painting a titanium heater?

[lochaber]

I recently bought one of those via aqua titanium heaters for a tank I'm hoping to get set up this weekend.

I was initially planning on sectioning off a corner of the tank, and keeping the heater and filter intake in that corner, out of sight of the main tank, but that didn't quite work out.

So instead, I'm going to just be sticking the heater in the tank, hopefully keeping it somewhat obscured behind some hardscape (while making sure there is decent circulation around it). However, the bright metallic color will pretty much stand out no matter what I do with it.

Has anyone ever done anything like painting the heater, or doing something to make it a bit more subtle looking?

[NWA-Planted]

Not sure if that would work or not... But if you were you need a high temp paint check www.kbs-coatings.com look at the high temp manifold paint.

My only worry would be things potentially seeping when it's all heated up

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[lochaber]

Thanks for the response.

I would probably want to use something with a history of safe aquarium use, like maybe the fusion spray paint or something similar.

I don't think I'd need something high-heat, as the water should conduct/convect most of the heat away before it would get anywhere near boiling, but I didn't consider that the higher temp might promote something leaching out of the paint/coating.

[NWA-Planted]

Originally Posted by lochaber

Thanks for the response.

I would probably want to use something with a history of safe aquarium use, like maybe the fusion spray paint or something similar.

I don't think I'd need something high-heat, as the water should conduct/convect most of the heat away before it would get anywhere near boiling, but I didn't consider that the higher temp might promote something leaching out of the paint/coating.

Yea i mean the water is conducting away heat but that thing will still get hot. Only other thing i could recommend would be hide it behind some plants or driftwood :-/

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[ngrubich]

Have you looked into the heater covers at all?

http://www.petsolutions.com/C/Aquari...Guard-Kit.aspx

I'm not sure if yours will fit or not, though.

[TwoTacoCombo]

This is worth a read:

http://www.ehow.com/how_7690993_prep...ium-paint.html

[lochaber]

Originally Posted by NWA-Planted

Yea i mean the water is conducting away heat but that thing will still get hot. Only other thing i could recommend would be hide it behind some plants or driftwood :-/

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I think that's what I'm going to have to resort to, I was just hoping to be able to camouflage the heater as well. :/ I'm thinking before I do anything, I'll try throwing the heater in a bucket/tub, and sticking my hand in and seeing how warm the water feels near it, or maybe even if the heater feels hot to the touch after a couple minutes of constant on.

I'm pretty certain most silicones are good up to temperatures in the couple-few hundred degrees Fahrenheit (well above boiling, which should not be happening...), and several epoxies have pretty high temp ratings as well. I'm just concerned that coating the heater with those would insulate it, and severely limit the heaters ability to transfer heat to the water...

Originally Posted by ngrubich

Have you looked into the heater covers at all?

http://www.petsolutions.com/C/Aquari...Guard-Kit.aspx

I'm not sure if yours will fit or not, though.

Thanks, that didn't even occur to me, but now that you mention it, I think I remember seeing them in a store recently. I'll take a look (I plan on hitting a few pet/fish stores in the next few days) and see what I can figure out.

Originally Posted by TwoTacoCombo

This is worth a read:

http://www.ehow.com/how_7690993_prep...ium-paint.html

Thanks. I'm not sure I would really have to do much other then clean it, as the heater has a slightly rough surface (similar to beadblasted finish). The idea of anodizing briefly passed through my head, but I don't have the equipment to do that (and I don't think I'm quite up to scavenging parts from abandoned microwaves and rigging something up in my apartment...(yet)), and I don't think I've ever seen titanium anodize as anything other then some pretty color (compared to aluminum, which is frequently anodized to black, grey, etc.)). even so, that stuff is a bit out of my league...