what paint to use for painting back of tank

[xhappyx]

what paint would be best to use for painting the background of my tank exterior of course.... thanks

 

[mitzel]

I have never painted mine but I would guess just some gloss house paint . you could pick out a color and have a quart mixed up at the hard ware store . :thinking: At least thats what I'm thinking .

 

[littlebuck]

go to walmart and look for either blue or black paint i used like flat blue and it looks good. You can also use like a satin or semi gloss.

 

[xhappyx]

ok sounds good i didn't know if there was a specific paint people were using for it...thanks for the repliesi'm actually trying to plan ahead on this downgrading from my 75g to this 54 corner so just making sure.. thanks..

 

[lepete]

I use the one used to detail automotive engines. It is thicker than the ones you get from the hardware store. I like using flat black.

 

[littlebuck]

what i did was get something that wasnt oil based that way if you want to take it off you dont have to kill yourself doing it.

 

[crashedin0]

i just layed a vinyl lik what the ricers put on the sides of the cars and is looks graet plus if i change my mind i just pull it off and go buy another sheet

 

[chunkysoup]

i don't have a background, it will all get covered in coraline eventually

 

[reefiness]

get like some pink, green, red etc and make it look like coralline

 

[vito525]

2 coats of flat black walmart spray paint,

 

[caz]

On my last tank I used a couple coats of walmart acrylic paint from their arts & crafts section. On my new tank, the previous owner had double sided (black or blue) aquarium paper. I left it on since it's less mess to deal with.

 

[gregzbobo]

I've heard of some folks that have very large tanks (150ish or bigger) that have the back visible painting the back with that chalkboard paint, its black when seen from the front of the tank, and you can go behind it and write on it with chalk for doing tank maintenance or whatever.

 

[chipmaker]

Latex or any oil based paint works fine as does most any rattle can spray paints. I have s0me painted with latex, others with oil based enamels and others with varous spray paints from rattle cans and all of them seem to last ok. Flat seems to cover better and not get whats called fisheyes in the process, so if I have flat available I coat it first with a coat of flat and follow up with gloss or semi gloss as it makes clean up much easier. Matters not what paint you use, its all easily removed with a razor scraper if you change your mind later on........Biggest problem with the typical background materials sold is if it gets wet between it and the tank you get salt and calcium marks, which does not occur if its painted.

 

[caomt]

i bought a black background for my 29 gal for about 6 bucks

 

[pbienkiewi]

for my backgrounds I used a acrylic blue and mixed in a white to lighten the blue up. I rolled mine on

 

[xhappyx]

i ended up using blue acrylic paint faded to black acrylic.. i'll post pics once the water clears up.

 

[acrylic51]

Painted my 240 black, but rolled it on instead of spraying

 

[moprint]

fusion gloss black spray paint this paint is made to stick to glass, a couple coats and your done real easy

 

[payne66801]

I used a candy apple blue with alot of metal flake in it. It really looks good!

 

[payne66801]

I did this to my tank and I love it. NO more water splashes causing lines down the back of the tank. It is a candy apple blue with silver metal flake in it...
Make sure you cover the tank and paint in an area where the paint dust settling will not cause issues. If you want a solid color you might try rolling it on. I went with the can paint so I could get some depth to mine as you can see in the picture. If you have ever scuba or snorkeled. The water at a distance kinda plays mind games with you...