To Paint or Not to Paint

[Fafaflunky]

Hey folks,

I am new to the hobby and am in the process of setting up a 120g reef tank. Wanted to get thoughts on painting the back of the tank black. Has anyone done this, does it look better than leaving unpainted?

 

[AlexG]

I think it really depends on what will be visible. I left my last tank unpainted and I did not have much showing as the lights of the tank made it difficult to see the wall and I ran all the cords for the lights together to minimize where they could be seen. Another option is to get a black background and tape it on.

 

[twilliard]

Is it glass or acrylic?
Have to be careful on what paint you use for the application.

 

[Fafaflunky]

Glass

 

[twilliard]

I would use a good durable spray paint for glass. Many coats.
Tape off the top to keep paint out of the tank and tape the sides off for over spray.

 

[drstratton]

I painted the back of my tank blue! I also think that black looks pretty nice!

 

[drstratton]

Oh and welcome to R2R! It's filled with great people and great information!!!

 

[Howard1234a]

I did the same blue. I use the rust-oleum paint. It works well.

 

[Fafaflunky]

I painted the back of my tank blue! I also think that black looks pretty nice!

That looks fantastic...how did you achieve that look? How many coats did it take?

 

[drstratton]

That looks fantastic...how did you achieve that look? How many coats did it take?

Thank you! I did this 5 1/2 years ago. My husband will be home soon, I'll ask him if he remembers how many coats. I think it was Krylon paint! I'll let you know as soon as I figure it out!

 

[Fafaflunky]

I really appreciate that! I'm super excited to be starting this hobby after doing lots of research for the last two months I'm getting very close to pulling the trigger and getting started. I ordered 120lbs reef saver rock from BRS and it should be here on Monday. I'll be getting my tank and stand on Black Friday. Also plan to get the sump, skimmer, heater, pump, and powerheads, live sand and water from LFS to take advantage of the savings (if I'm missing anything please let me know). I'm pretty sure I can hold off getting the QT for a few weeks while I cycle the tank. Also, plan to get the Reef Keeper Lite Plus from BRS. I'll know better on Friday what I decide on, I plan to choose based on their inventory (let me know if this is in some way problematic).

I'll be sure to post inventory and pictures for guidance as I move forward, as I'm sure you all know this can all be very overwhelming when starting out.

Thanks for all the input so far!

 

[twilliard]

As we say rock on!

 

[kschweer]

What I do is tape off the sides I don't want paint on and the top of the tank. I then lay the tank face (viewing panel) down so I am painting downwards, less chance of drops this way. Any spray paint will work, but I have found that paints with a flat finish seem to work better for this application. Take it slow and do light coats. Also take a look from the inside of the tank every so often to see if there's any missed spots or light spots. Best of Luck!

 

[Brian Savard]

You're better off getting some vinyl and a hand squeegie and just putting it on yourself. Painting the back takes several layers and never had the satisfying results I liked.

 

[Dtackett]

I used a cheap latex based spray paint and did my old tank black. loved it. plus it was easy enough to remove if I wanted it gone or wanted to change colors. worked great. took 3 coats. this is a pic from when I first set it up.

 

[lyrical]

I always paint mine black with krylon spray with two coats. Works great. Welcome!

 

[drstratton]

Well, my husbands memory isn't any better than mine is lol. He thinks we did at least 2 coats of Krylon paint. Kschweer explains it really well and if my memory serves me correctly that is pretty much how we did it! Best of luck to you!

You sound just like I did when I was first getting started . Please be sure to start a tank thread so that we can follow your progress!

 

[Fafaflunky]

Thanks...where do I start a "tank thread" on here. I'll be happy to do that as I'd like as much input as I can starting out.

 

[lyrical]

One of many. Sorry for the sand specs.

 

[lyrical]

Thanks...where do I start a "tank thread" on here. I'll be happy to do that as I'd like as much input as I can starting out.

Is a good place
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/member-tanks.52/