I wanna paint the back of my glass aquarium black, but i am kind of scared to do so. I want it to look good, but i am scared to do anything permanent. Does anyone have any advise. What kind of paint to use. What has worked, or not worked for you.
wanna paint the back of my aquarium
- Thread starter web2844
- Start date
Many paints will work. Do not use a water soluble paint. I recommend the use of spray paint as it is easier, and faster. If you use spray paint, use very light coats, DO NOT try to coat the back to look black all at once. I took 10 passes before it even was all black.
Also, mask everything off and cover the top so you don't get any paint on the inside. You could even do a textured paint. Here's an example....
I tried to brush some rustoleum...
I couldn't get it to adhere at all...
I sprayed it with HD's cheapest black spray paint. I took it outside, turned it upside down (to prevent paint from getting inside) and masked off the trim and sprayed away. I took several coats to cover smoothly and about 1.75 cans of paint.
By the way this was on my 125g...
I couldn't get it to adhere at all...
I sprayed it with HD's cheapest black spray paint. I took it outside, turned it upside down (to prevent paint from getting inside) and masked off the trim and sprayed away. I took several coats to cover smoothly and about 1.75 cans of paint.
By the way this was on my 125g...
Lonewolf, I like that textured look. How many coats did it take?
Did it come out true black with the aquarium lighting?
Did it come out true black with the aquarium lighting?
I usually paint a piece of thin plexi rather than the tank itself but there are a LOT of great looking paints out there...besides the textured paint theres several color mixes of 'spatter' paint that looks a lot like stone when it drys.
some of it's sold in auto parts stores as trunk paint.
some of it's sold in auto parts stores as trunk paint.
Yes, it is black. Theflash makes it kind of bluish in color, but it's black.
I did mine in about 4 coats. My 29G took 2 cans (One can plus part of a 2nd can to get rid of thin areas where light gets through). I did a lighter color on my 75G, which took 3 cans. When you go to Lowe's, check those testured paints. The cap on the can is the exact color.
There's another one that's called hammered gun metal. I tried it on a 10G tank, and it only looks like hammered gun metal on the back of the tank. But through the glass, it's a solid gun metal color. Looks pretty good actually, but I would have preferred the hammered look.
I did mine in about 4 coats. My 29G took 2 cans (One can plus part of a 2nd can to get rid of thin areas where light gets through). I did a lighter color on my 75G, which took 3 cans. When you go to Lowe's, check those testured paints. The cap on the can is the exact color.
There's another one that's called hammered gun metal. I tried it on a 10G tank, and it only looks like hammered gun metal on the back of the tank. But through the glass, it's a solid gun metal color. Looks pretty good actually, but I would have preferred the hammered look.
Uh oh. Now I'm gettin ideas...
I tried the thin plexi but I didnt like the light between the glass and the plastic. It's kinda like taping window tint on your car and actually squeegeeing it on.
Oh oh.. another idea just entered my head. This is not good. Draining my 120 just to put on a new background is not good...
I forgot about the trunk paint. I also forgot about my airbrush ( in the garage) and all the new trick paints for model cars.
This is not good...
I tried the thin plexi but I didnt like the light between the glass and the plastic. It's kinda like taping window tint on your car and actually squeegeeing it on.
Oh oh.. another idea just entered my head. This is not good. Draining my 120 just to put on a new background is not good...
I forgot about the trunk paint. I also forgot about my airbrush ( in the garage) and all the new trick paints for model cars.
This is not good...