if purchased online. I used the generic home depot spray that works with plastic/acrylic on pvc that goes into the water and it works just fine.

I found it at Menards and it was was only 3 or 4 dollars. Walmart has it as well.

FWIW, those in pic are not krylon fusion. not the same thing.

Sisterlimonpot · Mar 6, 2019

Exactly, fusion does the job of covering the pvc better without beading up.

goshawkr · Mar 6, 2019

427HISS said:
I hate the white pipe and would like to use the gray schedule 80 pipe, but at twice the cost of the white schedule 40 pipe it's too expensive, so I'm thinking of painting mine.
Please post pics of your painted plumbing.

In the US, the standard electrical conduit PVC is the same color as schedule 80 pipe. It is identical to the white schedule 40 plumbing PVC except for the color and that it is UV stabilized for outdoor use. Perfectly OK to run plumbing through, especially at the low pressures that aquarium plumbing is subjected to. One down side is that the fittings available for it are designed with routing wiring, and not plumbing, so the elbows have a shallower arc, and some fittings just do not exist in the electrical section.

Reef-junky · Mar 6, 2019

doughboy said:
FWIW, those in pic are not krylon fusion. not the same thing.

They have that to. The stuff In the picture works fine though. I’ve used it. I’ve also used rustoleum and that works fine to.

Brad Shook · Mar 10, 2019

427HISS said:
I've never heard of it before. I might try it.
Have you stained them ?

Yes I have used Dye with great success.

drewsan · Mar 14, 2019

I would not paint them

MnFish1 · Mar 20, 2019

Reef-junky said:
Went with Packer colors on mine. Why? Because I could!

you should have gone with purple and yellow

MnFish1 · Mar 20, 2019

This is a question - rather than a criticism. If one has an open sump - and wants to make a statement - I can see the rationale. If one wants to mark input/output/other functions more clearly I can see a point to this. Maybe I should start a poll - why color your PVC..... ? How many of you color code the PVC plumbing in your basement. Apologeciatlly - and not trying to insult - because a lot od the set ups look 'cool' - but WHY? I would rather spend money/time on aquascaping, learning, finding good fish/corals than painting PVC.

MnFish1 · Mar 20, 2019

MnFish1 said:
This is a question - rather than a criticism. If one has an open sump - and wants to make a statement - I can see the rationale. If one wants to mark input/output/other functions more clearly I can see a point to this. Maybe I should start a poll - why color your PVC..... ? How many of you color code the PVC plumbing in your basement. Apologeciatlly - and not trying to insult - because a lot od the set ups look 'cool' - but WHY? I would rather spend money/time on aquascaping, learning, finding good fish/corals than painting PVC.

PS - to me the BEST option would be clear PVC - so blockages etc could easily be seen. Again - just my personal opinion