# Painting the back of your aquarium.



## Ghetto (Jun 10, 2005)

What do you use?


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## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

I've seen people use just regular house paint, thin coats is key.


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## Vivid-Dawn (Jan 18, 2005)

*aquarium background*

I assume you could use just about any paint that will stick to glass (or acrylic...whichever), if you paint the _outside_ of your tank.
I personally have hung a section of cloth behind my tank. It looks like shadowy, rippling water.


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## Huugs (Apr 25, 2005)

Just a thought but I think mirror is quite good as a background. weel it aint really a background coz it dont look like its there. Makes ur tank look twice as big tho!


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

WHOA!!

Vivid-Dawn, that's the exact same cloth I use for my own backgrounds!


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## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

vivid-dawn that looks awesome  i never thought of cloth!


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## blixem (Jun 13, 2005)

Crushed velvet looks great behind a tank!


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## maxpayne_lhp (Jan 19, 2005)

People here put a background image to the back and glue it on. It sucks cause I an find anemone in freshwater tanks...
About painting.... I think there're glass-paint available rite?


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

I have used wrapping paper. Its cheap and you can change it when you want. It comes in solid colors and you can even make it up for the holidays. LOL


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## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

lol fish doc i seen that! my buddy had it on i was like " ur background looks so cool where'd u get it?" "o my mom had wrapping paper in the closet" 


lol


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## maxpayne_lhp (Jan 19, 2005)

Well anyway. I prefer transparent background... he he it looks more natural. But all up to you guys


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## Ghetto (Jun 10, 2005)

maxpayne_lhp said:


> Well anyway. I prefer transparent background... he he it looks more natural. But all up to you guys


Yeah I just don't like seeing the the cords....thnx for the tips guys, and girls


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## Imbrium (Feb 7, 2005)

I use crinkled up aluminum foil. It makes the tank look brighter because of the way it reflects the colors.


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## shev (Jan 18, 2005)

I used to use a sheet. but now I use tinfoil. shiny side in to reflect the light. nit crinkled though, I tried to get it as straight and smooth as possible.


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## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

You can actually use background paper that they sell at the LFS. They are often times available in solid colors. I know for a fact that they are available in black.


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## euRasian32 (May 19, 2005)

When i painted my old 55 salt, i used a bright blue spraypaint by Krylon. It was prepped and painted a couple of weeke before setting it up though.

if you've got 8 inches between your wall and tank, it can be done if you're handy with a spray can. if you are handy with a spray can you'd tell me that you need to be 12 inches away to avoid whatever whatever... but if you used a quick pass at an angle you should be able to do it with 3 even coats without making the paint run.
Heres a quick DIY

Equipment needed: (Less than 15 bucks)
Paint of your choice, I use a fast drying Krylon.
Painters masking tape (won't leave sticky residue)
Plastic drop cloth (for covering the tank)

Prep:
1. Remove equipment from the surface that you're painting, assuming it's the back.
2. Tape around the edges of the back of the tank and accross the plastic strip. Tape OVER THE ACRYLIC that is binding the corners together. Taping over the acrylic glue will ensure 100% removal of the paint if you decide later to change it. Can be easily removed with a razor blade/utility scraper.
3. Cover tank with plastic drop cloth then tape the ish out of it, using all of the tape if you have to.
Paint:
1. Read instructions on can if you haven't any experience with spray paint. you're going to alter the 12" rule by laying paint at an angle. Use a swift pass to avoid paint running, especially on first coat. If paint runs on 2nd, 3rd, (4th if necessary) it won't be that noticable looking throught the water at the back of the glass.
2. Give ample time between coating to allow previous coat to dry, refer to paint cans instructions.
3. After the 2nd or 3rd coat has dried, look to see if you have ample coating. what will throw this look off is too thin of a paint coating. you'll know when the sun is directly at the tank and you can see the shades of paint through the water where there are light and dark spots.
4. After paint has dried, remove tape and plastic, re-attatch equipment being careful - the paint might still be maliable.

Enjoy


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## Ghetto (Jun 10, 2005)

OMG thnx a lot euRasian32.


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## Brett_Fishman (Jun 14, 2005)

I painted the backing of my 46 bow front tank using 'fastdry' black tremclad. I understand most people use dark green, and apparently it goes really well with a planted aquaria.

Here's my rundown:

1. I taped off the entire tank. The only exposed part was the backing.
2. I cleaned the back with alcohol (made sure it's very clean)
3. I sprayed the tremclad on over 24 hours. Started lightly and every 2 hours or so I painted another coat. I think I painted on 8 or 9 coats. The light coats are key, apparently it's quite difficult to get paint to adhere to glass.
4. After all that, I accidently rip a small amount of paint in the corner when I was removing the tape. I remedied this with a black fat permanent marker (you can't notice the difference).

It looks great and I never see water marks behind a plastic backing!

Cheers!


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

Has anyone ever tried the flexstone paint? I think that might look pretty cool.


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## euRasian32 (May 19, 2005)

A textured paint would probably be awesome! I'm in need of a BG, I might just have to be the guinea pig... I've got pics of my current set up in another thread, I'll do a before and after if I do decide to.

Brett added a key step, making sure the surface is completely clean before spraying.


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