Painting the back of my Tank Black

hugh

New Member
Hey all, first off I wanted to say I am glad to be a part of this forum and appreciate the member's feedbacks and extensive knowledge.

I plan on painting the bottom and back of my new tank and was wondering what would be the best type of black paint that will stick to glass and look good?

thanks
 

Loner

New Member
Bro,

Just a suggestion, use oyama sticker paper is more preferred.

Paint might peel off.

For the base, please consider the color option carefully as changing of base color will be a tedious job unlike back or sides of tanks.

:)
 

tman

Super Moderator
I used C.I.L Endurance exterior 100% Acrylic Latex Accent base for the back of my 520 gallon tank. Apply a few coats and let each one dry. On my 450 gallon I used waterproof craft paint. Both paints work good and are standing up to any water. I can also run the magnet cleaner on the back of the tank and it doesn't peel off the tank. Just remember to add quite a few coats. I have never painted the bottom so I can't help out in that department.
 

Cirrus

Arowana blogger
Oyama paper is great, but hard to come by. There was an Alberta forum member a few years back named Boydo who had a lot that he imported. He offered it to me for sale and I still kick myself for not buying it.

I have painted a few tanks in the past (180 and 300 gallon), both times with acrylic latex blue paint. I suggest you get a tester sample from the paint store to see if the colour works for you. I remember being surprised at how much the blue I chose lightened up when seen against the back of the tank. I ended up going for paint that looked like dark navy blue but lightened up to more of a royal blue when seen dried on the back of the tank.

One nice thing about latex paint is that if you want to, you can scrape it off with a razor. I have done that before too and it was hard to tell the tank had ever been painted.
 

damtrees420

New Member
I went to a decal shop and got my blue in vinyl stuck right on pulls off if i ever have to think it was only 30$ for 12 ft and you can get it in every color though now i wish i went with a different one now that it too late
 

exoticaquaria

Active Member
I went to a decal shop and got my blue in vinyl stuck right on pulls off if i ever have to think it was only 30$ for 12 ft and you can get it in every color though now i wish i went with a different one now that it too late

This is the best option IMO!
 

mitchb

Member
Another option is to get some backing from a vinyl shop as well. My buddy owns a shop here and has given me two different pieces for backgrounds. The first was like plastic cardboard, it had a bit of a shine to it so wasn't to my liking.

The second thing I got from him was like a really stiff piece of construction board, it was think like that but very dense. I loved it as it was a matte black, and slid behind my 180 so easily.

Here are some different pictures to show what it looked like:




After just scraping off the blue on my acrylic tank I don't think I would ever paint it again, and the cost of the background sheet was around $50 I think?
 

hugh

New Member
Wow, nice collection. Lots of good info, thanks

I will let you all know what route I took and will post pics
 

hugh

New Member
is it possible to combine this thread with the one in the DIY section as there is also good info in this section that is not inlcuded in the DIY section?
 
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