Painting The Back Of A Tank

[adamspeedofsound]

What paint would you recommend?

as for colours im thinking black would show the colours of the fish up very nicely or maybe blue

hello by the way as im new here

 

[Neal]

I strongly recommend black, it brings out the colour of the fish, plants, just everything! It also helps hiding most equipment as that's black aswell.

Neal

 

[stang1]

I'm not sure what colour but most of mine are quite dark. It also depends on what fish you are keeping.
Oh and

 

[Lord Zogat]

Why not just attach black paper or purchase black background material. This way if you get tired of it you can always change it!! Cost of material would be less than the paint and removable!

 

[Lateral Line]

I use 2-3 coats of ordinary blackboard paint. It doesn't "wet" the glass as perfectly as I'd like, hence 2-3 coats to cover up brush marks, but it is very cheap, so is not really an issue.

 

[BigC]

I also use black matt paint as it really shows up the colours of my fish (Killifish) but more recently I've gone on to buy Juwel preformed backgrounds (fit inside the aquarium) which although quite expensive, they look much more natural.
Regards
BigC

 

[JamesC]

I originally painted my tank with 3 coats of a waterbased gloss blue paint. Then decided to change it to a black colour. Wasn't looking forward to scraping of the blue paint, but when I did it came off in sheets and only took a few minutes to do.

Painting the back of a tank IMO produces far better results than using a coloured background..

James

 

[Allen]

how easy is it to paint when you only have 4 inches behind the tank and its full ?

any recommendations on black paint ?

 

[JamesC]

You've got more space than me. I've just measured mine and it is 3 1/4 inches from the back wall to the tank and I managed to remove all the blue paint and paint on the black without too much trouble. Brought one of those mini gloss roller kits from your favourite local DIY superstore. Just managed to get down to the bottom of the tank. Remember to work from the bottom up!!!

I used a cheap waterbased gloss paint. I did clean the glass with alcohol first to remove any finger prints as the paint won't stick to those areas.

James

 

[Allen]

what a waste of good alcohol !

 

[JamesC]

Used industrial meths which is basically ethanol. Wouldn't dream of using one of my single malts - now that would be a waste.

James

 

[tomstanks]

Black is best.

 

[Rodders]

I used black oil based gloss. Water based paints wont cover glass as good, hence more coats required!

 

[loacheyebone]

Hmmmm. This is an old topic, but I'm new to this forum.

All previous tanks of mine sported a paper plant background. 4 years ago I bought a 46g bow front and started anew. I installed my standard plant looking background and was amazed that it didn't show. Well, not very good. It was very dark, almost black.

I took it off and discovered I liked the look of no background at all! The equipment exposure is minimal. I have 3 cords that hang down straight. I use a fluval 4 filter to one side so it is not obtrusive much. The painted wall behind the tank is a beige color and clean. Looks good.

Cheers