Painting a tank

[afbengochea]

call me lazy, I just used the roll of backing they sell at the lfs. One side is black and the other is blue. I just taped it on and it was done took about a minute..... very easy

[110galreef]

Originally Posted by bucket brigade

DON'T PAINT!!!!

They now make this black film stuff (exactly like car window tint) that is super easy to apply. Its a water-tight bond and can be removed. It takes 10min to apply and looks FANTASTIC:

1) You take an 8oz squirt bottle of water and add 2 drops of Dawn DishWashing Soap and mix

2) You squirt down the back of your tank with the mixture

3) You apply the film and slide it around to get it where you want

4) You wipe out any air-bubbles with a small soft cloth

5) You have about 5min to slide the flim around before the glue starts to "set" the film

I'm an idiot and I applied a perfect film the first time I did it. Check some local fish stores for price (should be under $20)

4)

OK we need a link and a picture of your tank!

[Jasontkd]

go with black spray paint. it is so easy and it covers a lot more evenly without streaks.

[hng]

Well, there aren't that many options, paint is paint, but you've gotten some great advice already. For my tank, I

1) cleaned with water and vinegar first the surface to be painted
2) tape off other parts of the tank, especially the inside
3) spray painted thin coats with Krylon enamel paint
4) let paint dry for about 10 minutes in between coats (did 3 coats)
5) peel off tape carefully

[Phishnoob]

Man I envy you guys smart enough to spray and mask before the tank was full and planted.

My way worked and looks great but it would be so easy to do things in the right order. Well at least nothing died yet and my rock cooked for a few months. And my long lost goby just showed up out of nowhere. Gotta take your rewards where you can in this hobby.

Oh well time to get a second tank and use these lessons learned and buy some Krylon next go.

[AquaNovice]

well i decided to go with the spray paint method, went looking for paint, and found a paint from krylon that works for glass. bout $3 a can from walmart. only one i could find that listed glass as one of the work surfaces, most only say wood or metal or both. Thanks again for all the replies. Have to make a new post for lighting and such.

[Phishnoob]

You are golden now

Come on back and take PICTURES of how it goes

[AquaNovice]

Plan on taking plenty of pics, sort of a "pic-aholic", not sure on the process of posting them on here though, i've figured out how to attach them, but not insert them into the post like i've seen, and i have a 5 mp camera, not sure if pics of that size are allowed.... any help with that???

[joshsmit56001]

I used black satin outdoor latex paint. Took three coats but it looks great. I hate spray paint because it is not water cleanup. Hate oil based paints!!

[AquaNovice]

everything will be masked and covered, there shouldn't be much clean-up, just throw away, the paper with the overspray.

[jenajet]

That's what I did and it was easy!