Best way to paint background?

[old salty]

Starting to think about how I will paint the background on my new 60G. I have looked at past postings on the subject but none really answer my question. Best application; Spray, Roll, Brush? Best kind of paint for each application? And where to get it?

Thanks for responses in advance!

 

[SWITCH420]

i use black spray paint to paint the back glass.turn the tank upside down so u dont get over spray on the inside.a lot of people use krylon fusion spray paint..

 

[whitebear1020]

I used to have a service guy who did service on my tank every two weeks. He decided to spray my tank with dark blue paint. I thought it was a good idea until I saw that paint was all over the sides of the tank it took me months of scraping with a razor blade to clean it up ... then I decided to move and wanted to put my tank in the middle of the room as a divider ... and couldn't do it either since the back wall was sprayed with a paint. I wish I jest left it the way it was with the thin film instead of a paint.

 

[SirFragalot]

Use a latex paint. I rolled on a couple coats to be sure it covered. Looks great and comes off easy if need be.

 

[9supratt4]

Use spray paint....it goes on nicer. On my new tank the LFS used latex and it's not a pretty lol

 

[panmanmatt]

Actually there was a presentation at MACNA in Atlanta a couple years ago about how painting the back glass of a tank drastically reduces the amount usable light in the tank. The paint does not allow the light to reflect off the back of the tank but rather absorbs it.

James Fatheree was the presenter and here is some of the info he provided. I can't find his whole presentation but I know it was discussed quite a bit on most of the reefing boards after it was made.

"Reflection from the glass can make a big difference.

Painting the back of the tank (even blue) can decrease the amount of light at the bottom of the back of the tank by as much as 34% due to loss of reflected light. Taped on plastic does not decrease light reflection at all, though, because of the way reflection happens at the interface of the glass and air."

 

[RevClyburn]

I currently have a mirrred back 38 gal, was my first tank. Does anyone else have one, or have used one?

Anyway, anyone ever painted their tank in a reflective color?

Rev

 

[panmanmatt]

It's not the colour, it's the fact that the paint stops the reflection from taking place. Commercial film type tank backgrounds don't effect the lighting as they leave and airspace between the glass and the background which is where the reflection takes place.

 

[old salty]

I currently have a 29G with a plastic background. I used that aquaclear? stuff to put it on. What a mess, but now looks pretty good. Same as paint, no reflection? Or better then paint?

 

[panmanmatt]

I currently have a 29G with a plastic background. I used that aquaclear? stuff to put it on. What a mess, but now looks pretty good. Same as paint, no reflection? Or better then paint?

I've never used that stuff so can't say for sure. I would think that as long as you have an air space between the glass and the background you will get reflection.

 

[njhcnwk]

If you're going to spray paint your tank do yourself a favor and buy a plastic dropcloth. Cut the dropcloth into 4 pieces and tape off the pieces on the tank edges to prevent overspray. Paint will ONLY be where you want it to be.
BTW: I have heard that painting backglass effects your PAR.

 

[evoIX]

on it's side, krylon fusion. or another huge suggestion someone did on a used tank i bought. tint from auto cars.

 

[redfishbluefish]

It doesn’t matter what you use.

I taped off everything and painted it with that $1/can black spray paint from Home Depot. The reason the quality of the paint doesn’t matter, because within 3 – 6 months it’s covered in coralline anyway. Even with that, there is no stress put on the paint, so even cheap paint will last forever. Mine still looks great.

Here’s a picture of the tank getting painted:

 

[SirFragalot]

I never thought about the paint effecting the par rating from the outside. Something to look into. Red has a point though. It gets covered in coraline in some tanks and doesnt matter.

 

[evoIX]

with painting. it's all about prep work. the better you prep your area THE BETTER!

 

[shipwrecked]

I never gave thght to losing par-I guess every bit counts,but liked the "back painted look" until as Paul stated the coraline grows in.I used krylon too,but I chose green ;D as for a mirrored back I thght it would stress the fish out,but I could be wrong

 

[Patriot76]

i used navy blue spray paint. i was getting light from my fuge shining thru the back after the lights went off in the DT, so i got a thin piece of plexi-glass to cover the back and sides (in-wall tank) and spray painted them black. i used velco to secure them to the tank, then ran a layer of tape across the top/side to prevent water from getting between. now you cannot see any light shining thru from the fuge/fish tank room while the DT lights are off. if i could do it over, i would prob just use the plexiglass without painting the back at all. i would do (or have someone who knows what they doing) paint it in a fade-to-black pattern. bright blue up top, fading to a darker blue, then black towards the bottom.

 

[old salty]

Anyone ever use a roller to paint the background?

 

[Nickjr000]

You can roll a latex on it. But like mat said it does suck up your light instead of reflecting.

A mirrored background would be awesome, but it would def freak out your fish

 

[r2reyzer]

Another idea is to go to Pep boys and get limo black window tint. I did it to a tank 8 years ago and it still hasn't peeled. It's almost as dark as black (can barely tell the difference) and you can always peel/scrape it off if you want to change it.