Painting glass tank backs

[jesshimom]

So has anyone done this? What kind of paint do you use?

Scott bought a used All Glass tank years ago that had a painted back and it looked great and never had scratches in it or anything.

 

[rainier29]

I paint all of mine...just like the way it looks as opposed to looking all the way through the tank. Just use a flat black enamel spray paint. Mask everthing off so that you don't have overspray (it's pretty easy to clean off if you do though). Piece of cake.

 

[esears]

I've started painting the back of mine, only I didn't decide to do it until the tank was already up and running. So needless to say it has been quite an endeavor trying to paint the back of it with about 3 inches or so to spare. I'e been using a gloss interior/exterior enamel that looks really nice and have been applying it with a 2 inch foam brush. Just takes a few coats to get it done well. Luckily I have a window on one side so I can paint it from the outside which makes it somewhat easier.

 

[jesshimom]

The spray paint sounds easy. Does it give you a nice solid coat or do you use a couple? How long have you had a tank up this way? I wonder about flaking/chipping long term.

 

[Krish]

Do a search on the forum...There was a thread not too long ago about painting tanks a few pages long. HTH

 

[rainier29]

It takes a couple of coats to make sure you don't miss anything. Use several light coats to avoid running. It will flake and come off if you scratch against it with something but it's easy to touch up. You probably won't have to much occasion to mess it up once you have the tank up and running.

 

[mfinn]

I have painted nearly all of my tanks. I used a dark blue enamel. When I painted them I masked off the trim and painted it so the back was up to eleminate possible runs. The last one I painted took at least 3 coats. And I used rubbing alcohol to clean the surface before painting

 

[jesshimom]

I was thinking about dark blue. Do you have a picture of a tank with dark blue finn? I'll check your gallery that might answer my question...

 

[mfinn]

Yeah both the first 2 pictures. I guess it's not real dark blue.

 

[jesshimom]

I think the blue looks great on your tank finn; great coordination with the zoos!

 

[mfinn]

I think the blue looks great on your tank finn; great coordination with the zoos!

Thank-you

 

[Barbie]

For a couple variations on painting, you can ues the same paint that you've painted the wall behind the tank, depending on the color. I painted my office purple (Yeah, I know, SHOCKER!), and just used the extra paint to paint the back of the tank. It's a bit more muted than coralline, but it just makes the coralline on the back glass looked textured, instead of standing out.

You can also mask off the back of the tank and in a well ventilated area spray on fleckstone paint. I use it quite a bit on my FW tanks and I've been seriously considering trying the blue on a few. It gives a granite finish when you look through at it. I have a friend that does the marble paint kits on her tanks, but you have to do them backwards and have a wee bit more artistic talent than I was blessed with, I'd think .

Barbie

 

[jesshimom]

Well I can't go blue now that I thought about it as there is the black megaflow in there so that would look dumb. I think that is very creative Barbie to paint it the color of your office! I'm not brave with colors here, have mostly white. But the fleckstone might be cool. I'll have to take a look at that.