200 gallon in wall set-up

[julie]

I'm setting up a 200 gallon salt tank in the wall and I have a few questions. 1. what would be a good size of tank to use for the sump tank? 2. what would be an appropriate covering to use on the 3 sides, so no one can see the 2x4 through the tank? I've heard window tint and painting them. Does anyone have opinions on either one?

 

[lancer]

If the sides are glass It looks better to paint them. Spray paint applied lightly several times to a taped and very tightly covered aquarium looks really cool. You can also hand paint the back with acrylic, but it is more time consuming to do this (I used eight coats for my 150).

 

[squidbait]

Does paint work well for a tank that is not enclosed? What color is best?

 

[sonny]

As for the sump, make it as big as possible. I prefer to have a sump made of acrylic rather than glass. That way, you can use an external pump, which will be more powerful, and will transfer less heat to the water.
If your tank is in the wall, you won't need to do anything to the sides, as when viewed from the front, the sides will be mirrors. You can test this on any tank, just look from the front and you can't see anything through the sides... not from any angle. The only way you'll see through the sides is to view it from one side to the other.
As for the back of the tank, painting is a good option, or you can get a piece of blue or black acrylic and tape or glue it to the back. I have also used pieces of cloth or felt on the back. The benefit of using a cloth might be that you could use a magnet scraper from the back of the tank, if you will have access from the rear. You will definately want to get a good magnet scraper for a tank that is in the wall. I use the Magna-float, and really like them.
Sonny

 

[wally]

I vote for painting using spraypaint. When you paint it don't worry about using masking tape or anything. I did once and was very careful to tape the trim and everything else on the tank that I did not want to get paint on. The problem was that when I took the tape off it left stickygoo all over the tank and bits of tape that would not come off. I had to get a razor blade and scrape it all off. Now I just turn the tank upside down so I don't get any paint inside and spray away. Then I just scrape off any paint that gets on the sides I don't want. I use black paint and tanks with black trim so I don't worry about getting paint on the trim.

 

[julie]

Is there is certain kind of spray paint I should buy to spray the 200 gallon tank? and What color is best? dark or light?