Alternative to painting?

[jaybfresh]

Are there any common alternatives to covering the back of a tank other than painting or using the crappy petco backing?

I dont mind spray-painting, but dont have any place to do it in the winter and I'm planning on setting up my new tank this weekend.

 

[jfl14609]

I juse use that black paper you get at the store it works really well I mean you really arent going to see it

 

[Tank14]

I use black construction paper on the back. The sheets I use are 24"x18", so two of them cover the back of the tank well. I tripled up on the sheets to have a thicker backing. No problems so far :thumbsup:

 

[jaybfresh]

Sounds good... I think I'll give it a try. No problems with the paper getting wet?

 

[solRNY]

i think you can also use dark tint material for car windows, the kind that gets you tickets

 

[Tank14]

I have had no problems with the paper getting wet and that is with a HOT skimmer.

 

[dan10342]

I've seen a tank with tint material background. I've also helped tint a tank. its a PAIN in the ***. also, its still transparent, so you can still see the cords and stuff behind the tank. however, its a good alternative to the "tape on the back" backgrounds.

another thing ive seen is an acrylic sheet painted black and put behind the tank. might be a bit pricey though.

 

[BWIPlumbing]

i've used the sticky back drops from BA and also painted.. I found painting the easiest.

 

[backdraft79]

I used the blackest window tint I could find at Walmart. I love the way it turned out. Cant see through it and it really wasnt that hard with 2 people. I say try it bc you can always just take it off.

 

[mynock11]

Here is the one to top em all when i was big in freshwater years ago. i had a friend that put aluminum foil on the back of his tank...wow what a look it was cool had a nice shimmer but i would never do it...

 

[superkat]

aluminum foil? hmmmm...might need to try that on my son's 20g once I get it converted to saltwater.

 

[Johnny C]

I also used the black limo tint from Wally World. If you apply it correctly without getting any air pockets it works awesome and you can't see any cords.

 

[gmneil]

i use black vinyl you can usually get a piece real cheap, check with any vinyl sign cutting shop

 

[Flanders]

I've always used black rustoleum paint, but I was thinking about doing a dark blue acrylic sheet and backlighting it, public aquarium style.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

I was thinking about doing a dark blue acrylic sheet and backlighting it, public aquarium style.

Way to think like a freshwater enthusiast! They do stuff like this all the time, us reefers are due to try it.

Being that I once scraped black spraypaint off the back of a used 125g tank, I'd never paint a tank unless I felt I had no reasonable alternative. It's just such a pain if you want to change it down the road. Maybe that wouldn't be an issue for other people but it made me think about alternatives.

 

[Gravesj1s]

if the acrylic is to pricey I would think another route would be a piece of luan or 1/4" plywood painted.Might even be able to use thin foam painted.

 

[jaybfresh]

Well the back is drilled, so any type of acrylic backing, etc would be way too much work. I would just paint it, but my garage has become and old appliance graveyard and I have no place indoors with enough room or ventilation.

I'll either use the paper method or one of the premade backings. They will be easy to cut around the drilled holes, and in a few months the back will be covered in coralline anyway.

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[johnd651]

i like the tint method..

one of the tricks with tint is to apply it wet...lots and lots and lots (cant stress the lots part enough) of soapy water

http://www.dulley.com/diy/fwfilm.shtml

 

[Tonynlo]

I have used black and blue tint on my tanks. Currently I use a blue mirror tint. If adds a little extra shimmer to the tank and a really nice effect with halides. I picked it up from eBay a while ago. If your tank has braces on it, try to wedge it up underneath. It will help stop it from peeling if salt hits the edge. Also, it works better to line them up vertically rather than horizontally. My first tank I had lined 2 pieces up horizontally and once the salt got in there, it started to peel away. Now I have a tank set up with the pieces of tint lined vertically and there has been no issues at all. I'll take some pics later on. If there are small bubbles, you dont see them through the water.

 

[Flanders]

Way to think like a freshwater enthusiast! They do stuff like this all the time, us reefers are due to try it.

Being that I once scraped black spraypaint off the back of a used 125g tank, I'd never paint a tank unless I felt I had no reasonable alternative. It's just such a pain if you want to change it down the road. Maybe that wouldn't be an issue for other people but it made me think about alternatives.

there are a few people around here that have done it on reef tanks. I have one pic saved (on my home pc, though) of a guy who had backlighting behind blue acrylic with some airbrushed rock shapes and it looked amazing. I think I'm done with black paint.

jaybfresh, if the back of the tank is drilled it'd probably be pretty simple to drill the acrylic backing and then just hang it on your bulkheads.