Painting on Glass?

[hatty324]

So I screwed something up, not to happy about. I wanted to paint the back of my 75G tank so that it would hide any piping from the front. So I went to Menards, they told me I needed Primer, otherwise the paint will not stick to the glass. I have never used Primer, so I just took what they gave me (told them it needed to be water proof). So last night I opened her up and painted the first coat on the back side of the tank (outside of the tank). Then I realized after finishing my last stroke, that the Primer is white (I am stupid, I know) and that it doesnt dry clear (i thought it would). So heres my dilema. I wanted to paint it black, but now I have a white coat. Doesnt matter if I paint black over it because from the front it will still look white.

Should I take a razor blade and remove it? Then maybe buy black primer? Can I paint on the "inside" of the tank or will that not work with saltwater....please help...

[DlBerlin]

Dont paint the inside!
You will need to take the primer off with a razor blade-it should come off pretty easy. Then just paint the color you want-no primer. Use an epoxy type paint and it will be fine.

[Fly Guy]

No paint on the inside.....that i know for fact. The primer is pointless on glass anyway.....its going to scrape off just as easily. If you must paint instead of getting the sticky colored plastic to cover it, i would recommend finding the stuff that is made for painting metal, such as metal on doors. It is a clear stuff that bonds to the metal and then you are in actuality painting it..........its called GRIPPER. I think its made by Behr but just call home depot and ask them. Im sure it will work better than primer although not positive just how well it will work on glass.....ive never painted glass but it sticks to metal doors great so i dont know why it wouldnt work.
Do a search in the DIY forum...i think i recall reading something about painting glass there recently.

[hatty324]

Thanks...figured not to paint hte inside, just thought I'd check.

So DlBerlin, you say no primer? Just paint...maybe do like 5 coats of the paint or something insane like that?

[DlBerlin]

I did 3 coats of black rustoleum epoxy and it worked great.
Debbie

[JennM]

Do NOT paint the inside.

DO scrape off the primer with a metal scraper - it should come off fairly easily.

What we do is mask the trim and put a lot of newspaper over the top of the tank so paint does not get in, take it outside and spray it with a few thin coats of Rustoleum. Don't spray it too thick or it will run and you'll have big drip marks.

When we spray a reef-ready tank we mask off the overflows so as NOT to paint over the glass that shows the inside of the overflow - sometimes you need to see in there in case of a fish overboard or whatnot - that choice is yours but we leave the overflows visible on the back unless the customer requests otherwise.

This technique will give you a nice smooth finish - let it dry outside and take off the masking tape before the paint dries so it won't peel off paint when you remove it. Let it dry completely then carefully move the tank - while the paint will stick well enough without primer, it is easy to accidentally scrape off.

HTH

Jenn

[leveldrummer]

yep, what jen said, i masked off the sides and top, and just a cheapo spray paint will work great. if you use a brush you can get stroke marks in it. spray paint doesnt. just go with nice thin coats, might take 3-5 times, but its real quick and easy. let dry about 30 minutes before putting the next coat on.