Spray Painting Back of Tank - Any Tips?

[sountfc]

I'm thinking about painting the back of a tank I've just acquired, but it's not something I've attempted before. Any tips from anyone that's successfully done it before? Any particular color(s)? Any preferred brands, any to avoid? Anything else that would be useful information?

Thanks!

[wesleydnunder]

Color; whatever you like, a lot of times it depends on what fish you plan to keep. I have a fiend who claims any color is fine, as long as it's black.

I used plain old flat black Krylon that I had in the garage to paint some of mine. I painted my 125g with blue latex and a small roller.

Paint the tank with it dry and empty, usually laying on a soft surface, face down.

For black, if it gets scratched you can touch up with a Marks-a-lot.

Mark

[Matt in Houston]

Use light coats with 10 min or so between each coat...and very light coats for the first few passes so after that dries it will give the paint something better to stick to.

It might look uneven from the back, so when you check your progress look from the front and use over head lighting. If there is light behind the tank it wont look right.

Once it fully dries I always use a light coat of spray on poly clear coat to further protect and waterproof the paint.

Colors...I say dare to be different....the last tank I painted was tangerine, the one before that was watermelon.

Post some pics Mhx! Show everyone the tangerine tank lol.

Oh and dont forget to use painters tape and newspapers or something to cover the inside of the tank and other spots you dont want paint on.

[PhishPhreek]

I use brush on laytex paints but it takes 2 coats. Lowes has an inexpensive 3" wide roller & pan that does a good job.

If you care about not having paint in certain spots (sides / trim / etc) you can use tape or a liberal coat of vasalene...............

[sountfc]

This is all great advice, and is very much appreciated. I wish I had done this years ago on my 135G, so I'm determined to do it this time on this newly acquired 125G.

If anyone has seen both, is there any visual difference between the Krylon and latex paint?

[cms6175]

can I use black as frontosa's?

[ffjohn41]

I've used the flat black .99 cent spray paint from Home Depot on several tanks and it looks great. Just give it a few minutes between coats to dry.

[cms6175]

how will the Frontosa's do with it?

[cameracorpus]

how will the Frontosa's do with it?

They have a hard time pushing the button on the spray can.

Cichlid 1409 brought up an article that stated that paint absorbs much of the light, about 30%. No biggie unless your light is marginal or you want to grow plants. The article recommended using the plastic backgrounds instead, since they are reflective. I have no idea how big they come, though, past the normal 24" size.

I used black paint on my planted tank and it looks great, but my cube with cichlids and holey rock was too plain with a solid color.

The best thing about using paint is that with a razor blade it comes right off if you change your mind.

Another thing to be careful of. The new line of paint that Home Depot is carrying has a minimum 36 hour recoat time, and they mean it. The paint WILL lift if you push it. So read the label....

[PhishPhreek]

Yes, dark colors absorbe more light that light colors and flat paint reflect less light than gloss paint.

I use a light blue on my spawn tanks, a pink on my betta bowls for dark colored bettas and a dark blue on the betta bowls for light colored bettas

the home improvement stores have lots of trick paint options with detailed instructions - I like the blue/green marble effect best.

[PhishPhreek]

how will the Frontosa's do with it?

they like the water baised paints, but get high on the spray enamel vapors.

[thewahakid]

Rather than paint the back of the tank, I elected to go to Walmart and buy some black poster paper and just taped it onto the back. No fuss, no mess and the tank is like new with painted results.

[smk]

i like painted backs and i'm partial to black seems more unobtrusive to me i've brushed, rolled and sprayed all work equally well i think sraying is probably the easiest but takes more prep,i.e.masking i like gloss better than flat
scott

[sountfc]

I just wanted to thank everyone for all the advice. I painted the tank over the weekend, and looks great!

[algarciajr]

I just wanted to thank everyone for all the advice. I painted the tank over the weekend, and looks great!

Will you be posting pics?