Painting acrylic Inside the tank

[wednesday13]

Anyone try this? Flex seal or epoxy? Im old, lazy, and pretty pressed for time these days with a 2yr old.
Even debating using vinyl or window tint on the inside bottom and back of a tank. Its a 500g so id rather not pull it off the stand to paint the bottom and back on the outside as i normally would.
pretty sure i know the answer already sadly lol… just wanted to see if anyone has tried any of these options under water and how they held up over time.
probably going to have to use 1/8” black acrylic and glue it in.

 

[FINWIN]

Anyone try this? Flex seal or epoxy? Im old, lazy, and pretty pressed for time these days with a 2yr old.
Even debating using vinyl or window tint on the inside bottom and back of a tank. Its a 500g so id rather not pull it off the stand to paint the bottom and back on the outside as i normally would.
pretty sure i know the answer already sadly lol… just wanted to see if anyone has tried any of these options under water and how they held up over time.
probably going to have to use 1/8” black acrylic and glue it in.

You could use curtains attached by velcro strips. Easy to do and remove. Depending on the height of the tank you could use valances or kitchen curtain panels (36").

I use valances held by magnetic discs over the cutout windows on my garage door. Works like a charm.

For the bottom, why not a skim of sand? 150-200lbs would be a really thin layer on a 500 gal.

 

[wednesday13]

You could use curtains attached by velcro strips. Easy to do and remove. Depending on the height of the tank you could use valances or kitchen curtain panels (36").

I use valances held by magnetic discs over the cutout windows on my garage door. Works like a charm.

For the bottom, why not a skim of sand? 150-200lbs would be a really thin layer on a 500 gal.

Appreciate the response … havent thought of curtains yet for the back wall. I do kinda want to keep the back removable as its a double bull nose/race track tank. If i ever sell it, it will be worth alot more being able to view it from both sides as intended. My dilemma with the bottom is revealing any open spots. Fish inevitably dig and move the sand around. This tank is for bichirs which are very susceptible to substrate and showing their true colors. I have around 150lbs of red garnet for them. It will be thin and moved around. They are currently in a tank with light blue bottom and back. Theyve lightened up alot from moving their garnet around. Black under the sand should keep them darker/more colorful.

 

[FINWIN]

Appreciate the response … havent thought of curtains yet for the back wall. I do kinda want to keep the back removable as its a double bull nose/race track tank. If i ever sell it, it will be worth alot more being able to view it from both sides as intended. My dilemma with the bottom is revealing any open spots. Fish inevitably dig and move the sand around. This tank is for bichirs which are very susceptible to substrate and showing their true colors. I have around 150lbs of red garnet for them. It will be thin and moved around. They are currently in a tank with light blue bottom and back. Theyve lightened up alot from moving their garnet around. Black under the sand should keep them darker/more colorful.

Try laying some large pieces of slate in a random pattern on the bottom over the sand...that should keep your busy crew from making so many bald spots!

 

[phreeflow]

Try laying some large pieces of slate in a random pattern on the bottom over the sand...that should keep your busy crew from making so many bald spots!

Perhaps you could try spraying Plastidip....you can always peel that stuff off when needed. Just not sure if it’s fish safe but if I’m not mistaken, I recall FINWIN had used it on some ornaments before.

 

[fishdance]

Slate or ceramic tiles inside the whole bottom. Easy to cut to exact sizes. You don't need to silicone the gaps so you don't need to drain the tank and very easy to remove later.

 

[wednesday13]

Perhaps you could try spraying Plastidip....you can always peel that stuff off when needed. Just not sure if it’s fish safe but if I’m not mistaken, I recall FINWIN had used it on some ornaments before.

Seems to be fish safe and popular among the reefer community. Highly considering it or the brush on flex seal for the bottom of the tank. Cant beat how quick and easy it would b to apply.

 

[jjohnwm]

Slate or ceramic tiles inside the whole bottom. Easy to cut to exact sizes. You don't need to silicone the gaps so you don't need to drain the tank and very easy to remove later.

This ^ works great. I have several tanks set up with heavy ceramic tiles; you can get any colour you want, they can be had with a nice textured finish and definitely don't need to be attached, just lay 'em down. The hardest part is cutting them, and even that's easy. An angle grinder with one of those diamond or oxide cutting wheels, just score 'em with a couple passes and then snap off the excess.

Or...how about this: luxury vinyl flooring tiles? 12" x 12", weight a small fraction of ceramic, and they snap together to form a single assembly so if the gaps between ceramic tiles bug you, problem solved. I had a bunch left over from doing my mudroom; I peeled off the tiny strip of rubber "gasket" material just used the vinyl itself. Once you cover the entire bottom, the stuff doesn't move or lift off, even without any weight on top. No effect that I have observed on the fish; I know you aren't one of those folks who change the water once per year whether it needs it or not, so I think you'd be surprised at how well they work. As a fan of plywood tanks, I also like the fact that they provide some padded protection from scratches or damage for the epoxy coating on the bottom.

One comment: choose a tile colour that is darker than you think you really want. For some reason, these bottoms always look lighter than expected when done.

For the back wall? I've got nothing; I like plain blackgrounds, so just use black construction paper, black fabric, even garbage bags as long as they don't produce reflections.

 

[wednesday13]

This ^ works great. I have several tanks set up with heavy ceramic tiles; you can get any colour you want, they can be had with a nice textured finish and definitely don't need to be attached, just lay 'em down. The hardest part is cutting them, and even that's easy. An angle grinder with one of those diamond or oxide cutting wheels, just score 'em with a couple passes and then snap off the excess.

Or...how about this: luxury vinyl flooring tiles? 12" x 12", weight a small fraction of ceramic, and they snap together to form a single assembly so if the gaps between ceramic tiles bug you, problem solved. I had a bunch left over from doing my mudroom; I peeled off the tiny strip of rubber "gasket" material just used the vinyl itself. Once you cover the entire bottom, the stuff doesn't move or lift off, even without any weight on top. No effect that I have observed on the fish; I know you aren't one of those folks who change the water once per year whether it needs it or not, so I think you'd be surprised at how well they work. As a fan of plywood tanks, I also like the fact that they provide some padded protection from scratches or damage for the epoxy coating on the bottom.

One comment: choose a tile colour that is darker than you think you really want. For some reason, these bottoms always look lighter than expected when done.

For the back wall? I've got nothing; I like plain blackgrounds, so just use black construction paper, black fabric, even garbage bags as long as they don't produce reflections.

Appreciate the feedback John … this is probably my best option for the bottom. The tanks rounded on both ends, but i cant be that hard with the diamond bit/grinder like ur saying. Was trying to be lazy slapping some rubber paint down. I know that will come back to haunt me with more work in the end scraping it back out when it fails.

 

[jjohnwm]

If you want to cut fancy-shmancy round ends on tiles, you'll just have to cut through the whole thickness with the cut-off wheel; no scoring and breaking for you! But it's still pretty simple, just a bit time-consuming. Eye pro and dust mask suggested.

If you need to buy cut-off wheels, get the diamond-impregnated ones; easily 3x the price, but also about 20x the longevity.