Painting the back of a tank

[schneijt]

Originally Posted by hansmatt

Joe,
Are you moving back to EC, or joining us in lax?

I'm moving back to Eau Claire. But since LARK is so much more active than ECRC, don't think moving to La Crosse hasn't crossed my mind. I mean, you guys/gals have me driving a few hours every month or two, so I might as well live there sometime in the future. lol

But no, I'm not moving to La Crosse at this time. In the future, though, we'll see where I end up. La Crosse is certainly on my list of nice places to live in the Midwest.

-Joe

[schneijt]

Originally Posted by reefmanwannabe

James Fartherree (better known for giant clams) spoke at our reef cub back in August I think (O-R-C-A). He did a study on painting the back and sides of tanks and came to the conclusion that painting them was one of the worse things you could do . He studied MH ,PC, VHO, and LED lights and they all had the same outcome ,painted tanks (no matter what the color) absorbed as much as 40% of the light we put into our tanks . Unpainted tanks reflected the light back into the tank .Tanks coved in corline algae had the same results as the painted tanks . Just something to think about before you deside to paint .

I never really thought about that, but it makes sense that painting the glass will inhibit its ability to reflect the light back into the tank. But, at the same time, I like the way a painted back looks, and I don't like seeing the cords and such running up being my tank... I'll go ahead with the painting, since I can always scrape the paint off later. I'm not sure how much light I might lose by doing it, but I don't think it'll be enough to make me want to deal with the relative unsightliness of seeing all the cords and the wall behind the tank.

-Joe

[jumpman420]

So for me being the weakling that I am and unable to move the 180 and stand around easily to another place to spraypaint due to the fumes. Would window tint be my best option, or is there another "brush" paint that would be better to use than another?

[reefmanwannabe]

Run the cords down a corner of the tank and you could always paint the wall behind the tank

[reefmanwannabe]

jumpman - I used a paint brush on mine when i had it painted , just make sure NOT to use water base paint , it will crack and leave gaps (even after 5 coats). Use latex paint but be VERY VERY careful with it , it's a b#$% to get off anything that it gets on and if you do get it on something other then the glass , clean it off right then and there ......trust me on this one .

[jumpman420]

Lol, wish I could paint the wall, but unfortuately it was freshly painted by the girlfriend and I. I might just go with a limo black window tint. I have one viewable end from a distance with corner overflows, so I want to cover that and the back but with limited room.

More thinking........ouch

[reefmanwannabe]

jump , how much room do you have behind the tank , you could use a roller as well you'll just have to be more carefull about splatter .Where i couldn't reach with the brush I used a roller but had to roll it really slow .

[schneijt]

Painting a 48"x18" piece of glass vs painting a whole wall black... I'm going with the tank. :-) As far as fumes, I'm a rebel and I'll be painting with the spray paint in the basement. But you could certainly go for latex paint and a brush, which I'm sure would be quicker than spray paint. Still lots of coats of it, I'm sure...

-Joe

[Jrmass]

Ummm not to bust everyones bubbles.. But, Latex paint IS water based paint... I keep hearing to use it in place of water based paints... If it were me and you are seriously thinking about this... Spray bombing it is fine if the tank is empty (such as Jumpman and Joe's tanks both are) *spray bombing is when you use aerosol can spray paint*. But, personally I would look for a good epoxy paint or a laquer paint. It'll take longer to dry (the laquer will) but, you should be able to coat the tank in one even coat or two if you want to be very picky about the way it looks.

Jason

[schneijt]

That's it, Jason... Time for you to change your profile thing from "Fish Newb" to "LARK Resident Paint Guru." :-)

-Joe

[Jrmass]

hahaha... I was more thinking the "Toilet Fish Tank Inventor" ™ hehe...

[schneijt]

lol, I love the fact that you put the trademark symbol in there. Nice touch.

[Afish4u]

one can of flat black should be just fine. FYI do it outside or not in a carpet area. Yeah I learned the hard way. And this was moving into our new house and I did that.. As far as the back of the tank. I say paint it. Heck how many people are usually trying to cover up the back anyway.

[Jrmass]

I was wondering if someone would catch the ™

[odie]

Not to dig a up an old thread but what about a mirrored background?