Paint it black

[Bryan]

Looking through all the pictures posted here, I haven't seen much of this......

One thing I've been doing since my first tank over 20 years ago, paint the sides and back flat black. Before you set up your tank, get some flat black paint in spray cans, paint the sides and back, then use a razor to get any that gets on the front. The paint is cheap and takes almost no time

If you just use a background you get a lot of glare and reflection, makes it really look fake, by making the actual glass colored (dark green and blue work to but black is my fav), you eliminate the glare on the back. If you paint the sides you remove that mirror effect. I would love to get someone to do a air-brushed background of plants some day.

What this does, it makes the fish a lot more content, as they don't get confused and no one will scare them from he sides.

This is from the same day i set the tank up.

The problem with this image, I had to much forground light and you see a reflection on the front glass.

 

[jams.alaskan]

That looks super nice. I've never heard of someone spray painting it black. Most use a brush. Are you able to remove the paint and repair scratches in the paint?

ALASKA

 

[Bryan]

I've never had to touch up any of my tanks. As for getting excess paint of the tank, a razor blade works real well, no effort, just slide the blade along and the paint comes right off. I usually do this within an hour of painting, so it's dry, but not tottaly set.