Painting Tank

Nate1632 · May 2, 2016

Hello all, I would like to paint the back of my 55 gallon tank black . I wanted to paint it with a few layers of the krylon fusion spray paint. I hate having the cheap reflective stuff behind it. My mom though (I'm 14) is preventing me from carrying this out. She claims that it will be permeant (which I think is good) and that the saltwater will corrode the paint. Is there any truth behind that or...

Thanks

JackDE · May 2, 2016

If you can't get her to approve. I used static cling window tint 5%. It was cheap, easy to apply and you can't see through because the tank is against a wall.

redfishbluefish · May 2, 2016

No truth! I painted the back of my tank in 2008 with $0.98 spray paint from Home Depot. It still looks brand new. The other consideration is that it is not permanent. Granted, it will take some time, but the paint can be scraped off with a straight blade razor scraper.

Here is the tank shortly after being painted:

And here it is about a month ago...the white streaks are saltwater spills down the back of the tank.

Again, el-cheap-o paint:

kschweer · May 2, 2016

redfishbluefish said:
No truth! I painted the back of my tank in 2008 with $0.98 spray paint from Home Depot. It still looks brand new. The other consideration is that it is not permanent. Granted, it will take some time, but the paint can be scraped off with a straight blade razor scraper.

Agree! If you can convince her make sure to take your time painting it. Thin coats. It's best to lay the tank on its "front" when painting, this leads to less drips if you're a little heavy with the paint. Good luck!!

redfishbluefish · May 2, 2016

Remember, Sunday is Mother's Day, so be careful breaking the news to her.

glb · May 2, 2016

Krylon paint will be just fine. I used it on the back of my tank and it looks great!

Steve Maxwell · May 2, 2016

Try this on the back of your tank:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Plasti-Dip-11-oz-Black-Rubber-Coating-Spray-11203-6/100131010

bbearden101 · May 2, 2016

Paint will work fine and like previously stated it will just take some elbow grease and a razorblade, or scraper to clean the paint off the glass if you should ever want to clean it off or re apply. 5 percent window tent or lower will work fine but if you've never did tent before it can turn costly, also overtime if the seal isn't perfect water and salt will get in under the tent and start pulling itself away. If the clean up is the biggest issue with the paint tape off the trim of the tank with painters tape and pull off when your done painting, I would go ahead and tape something down over the top to keep over spray out of the inside, you could find a small piece of glass to demonstrate the scraping off process on