painting HOB skimmer

cajonez

Member
My HOB skimmer has accumulated a little bit of algae on the top 4" or so where it is exposed to the lights. I was thinking about painting 3 sides with black paint to block the light. As long as I tape off all of the openings, does anyone think this would be a bad idea?
 

pezenfuego

Active Member
Originally Posted by cajonez
http:///forum/post/3232703
My HOB skimmer has accumulated a little bit of algae on the top 4" or so where it is exposed to the lights. I was thinking about painting 3 sides with black paint to block the light. As long as I tape off all of the openings, does anyone think this would be a bad idea?
I'm a little confused here. Is the skimmer visible at all times? Is that why it is unappealing? Are you unable to scrape out the algae? Unless the algae can be seen and is unappealing, it is doing more good than harm. You can spray paint the outside. As a precaution, I would let the paint dry for a long time, like two days. You have to be careful not to get any on the inside (tape is a good idea
). If there is any way that the paint can chip off and fall in your water, I wouldn't do it.
 

cajonez

Member
The skimmer is visible at all times, it hangs on the back. I am currently battling a couple different algae issues. I am not really concerned about the aesthetics as much as trying to rid my system of this nasty brown algae. I can scrape it out of the skimmer, but it comes back pretty quickly. I just figured if I could take out one source of algae, it would help overall. If the effort to paint it would not be worth the return I would get, I may just let it go and focus on the rest of the tank.
 

pezenfuego

Active Member
Originally Posted by cajonez
http:///forum/post/3232764
The skimmer is visible at all times, it hangs on the back. I am currently battling a couple different algae issues. I am not really concerned about the aesthetics as much as trying to rid my system of this nasty brown algae. I can scrape it out of the skimmer, but it comes back pretty quickly. I just figured if I could take out one source of algae, it would help overall. If the effort to paint it would not be worth the return I would get, I may just let it go and focus on the rest of the tank.
I really don't see it helping too much. With algae, you have a problem that concerns excess nutrients and not excess light. Now if this is a new tank, then the algae you have is probably diatom algae.
If this is a new tank, then please read this: https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/vb/s...d.php?t=358742
 
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