Ive read that painting the back exterior of your fish tank will negatively affect the light in the tank--will make it less bright. Thoughts? I'm about to upgrade and was thinking of painting the back of the tank this time, but want to see what others have to say first. Thanks!
thoughts on painting the back of tank
- Thread starter LaurieC
- Start date
michael Jack
Advanced Reefer
- Location
- Long island
no way not true imposable
Has to do with reducing the mirror quality of the glass and reflecting light back into the tank. It was an article by James Fatherree in Tropical Fish Hobbyist in which they did a study of the effect of black and blue paint under different marine aquarium lights. The article is called "You May Not Want to Paint the Back of Your Tank" Here is a link to the piece: http://www.tfhdigital.com/tfh/200905/?pg=55&pm=2&u1=friend
Nice read, but even if it's true why would you be concerned about less light at the back wall of the tank. Especially if, as the article says, "First, if you have a wall of live rock from the bottom almost to the top, then don't worry about the background too much. Most of the reflection takes place several inches from the top of the tank." Unless you're planning to place coral at the back of your tank.
Anecdotal evidence from MR members who paint the back of the tank also suggests that there's nothing to worry about. I guess you'll hear more from those who do paint.
Anecdotal evidence from MR members who paint the back of the tank also suggests that there's nothing to worry about. I guess you'll hear more from those who do paint.
- Location
- bronx
i got the back of mine painted blue and i love it much better than buying the paper for the back and much cheaper like under 6 bucks in homedepot you chose what ever color you want i reccomend it to all my friends
I wouldnt use a mirrored back.
I thought about a mirror back too, but then thought it might stress out the fish--especially those that are territorial and do better one to a tank. Then I thought maybe paint a board the size of the tank and place it behind the tank near the glass, but not touching it? The article says that the problem occurs from things like paint or plastic sheets in contact with the glass. I suppose the board, would need to be easy to remove from behind the tank so you clean salt creep or whatever off of it. Still mulling. If I do paint the back--is there a particular brant of paint I should use. And should I use spray paint?
- Location
- Franklin Lakes, NJ
Mine was empty and inside. I had huge sheets of plastic taped everywhere and still managed to get spray paint in some other areas. It wasn't a big deal for me as we had just moved and there was nothing important around, but would have been a VERY bad idea in a populated house.
Overall I'm happy with it, but I agree with Kathy... empty and outside!
- Location
- Mt Sinai, NY
Thinking about painting the back of mine black. What type of paint should I use to roll on an already setup tank?
- Location
- East Stroudsburg, PA
Why dont you just get a background from a LFS and then use sea view? Thats what I did and it worked like a charm.
You cut the background to size, slather the sea view all over it , put the background on and with a credit card or whatever kind of somewhat sturdy straight edge squeegie it to squeeze all the air bubbles out and it looks just like you painted it. If you get air bubbles you cant get out, you just need more gel, you peel the background back add some more, put the background back and re-squeegie. Heres the product:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003OYOQ18/?tag=reefs04-20
I have a blue background on mine and it looks just like it was painted. Best part is that the gel never dries out so if you want to chnge the background at anytime you just buy another bottle of sea view, place the new background, squeegie the new one on and Whalaa new background. Heres my 65G with the background I sea viewed on, scroll down on the post to the full tank shot, its a nice cheap, pretty easy way to get great results:
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/756845-post110.html
You cut the background to size, slather the sea view all over it , put the background on and with a credit card or whatever kind of somewhat sturdy straight edge squeegie it to squeeze all the air bubbles out and it looks just like you painted it. If you get air bubbles you cant get out, you just need more gel, you peel the background back add some more, put the background back and re-squeegie. Heres the product:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003OYOQ18/?tag=reefs04-20
I have a blue background on mine and it looks just like it was painted. Best part is that the gel never dries out so if you want to chnge the background at anytime you just buy another bottle of sea view, place the new background, squeegie the new one on and Whalaa new background. Heres my 65G with the background I sea viewed on, scroll down on the post to the full tank shot, its a nice cheap, pretty easy way to get great results:
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/756845-post110.html
from an art stand point, Black absorbs color, and absorbs heat.
white reflects color, and reflects heat.
I still have mine painted black, just get brighter lights!
anyone ever try to paint their back round white? I wonder.
I think it may affect it a little bit, but hey, i like the way it looks!
as far as painting goes, I used this product called glossies. (liquitex brand)
available at any art store. I decided to paint it a few months later with the tank running and all. I stuck my hand between the wall and the tank and winged it.
as long as the paint is wet, there is no streaking I mean its not exactly even, but it faces the wall, and you will never see the back anyway. I believe rolling does nothing but make it look clean from the back.(my opinion) Plus the glossies is opaque in one stroke.
my 2?
-Joe
white reflects color, and reflects heat.
I still have mine painted black, just get brighter lights!
anyone ever try to paint their back round white? I wonder.
I think it may affect it a little bit, but hey, i like the way it looks!
as far as painting goes, I used this product called glossies. (liquitex brand)
available at any art store. I decided to paint it a few months later with the tank running and all. I stuck my hand between the wall and the tank and winged it.
as long as the paint is wet, there is no streaking I mean its not exactly even, but it faces the wall, and you will never see the back anyway. I believe rolling does nothing but make it look clean from the back.(my opinion) Plus the glossies is opaque in one stroke.
my 2?
-Joe
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