painting a background

[SRT80]

Is there anything I should know about this? A certain paint? Or just tape it up and take a can of spray paint and spray? My next tank I want to do this. Don't really want to pay $4 a ft for the stick on background. Appreciate the help...

Steve

 

[phudeb]

I have always painted all my tanks. I just used the cheap $1 can from HD. This last one I did I thought looked pretty neat. I faded the top down from blue to navy to black. I am starting to like the bluish look better. Before I paint, I normally wipe it down with vineger.

 

[DMBillies]

Steve,
I don't know if there is a certain paint that would be better recommended (I just used spray on latex paint - rustoleum I think), but one thing you definitely want to make sure of is that the glass is totally clean. I used goo gone to get some tape off the back of the tank before spraying. I apparently didn't clean it good enough because it made the paint not stick there very well. Other than that, just tape it up and make sure you cover everything on the tank that you don't want paint on. Spray dust can get places you'd never expect it to, so better be safe than sorry.

Other than that, just do a lot of light coats so you don't get runs or spots in the paint that look darker (because any light coming from behind the tank will come through the paint to some extent).

 

[SRT80]

Cool, thanks for the help.

Steve

 

[kev-dog1]

I've found that many light coats of spraying works better than fewer heavy coats of spraying.
It can still be pretty fragile (easily scratched) so handle with care.

 

[crumbletop]

I agree with the above. A couple of additions:

1) do it in a well ventilated area.
2) I used paint that was billed as working on plastic. I use my mag-float back there to keep algae off the glass and it has been very durable.

 

[geekdafied]

Buy some of that Flecks paints, get the pink tinted kind so it looks like your back glass is covered with coraline, lol

 

[Fishboy42]

I use Krylon Fusion paint (made for plastic but works great on glass). Just wipe the glass down beforehand (vinegar or we use alcohol to wipe away oil/fingerprints), and do several light coats. 2" painter's tape and newspaper can be used to mask off the rest of the tank/trim. We've found it to be pretty durable.

Matt

 

[Angela Short]

I have painted 3 and the krylon fusion for plastic was by far the most durable. I used cheapo on the 80 and went back to krylon on the 270. Just incase you were gonna try, don't "think" the overspray will not get everywhere if youwere planning on doing it inside. Like someone with a tank to big to move out easy and no brain at 1 AM I know was thinking! :lol: I heard it was quite a mess....

I used 1 can for a 29 2 cans for the 80 and 4 for the 270. It takes a lot more than you would think to get it on real thick and even.

 

[TitansFan]

We used Anita's All Purpose Acrylic Craft Paint and a roller. You can get put it on thick. Its nice in that its very easy to scrape off later on if needed. Also being that it is applied with a roller we were able to paint a tank indoors on its stand.