Painting my tank

[elreydelospesces]

Hello all. I really like the look of reef tanks with black backgrounds. I have tried the plastic sheeting type and it doesn't look right. Does anyone know if I can paint it with my inhabitants inside? WHat kind of paint should I use?

 

[Anonymous]

Well, I wouldn't paint on a filled tank, but if it were empty then Krylon Fushion works well. That's what I've used on two different tanks. I also hand painted a 2.5 using a Testors paint pen. Now, that was dumb.

 

[Anonymous]

I would be wary of painting a stocked tank. You can paint a sheet of wood or acrylic and then attach it to the back of your tank (if it is glass cut it to fit between the top and bottom molding). I am about to do just this!

 

[Reefer_man]

I just cut down a piece of 48" black gator board (slighty thicker than regular foamcore) and put adhesive black velco squares at the corners. It's not perfect but it sure beats the hell our of seeing through to the wall and plumbing behind.

 

[packman9111]

I brushed rustoleum on mine.

 

[Anonymous]

By painting do you mean just making the back completely opaque? or having a scenery? If its the later its depends upon your talent but just paint it backwards ie paint the stuff on top first, then layer the stuff going back. If its the former just get a smaller roller some black (or whatever color you'd prefer) paint and roll it straight onto the back pane of the glass.

 

[Anonymous]

You can safely paint the back of the tank while filled. Use latex or acrylic and be careful not to drop/slop any in the tank. If you are worried you can unplug the skimmers and filters until the paint is dry. Use interior as exterior will have a mildecide in it that may out gas - prolly not though. Point a fan or hairdryer at it and it should dry in a few mins.

 

[Chemical_Whore]

dont put it on to thick I made that mistake now I have sliding veins on mine, but its ok mine is a blood red back ground latex (just to be odd) and it looks like the back is wraped in some odd inside of flesh view.

 

[dark_stranger]

Can i point out one thing that all of you have omitted to mention. Once's it's painted, there is no going back unless you want to spend hours scraping the paint off with a blade or risk spalshing paint stripper or paint scrapings into the tank. What I am saying is that painting it is a permanant solution and cant be easily changed if you dont like the colour.
Look for other solutions 1st before comitting to paint.

 

[Anonymous]

You can scrape the paint off a 100 gal in just a few min with a razor blade. It's very easy.

 

[polcat]

Since the tank is setup you probably don't have much room to work on it. Spray paint works well but not a a stocked tank. I would get a low profile paint roller and black latex paint (interior flat). Two coats should do it, put them on sparingly so you don't get runs. Two or three lite coats are better than one heavy one.

 

[elreydelospesces]

Thanks a bunch everyone. I am sick of looking through the tank at all the cords, etc. Based on all the feedback here is what I think I will do: I'll get a quart of flat latex black paint. Thouroughly clean and dry the back, disconnect the filter and skimmer and apply two light coats to the glass using a small roller. I'll cover the top of the tank thoroughly and keep a fan on it-then hope for the best. Thanks again for all the input.

 

[HClH2OFish]

I've gotta do this one of these weekends as well....I'm wondering if blue or black would be better....

 

[elreydelospesces]

I really like the black. I've seen a lot of reef ready tanks already with a black background. It seems to make everything stand out real nice.