salt water safe?

[bugjuice]

I work nights and on my off nights I get bored sitting up by myself so I started making these fake corals for my future seahorse tank. I shaped pipe cleaners and coat hanger wire, coated them with plasti-dip and am planning to paint them with acrylic outdoor craft paint. Should this be safe for saltwater? If not, I will use them to decorate something.

[lReef lKeeper]

i personally would not use them, but i will leave this question to the real pros of this specific topic. if you miss even a spot the size of a needle's point, you will have rust issues and any issues with water quality is not good.

[bugjuice]

oh well, guess i gotta fork out the money for artificial coral. This is kinda fun anyway, like plasic sculpture

[bugjuice]

Bobby,
do you think it would be ok to coat dried sea fans with rubber? Just so they would have more color and not rot away in the water?

[lReef lKeeper]

i would not use them, but then again i dont know what the spray-on rubber is made of either. that would be a personal preferance i guess, but i can say that i would never put anything rubber or rubber coated in my display tank, especially from a spray can. the only thing i use that is rubber is rubberbands, but that is a last resort for fragging my corals.

[bugjuice]

I just want something for seahorse hitches. I got some red macroalgae from Inland Aquatics but it isn't very tall.

[lReef lKeeper]

all the stores around here use calurpa algae fo rthe horses to hitch to. i am definately not the one to talk to about ponies though. i only do reefs as ponies are to complicated and fragile for me at this point.

[dakar]

I'd be a little hesitant about using that rubber coating in a tank, no telling what it could leach into the water column even after it has cured, if it ever really fully cures. It would come down to the stability of the material at the molecular level, I'm no chemist but some of those tool dip products contain some pretty nasty stuff.

As far as hitching posts for seahorses go, live macroalgaesare great, however to thrive they tend to need a bit more light than you'd want in a higher nutrient system, else the nuisance algaes will get a solid footing as well. Angel is using a combination of artificial plants and corals for her H. Reidi with great success. For some reason hair algae like to grow on the plastic, which she rotates into another tank where the tangs and lawnmower blenny pick it completely clean.

[lReef lKeeper]

thanx Dave, thats what i was trying to say without sounding like a chemist or micro engineer. lol

[unleashed]

im with everyone else on this one.U used to work in a plastic fatory yrs ago and you would beleive how filthy things are and the chemicals that are used to make molds ect.i would be very worried about the chemical make up of the rubber dip and the effects it may have on your tank and preceous stock.i would also reccomend purchasing the artificial decor the silks they have now look more lifelike.i used them when i first started this hobby yrs ago too bad my puffer thought they looked good and real enough to eat lol