Frank wrote:
I will be setting up a reef system soon. What I planned to do is coat the
exposed PVC parts with silicon then roll them in crushed coral. I was
thinking that this might help mask the pipes. If anyone knows why I
shouldn't do this please post it.

The Boston aquarium makes a lot of their fabulous backgrounds from crushed coral
and other stuff mixed with a special fiberglass compound. I think your idea is
great and should work just like theirs does. In fact, you might be able to get
some chunks of coral from an LFS. Small pieces glued on like this might do an
even better job.

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.