painting back glass

norat915

REEF POSER
have a 125g just took out about 100lbs of live rock got tired of the rock wall look now that i can see the back of my tank dont know if i should paint it black or leave it clear would like you guys take on it bought some paint today and tried on a piece of scrap glass looks good but still have doubts have to paint in place with roller Thanks
 
I have a black back now, but would have preferred a blue. Either way it will not matter after awhile as coraline algae will overgrow it eventually.
 
I have a 125 that I painted the back with a satin latex paint. I went to Lowes and grabbed a bunch of different paint swatches. I placed them between the back glass and tank rim to see which color I liked the best. Ended up going with a shade of darker blue (cant remember exact color). Then I painted a couple coats on the back of the tank till everything was uniform and light did not pass through. One good thing about the latex paint is if you don't like it, you can quickly remove it with a flat razor blade.
 
I'd just tape or Velcro a laminated black paper background from your lfs. When you paint the glass you lose light intensity from the loss of light that would have been reflected due to differing refractive indices.
 
I'd just tape or Velcro a laminated black paper background from your lfs. When you paint the glass you lose light intensity from the loss of light that would have been reflected due to differing refractive indices.

x2
 
I've always used black latex, like jk says coraline always ends up covering it ( which also changing your refractive indicies) As they say 6 of one half dozen of the other. For what it's worth I would never go back to having it clear, unless it was a peninsula style set up. As for the stuff at the lfs, it's garbage. Salt creep nightmare!
 
I've always used black latex, like jk says coraline always ends up covering it ( which also changing your refractive indicies) As they say 6 of one half dozen of the other. For what it's worth I would never go back to having it clear, unless it was a peninsula style set up. As for the stuff at the lfs, it's garbage. Salt creep nightmare!

I had the background paper from the lfs, when I first set my tank up. What a mess! between salt creep getting in between the paper and the glass to trying to install koralias magnets on to the paper....never again. When I moved the tank last, I knew I was going to purchase a couple of MP10's for it, so I decided to paint the back black. I'm sure I'm loosing some light refraction but everything looks to be pretty happy.
 
That makes me wonder....Has anyone ever painted the back of their tank white??? I wonder how that would look and how much light will actually be bounced back into the tank.
 
I am sure colors would get all washed out. Would fish react in a negative manner to the unnatural look to the bright white background?
 
decided to try a decal friends sister works for a decal company and she can get black that is removable have to smooth out but its not sticky like tape have to see for myself will let everyone know when i get it can get in any color
 
Try window tinting. available in differnt colors and easy to apply and remove. I did limo tint from autozone. With the back of the tank against the wall the back appears black. Also cheaper than paint and alot less time and effort.
steve
 
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