Painting aquarium

[Vossy121]

hello,
I've been wanting to paint the background of my tank (black) for a while now, I was just wondering if I can paint it with my fish in the tank. Or is there an alternative like moving my fish to a temp tank. My tank atm is a 20 gallon community tank and I do have a spare tank but it is about a 10 gallon at best?
Thanks in advance

 

[dopey696]

as long as you keep all paint and any other contaminants separate from the tank water you should be ok leaving the fish in the tank. The problem with leaving them in the tank is movement of the tank and other disturbances that could stress out your fish. Glass is not permeable so fumes would be more of an issue for you than the fish.

 

[Vossy121]

Thank you!!! What paint should I use??

 

[NickAu]

I used water based mat black paint this has no toxic fumes like oil based paints, you can get a small sample pot from most hardware stores, and I used a small roller with a long handle. Make sure you let the first coat dry before applying the second, It may take 3 coats as painting glass can be a pain.

 

[Vossy121]

With the water based paints , won't it start to peel off if it get water on it though?

 

[NickAu]

Mine hasn't and its been over a year and a half. Water based is also easy to scrape off with a paint scraper.

 

[Vossy121]

That is true!! Thank you for your help!!