aquarium safe paint

[a1Matt]

What paint can I use in my tank?

The application is a stainless steel mesh that I will be attaching moss to, and I want to paint it brown\tan to match the Akadama substrate it will be sitting on. Otherwise it will look garish for months while waiting for the moss to grow in.

I have searched and searched but the most authoritative information I can find refererence polyurethane varnish and epoxy resins. I would prefer not to have resort to painting and then varnishing, or mixing ground up akadama with a resin. Seems a bit over the top to me. I am sure that there are some safe paints out there. krylon fusion paint pops up as a recomendation in a few places, but is not readily available here in the UK.

Any pointers welcome 🙂

 

[Ed Seeley]

There are a few safe pond paints for coating the cement in koi ponds but I think the problem you might have is getting them to stay adhered to the stainless steel. They will cover it fine but it will probably peel off over time.

I reckon you might be best just to put a good layer of moss on and spread it out so that the moss covers it as quickly as possible.

If you really want to try the paint then go for G4 pond paint as it's no nonsense and doesn't need mixing and it's the best one I've used. They even do it in a range of colours including British Racing Green! Well they used to anyway!

 

[a1Matt]

thanks Ed, I appreciate your detailed answer. Think I will try without paint at first and if I can not stand the sight of it go back and paint it!

 

[Polly]

Why stainless steel mesh??

There is a plastic mesh which is available in craft shops and comes in different colours and different sizes of mesh 😉 Betta keepers use it to divide their tanks while still having water flow. You might have to weight it down tho 😉

 

[a1Matt]

I tried it with some green plastic mesh (off the roll from the garden centre). It is fine if the area of moss is large enough and secured against glass with suckers. Otherwise I found it floated about, and also curled up at the edges after I sewed the moss onto it.

Your post has made me realise that just because the plastic one I tried first off was not suitable, does not mean all plastic meshes will be. I will keep an eye out for other meshes, thanks.

With the metal mesh I like the fact that I can it into shapes should I wish. Possibly even use it to bank up substrate in places etc. Not that I have done any of that, but I might do in the future