# Painting the back and side of tank



## sunsunsun (May 18, 2009)

Hi, i'm wanting to paint the back and sides of my tank, im wondering which paint would be safe?

Which one's have you used or would recommend? 

Thanks.


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## J-P (Feb 27, 2011)

if it is on the outside, you can use anything you want


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## sunsunsun (May 18, 2009)

Thanks. I will go with the black latex since I read it's easy to remove


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## J-P (Feb 27, 2011)

I am currently using a flat black, but I really like the look of black chalkboard paint.

I saw a guy who just painted some glass and "clipped" it onto the back of the tank. It looked really nice also and "easy to remove" haha.


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## qwerty (Dec 15, 2009)

I use krylon spray paint. I find it easy to get an even coat and I don't have to worry about things like brush strokes. I've never used any other paint though.

As an advantage, it's also safe to put this paint inside your aquarium once it's completely dried, which I wouldn't do personally, but it does give me a sense of reassurance.

The drawback though is that the only way to remove it is with acetone and elbow grease. I would not use acetone over the silicone work.

Luckily the exposed silicone is on the sides of the tank, so you can use it on the back pane as long as you're careful.

As far as painting the sides go, I did this on my quarantine tank as an experiment, and personally found it did little to nothing for the view inside the tank, and it actually became a nuisance for maintenance since you could no longer view from other angles. I don't know what your intention is for the tank though.


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## SourGummy (Apr 29, 2011)

plasti-dip spray should be pretty nice... and reversible as well


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## sunsunsun (May 18, 2009)

qwerty said:


> I use krylon spray paint. I find it easy to get an even coat and I don't have to worry about things like brush strokes. I've never used any other paint though.
> 
> As an advantage, it's also safe to put this paint inside your aquarium once it's completely dried, which I wouldn't do personally, but it does give me a sense of reassurance.
> 
> ...


I ended up using black latex paint. i'm pretty happy with the results.
Though i will try other methods next time i decide to paint.

I wanted to try painting the back and sides as i started to get annoyed with the stick on backgrounds, over time it tends to get dirty under. You won't get that with paint.

It was also more of an experiment for photo tank for me to put the bettas into.


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## brapbrapboom (Sep 2, 2009)

sunsunsun said:


> I ended up using black latex paint. i'm pretty happy with the results.
> Though i will try other methods next time i decide to paint.
> 
> I wanted to try painting the back and sides as i started to get annoyed with the stick on backgrounds, over time it tends to get dirty under. You won't get that with paint.
> ...


Did u use a spray paint? How big was ur tank? Im planning to paint my project 75g tank as well


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## J-P (Feb 27, 2011)

sunsunsun said:


> It was also more of an experiment for photo tank for me to put the bettas into.


Most of the top photo people just have a little 2.5 gal tank prepped and ready. When it comes time for the photo, they just add the fish snap away and then put the fish back.

Not saying this can't be achieved in a display tank, it is just more difficult


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## sunsunsun (May 18, 2009)

J-P said:


> Most of the top photo people just have a little 2.5 gal tank prepped and ready. When it comes time for the photo, they just add the fish snap away and then put the fish back.
> 
> Not saying this can't be achieved in a display tank, it is just more difficult


well the one i painted was just a 10gal, nothing too big YET lol
i would probably paint my 75 next. Looks better imo.


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## sunsunsun (May 18, 2009)

brapbrapboom said:


> Did u use a spray paint? How big was ur tank? Im planning to paint my project 75g tank as well


It was only a 10g for starters, but i've also painted my 23L.
I used canned black latex paint, as it's easy to take off if u wish to.


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## brapbrapboom (Sep 2, 2009)

sunsunsun said:


> It was only a 10g for starters, but i've also painted my 23L.
> I used canned black latex paint, as it's easy to take off if u wish to.


Did you end up using the whole can? Is it the one that you can just peel it off?


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## sunsunsun (May 18, 2009)

brapbrapboom said:


> Did you end up using the whole can? Is it the one that you can just peel it off?


uhmm for the 10g and 23L i barely used 1/3 of the can and i did 3-4 coats.
yea you can just peel it off if you try.


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## J-P (Feb 27, 2011)

dang .. for my 65g I used 2 cans...

I took a flashlight to the interior of the tank and if I could see any light through the glass I applied another coat


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## carmenh (Dec 20, 2009)

You better be right, JP 

As we speak I'm painting the back of Zephyr's new tank with chalkboard paint. It looks sweet but I'm on coat #4 and I'm still seeing bits of light with the flashlight in the tank. I probably still need 2 more! But I'm only a quarter through the can, they are very thin coats...



J-P said:


> I am currently using a flat black, but I really like the look of black chalkboard paint.
> 
> I saw a guy who just painted some glass and "clipped" it onto the back of the tank. It looked really nice also and "easy to remove" haha.


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## Car2n (Jun 7, 2011)

I'm blacking out a new 150 gal corner-flow tank. I was going to use black latex paint on the back but was unsure how I should black out the corner-flow from the highly visible side.
I bought a piece of 5% limo tint from a friend that runs a tinting shop and will do the back and the visible corner-flow side. From what I've read on the internets it should work out nicely. My son in law did tinting previously at the tinting shop I mentioned and we'll do the tank as soon as we can get some time together. No rush as I have a stand being made and it won't be done for a little while yet.


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