The Back of Your Tank?

[benihuma]

Is yours painted, unpainted, cleaned regularly or kept natural? Mine is all natural. I've never cleaned it since my cycle. There are various types of algaes growing on the back, but none are offensive at all. This isn't bad, is it? So, how about yours?
Ben

 

[piccasotrigger]

I kept a black back round on it for a while but now im letting the algae grow natturally
.

 

[aggie05]

Dont have a SW tank yet but my FW that I just setup has a black painted back and I love it. It makes everything in the tank stand out and also hides the filter intake and the heater very well. I will be painting all of my tanks from here on out.

 

[kev]

I just let the algae grow freely on the back and one of the sides of my tank. I think it creates a more natural look for the tank, and with all that extra algae, it has to help out on the water quality a little bit...

 

[benihuma]

Does it help with the water quality?

 

[kev]

Yep it sure does, the algea feeds off of nitrates, phosphates, and a few others, etc... So when you have heavy algae growth, if you remove the algeae, your taking the bad elements out with it... maybe somone else can clarify this a little better.

 

[jumpfrog]

Painted black as well and I intend to just let the stuff grow on the back too. More natural I think.

 

[ac]

I have a mirrored back

 

[benihuma]

For those that painted the back black, what type of paint did you use? I'm thinking that when I switch my filtering from HOB to sump/refuge, I could paint the back quickly.
Ben

 

[dfishh]

Originally posted by Aggie05
Dont have a SW tank yet

y r u on saltwater fish message board then, just wondering

 

[aggie05]

Originally posted by DfishH
y r u on saltwater fish message board then, just wondering
gaining knowledge and asking questions. And to answer the other question about paint type, I just used an oil based flat black and applied it directly to the glass. It has held up great.

 

[jumpfrog]

I used an acrylic semi gloss. Took about 5 coats to get the effect I wanted. Did it before I started doing anything else to the tank. Don't freak out that the first coats look all streaky and stuff. After you get several coats on it looks completely opaque from the front.

 

[simm]

I used KRYLON ultra flat black. I had a friend who painted his with a semi gloss and it started to crack the paint when it dried. One thing to keep in mind, when you paint the back CLEAN the glass real good. On one of my tanks I did not and you can see all the streaks and water spots bad from the front of the tank!