Painting Backgrounds

[Fish_Mike]

I used to have a tape-on back ground, but the wrinkles pissed me off. I added vaseline, but because of te higher temp, the vaseline started to melt, and the background peeled off. I tore it off now, and am going to just paint on the background. What type of paint would you recommend and are there any steps i should be aware of other than just applying a few coats? The tank IS running, so i hope there will nothing harmful coming from the paint that will poison the tank,

Michael.

 

[Barry P]

Do you mean that you are going to paint the glass?? I would advise against that .I rubbed warm water onto my backround and it stuck nice and firm, yes there are a few ripples but it beats painting backrounds on glass..? The temp of the tank keeps the thing stuck firm, after its on wet a towel and rub it on the outside...like when pasting wallpaper.

 

[Griz]

You can paint the back of your tank. I've considered doing mine, but you should realize that it's pretty much permanent.

 

[Fish_Mike]

I do, and i find black goes with everything. Yet no idea what kind of paint to use? Acrylic, oil?

 

[consp]

I'd say if I wanted to paint my tank I'd use acrylic. It will resist the water but should you ever want to peel it off it'd be easy enough with a wallpaper scrapper, algae scrapper or similar tool.

One thing you might want to consider is buing cheap plastic (The coloured kind) from a DIY store. They usually cut it to size for you and it comes in lots of thicknesses. This way youll get an even colour that is water proof. Attaching it would be the hardest part but thats nothing a bit of silicon can't do Do 4 blobs - one in each corner so if ever you wanted to remove it just slide in a blade from a stanley kinfe and with a bit of effort it'll come away

Hope this helps

G'luck

 

[Fish_Mike]

Thanks, the type of paint was all i wanted to know

 

[Rodders]

I painted mine with oil based gloss, black.
But it is a 2 metre tank, so im not going to be moving it to change it anytime.

 

[Griz]

Oil based paint will hold up better than latex in a wet environment. It will also be very difficult to remove without chemicals. Choose your colour wisely! I would suggest black or a very dark blue.

 

[Fish_Mike]

Probably going the with the dark blue now. Oil you say? Alright, but will the fumes affect an already-running tank?

 

[Luke & Penny]

in my local lfs, they use a light blue background for marine and a black for freshwater, i followed the same rule and am glad i did now

 

[Fish_Mike]

Yup mine do to... but i was thinking a darker colour really... i may ask them what they used

 

[Rodders]

I did blue on my last tank, but black is better!!!!