# Aquarium-safe paint/varnish?



## misscaretaker (24 Nov 2008)

Hi all, I am planning to replace the scabby, broken hood of my 60l with a DIY job with some wood we've got lying about indoors (it's a bit of a building site!). I just thought I'd check what would be suitable for waterproofing the interior as I don't want to poison the lot!
Any tried and tested varnishes or paints out there?


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## sisko (25 Nov 2008)

Krylon fusion is safe, loads of people using it. Haven't tried though!! You can read about it on monsterfishkeepers.com


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## misscaretaker (25 Nov 2008)

Thanks for that, I'll look into it!


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## sisko (26 Nov 2008)

No probs!    I'll get some soon as well as I need to paint a few things too. Found some on ebay, as far as I remember the price is/was around Â£8.


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## FifeFish (29 Nov 2008)

Will yacht varnish work for my diy hood?


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## Ed Seeley (29 Nov 2008)

FifeFish said:
			
		

> Will yacht varnish work for my diy hood?



Pure, clear polyurethane varnishes are an excellent choice but some Yacht varnishes come laced with mollsucicides to prevent barnacle and other inverts growing on the ship's hull.  Obviously these can't be used near aquaria.  Check the label very carefully and if in doubt don't use it.


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## mjenner (4 Mar 2009)

When I built my hood for my old marine tank, I inside I used a fibreglass kit and coated the inside with the epoxy resin that comes with the kit (I only used the fibreglass on the joints), not only did it make the whole thing rock solid, it also acted as a good waterproofing tool.

I didn't varnish the outside though, I used black spray-paint for painting radiators, left the grain of the wood visible and it had a satiny type finish.  Finished it off with a brass effect piano hinge on the front (my only bad decision, this rusted and went cruddy, had to take it off and eventually it fixed on using magnets only).


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