Anyone have tips before I paint background black?

[Incredible Corals]

I'm sick of the standard blue background. I saw a few tanks lately that have a painted black background and it looks awesome. I was going to just tape off the ends and start putting coats of black paint down. Anyone have any tips before I start?

[gmubeach]

Read and understand the directions if it says well ventillated to it outside.

[Jim]

Are you using spray paint, or painting it on with a brush?

Edited March 21, 2010 by Jim

[Incredible Corals]

Are you using spray paint? Or painting it on with a brush?

 

Paint with a brush on a tank that is already setup. Luckily I have a good 5" behind the tank because of the CPR HOB fuge/skimmer.

[gmubeach]

ut oh so your not going to drain the tank or even move it? How are you sure your going to get a nice even coat.. read the directions as I'm sure the paint gives off vapors....

[Stephen]

I use the 5% window tint to do mine when I want black. 2 applications actually. After the first sheet is good and dry I apply another over the top of that. I looks just like it was painted.

Edited March 21, 2010 by Stephen

[Incredible Corals]

ut oh so your not going to drain the tank or even move it? How are you sure your going to get a nice even coat.. read the directions as I'm sure the paint gives off vapors....

 

I don't think the vapors will be a problem. It's regular Behr paint for interior walls.

[Incredible Corals]

I use the 5% window tint to do mine when I want black. 2 applications actually. After the first sheet is good and dry I apply another over the top of that. I looks just like it was painted.

 

That sounds like it would require skill. I seriously doubt I could do that and be happy with the results, ocd aside.

[sdah0414]

Just do it in a couple of coats. Put the first coat on thin as it will just smear around. Once that coat dries go over it with a thicker coat. Usually just two coats of the latex paint will cover it.

[FearTheTerps]

Just do it in a couple of coats. Put the first coat on thin as it will just smear around. Once that coat dries go over it with a thicker coat. Usually just two coats of the latex paint will cover it.

 

I agree, go thin at first. Its going to look like crap probably, but after you do the second coat it will look better. I ended up painting my back glass with latex as well, I tired the krylon fusion spray paint but it didnt work too well. I couldn't get an even coat with it, so I did the latex over top. It worked well so on the next tank I just went with the latex.

[Stephen]

That sounds like it would require skill. I seriously doubt I could do that and be happy with the results, ocd aside.

 

It's actually insanely simple. All that's required is a razor blade, squeegee, film, and a spray bottle of applicator (basically water and a very mild soap). Advanced Auto sells a kit with all the tools.

 

Here's a link on how to apply it.

 

Note... I wait at least 6 hours to apply the second layer. If you can put the tank outside on a warm sunny day it only takes a few hours before you can safely put on the second layer.

[flowerseller]

I trust you read "product bulletin 6" before begining?

[Incredible Corals]

I trust you read "product bulletin 6" before begining?

 

 

what?

[rioreef]

If painting, use a roller for smooth surfaces (glass), that would not be your standard 3/8" nap roller you use on your wall.

[Mountaineer]

Paint with a brush, and it won't matter if you get runs, uneven coats, etc. The visible part will be touching the glass (assuming you don't view the back) and will always be even and even "glossy" in appearance even if you use flat black paint.

 

This is super easy to do. The hard part will be reaching the back if you didn't leave enough room and scraping off the old blue paint.

 

Post before and after pictures.

[octopus]

Paint with a brush, and it won't matter if you get runs, uneven coats, etc. The visible part will be touching the glass (assuming you don't view the back) and will always be even and even "glossy" in appearance even if you use flat black paint.

 

This is super easy to do. The hard part will be reaching the back if you didn't leave enough room and scraping off the old blue paint.

 

Just did it last week on a 30 gallon. SIMPLE stuff. Black is the best color by far.

Post before and after pictures.

Edited March 21, 2010 by octopus

[BeltwayBandit]

I had a 120 with the back painted. It was super easy to do. I used a brush and applied 3 coats. Like one of the earlier posts, the first coat was a bit thin and looked crappy. That coat just gets a nice base down to hold the next coat. After the second coat I had good coverage. I added a third for good measure. The back side was a bit lumpy and uneven, but when viewed from the front the black background was seamless. The black background really helps give some depth to the tank and it hides all of the equipment behind the tank. I wouldn't use spray paint because the overspray can be annoying. Especially if this is being done after the tank is set up. With the brush on paint all I did was run two strips of tape along the line where the corner overflows met the back of the tank (I wanted to be able to see in the overflow which turned out to be a good thing but that is another story about the clown fish that lived in my overflow for 6 months..)

[Incredible Corals]

Here are the before and after shots of the blue plastic background and here's the painted black.

 

The black makes the corals "pop" so much more. I hated the look of the fake blue. I spend so much money on corals with great colors and I had this fake blue background messing with the colors.

 

[epleeds]

now you just have to scrape the back glass...

 

I like the black better than the blue...once you get the coraline off the glass, the corals will pop more..

Edited March 22, 2010 by epleeds

[FearTheTerps]

Wait, Is this one of those games where you have to spot the 10 differences in the picture???

 

1. Frag tray is missing

 

.....

 

 

Good Job tho. You can prolly see the difference in person better then in the pictures, Looks like the white balance is different.