Painting the back of my tank

[history1776]

How do I paint the back of my tank? I was looking at the thread about the 125 gallon tank in the wall and he painted the back of his tank. Is this something that is commonly done? Is it worth it?

[papagimp]

It's a matter of opinion. I like the back painted black and have done so on my newest tank project. Makes the colors stand out a little better in my opinion. Paint has to be safe though, so far the only recommendations I've seen are Rustoleium Plastic and Krylon Fussion. Of these two, I have used the Krylon Fussion for plastic and am impressed with it. Cost about $3.50 at Walmart.

[history1776]

Can glass be painted?

[papagimp]

Yes it can. Use the above mentioned paints for it though. Can't use just anything onit.

[latazyo]

the 99 cent crap at home depot works fine

just did it yesterday

a few tips:
1. make sure to get plenty of paint in the areas around the trim, or you'll have a small line of paint void

2. if possible, put the tank lying on its front surface (so the surface you're painting is pointing straight up)....if you do that you'll be able to put a ton of paint on it without having it run

if the paint runs you'll have bubbles and trouble

[sea student]

I've painted a couple of glass tanks. I didn't have as good of luck with a roller as with spray paint. I like dark blue, or black.

[moumda]

I have painted 2 tanks. If you use a primer it works better but primer does take tint too well so you're stuck with a light color. Without primmer you need to put several coats on to get paint thick enough.

[REHEM]

Originally posted by history1776
Can glass be painted?

Almost anything but liquids and gasses can be painted!

[Neurotech]

It is no big deal. I used one of those flat painting pad things, as I couldn't otherwise get behind my tank, since it was already set up. No problem. I used wall paint leftover from a project. I have one tank with a light blue background, and my newer tank with a black background. I like both, but the black is really cool looking. If I were to do another blue tank, I would use a MUCH darker shade of blue.
Tank painting for Dummies-You paint the OUTSIDE of the tank.

[laserjim]

Flat black Wamart paint, 99 cents worked for me.

[JamesV77]

I used the a roll of black vinyl used for boat lettering and vehicle stickers...etc. A reefer on here told me about it. It looks awesome and is easy to apply. If I want to change it to a different color I can just peel it off and get a new one. It only cost me $20.
Clean back of tank. Then spray with a mild mixture of soapy water and peel off back of vinyl. Apply to tank while soapy and wet. Squeege out any air bubbles. Voila! Looks great and done in 10 mins instead of 30,000 thin coats of paint and waiting to dry. Good luck.

[history1776]

Where did you get the vinyl at? Like an autozone or something? It just came in a roll?

[JamesV77]

I live on Long Island so there is a lot of Boat Lettering shops around here. Its the same stuff for vehicle graphics I believe. Just look up Vinyl Graphics or Boat Lettering in the yellow pages or on google. They have HUGE rolls of it for their custom work. Various colors too. I can't remember what the width of their rolls were but they were plenty wide for my standard 55 Gal. I just called and asked how much for an 8 foot piece. (to cover the sides and any extra tanks I plan to do) They said $20 so I drove over and grabbed some.

[64Texan]

Originally posted by JamesV77
I used the a roll of black vinyl used for boat lettering and vehicle stickers...etc. A reefer on here told me about it. It looks awesome and is easy to apply. If I want to change it to a different color I can just peel it off and get a new one. It only cost me $20.
Clean back of tank. Then spray with a mild mixture of soapy water and peel off back of vinyl. Apply to tank while soapy and wet. Squeege out any air bubbles. Voila! Looks great and done in 10 mins instead of 30,000 thin coats of paint and waiting to dry. Good luck.

Great Idea! Thank you for posting it.