Silicone and acrylic paint

[highvoltagerob]

Hey all,

I am working on a water feature made from great stuff. I was planning on coating it in silicone much like pufferfan did for the brackish crab tank, however I cannot locate any black aquarium safe silicone. So I was wondering if anyone has ever tried mixing acrylic paint into white silicone to tint it. If this was possible I would be able to make multiple shades to cover my water feature.

Also, I don`t know if this matters or not, but most of it will be submerged and there will be fish swimming in it.

Thanks for any help

[beckdg]

i don't think so.

[highvoltagerob]

So I decided to do a little test before I went to bed last night. I squirted a little white silicone out and then took a little brown acrylic paint, stirred it up and smeard it on a little GS ball. I checked this morning and it seemed to have worked exactly as I had hoped. Sorry I havent got any pics, my camera is in the shop. I`ll try to get some up, because this seems to have worked very well.

[beckdg]

so much for thinking, lol.

pics

[CLennerton]

is that safe to use the paint with animals?

[beckdg]

acrylic is safe. not sure how well it works with silicone, though.

[highvoltagerob]

UPDATE:

Its been around 3 weeks since I tried tinting white silicone, and I tried some grey and some brown. The grey came out real nice, the brown had potential. I went mostly with grey to look like stone. It is holding up great to the water (its the background of my 30g water feature), I have had a whisper filter running down it as well and it seems to be doing great.

To make it I just filled a great stuff top half full of sillicone and squirted in some acrylic paint I picked up at Michaels. Mixed it in until i got a color I liked the wiped it on with my fingers. It starts setting pretty quickly so I had to move quick and not mix to much at once. I let that set for about 24 hours and the added more in spots for texture. I made this a different shade to add visual depth. It was fairly easy, I spent about 2 hours on it and a couple tubes of silicone.
So far, so good. I will update, if any thing goes horribly wrong with it. Or if I finally get a new camera.

Sorry I have no pics, I`ve been spending $ on my viv, not technology, lol.

[jason_sps]

So what is the easiest way to spread the silicone?

[highvoltagerob]

I tried using a plastic knife and that didnt look very good, so i used my bare fingers. It was easier to get all the nooks and crannies.

[frogfreak]

I'd be very catious about mixing chemical's!

By doing this you are changing the chemical composition of both the silicone and the acrylic. You may see what seems to be a proper cure, but it may never cure completely. Both products are safe when used seperately, but when mixed, who know's. Unless it was tested in a lab you have no way of knowing if it will leach and give off toxin's.

My 2 cents...

Glenn