Paint for Glass

[Anonymous]

i currently have a external background for my tank, i was wondering what kinda paints out there would be good to use on glass since i want a more permanant background..any thoughts fellow reefers???

 

[hdtran]

Paints don't stick real well to glass, but make a neater background than the plastic taped-on stuff (water and salt can't creep between the paint and the glass).

I use a water-cleanup semi-gloss exterior acrylic paint, applied with a short-nap miniroller. About 3 coats. (On the outside of the tank, of course). Don't sweat it if it looks kind of ugly; as soon as you turn your lights on, the paint looks real smooth (from the viewing side).

 

[Bobzarry]

for years I have been using the plastic tape on backgrounds. However what I do is smear the back glass with vegetable oil. I then place the background on and use a credit card to squeegee out air bubbles. this gives the same appearance as paint, and if I ever want to remove the background I can just peel it off. I do not recommend this for acrylic.


Bob

 

[playfair]

Clean the glass really well including lint/dust, tape over the sides and top, and spray on Rustoleoum FLAT black enamel. You can roll on as well, but it does require several coats and is more tedious to apply. The flat adheres amaziningly well, and looking through the glass it will look glossy.

 

[Anonymous]

Clean the glass with denatured alcohol before you paint.

 

[ndimuzio]

Is it possible to paint with a active tank??? If I covered everything???

 

[shawnz28]

Clean the back of the tank multiple times before painting. I did and i still had a place that it had a hard time sticking even after using paint thinner to clean it off. I used a dark blue rustolem that i really like the look of

 

[Len]

Is it possible to paint with a active tank??? If I covered everything???

Provided you make sure none get into the tank, it shouldn't be an issue. I've had my room painted while the tank was running. I did pump in fresh air via a dryer hosing, but your paint job should have less effect on the ambient air then painting an entire room. I'd still get some fans circulating, but it should be no problem IMO.

 

[ndimuzio]

Thanks!

 

[Snorkel in my tank]

I heard that painting in a room with a reef tank can crash the tank... the fumes. Do people agree that this is not true? I'm curious.

 

[FishGeeek]

I used a frost paint from Walmart for my daughters 10gal. Its a spray pain made for frosting windows.

FG

 

[Len]

I wouldn't recommend painting a room with the tank in it. That said, I've done it with no noticable problem. But as mentioned, my tank was carefully ventilated via dryer hosing to my backyard (helped by a low CFM muffin fan). The tank was also sealed to the best of my abilities and I left windows open during the painting.

 

[ScottbytheSea]

Clean Glass well ,then wipe it down with alcohol(rubbing works).Rustoleum woks just fine........I used flat black but was told that the shiney stuff works better.............I have had no problem in 6 mons,,not even a wet spot as alot of water has been splashed on it and it still looks great no streaks at all. You can touch it up if you need to so no worries.

Also I have gutted a house around a tank once ,just sealed it using window seal kit (for doing cheap windows for winter) ,the plastic one you put the two sided tape around the top part of the glass lay plastic over and shrink to suit. put a air line tubing outside to another room, had a air stone in tank for pos. fresh air pressure in.......worked great.Of course you must have the lights off...and I used a charcoal filter on the intake just in case......

Hope this helps a little.............Oh yeah I left a couple inches un painted just below DSB so I could see what was going on in the sand (like Cyno).

ScottbytheSea/

 

[Anonymous]

I've painted my tanks for years.

It takes many many coats (about 3-4), but it looks great. I use exterior acrylic latex house paint (That way you can pick out of about a thousand colors), a small 4"-6" roller, and a hair dryer for fast acting drying action. It took me a little over an hour and a half to do my 125 reef ready tank. That includes drying time with the hair dryer in between coats. If you don't like it after it dries you can take a razor blade to it. It peels right off after you get a corner up with the blade. Make sure you don't get enamel as it will be a pain in the arse to get off, and spray paint gets everywhere and is hard to get uniform. Not too mention I got a gallon(lifetime supply) of my nice "rich navy"(color) exterior acrylic latex house paint for about 8 bucks, and you can't get two can of rustoleum for that.

P.S. don't forget the painters tape for your overflows and braces. I like to leave my overflows open in the back in case anything goes wrong I can see into them from behind.

 

[Anonymous]

oh yeah make it flat or satin never gloss. I prefer flat.

 

[JohnD]

I've painted the backs of my tank with flat black spray paint. Mask out the top and sides with newspaper and painter's tape. Prior to painting, wipe down the exposed glass with either alcohol or acetone. I prefer the acetone, myself. 2-3 coats will do the trick. You can use a hair dryer to speed up the process.

HTH

 

[Anonymous]

My tank was sprayed (I know because I spent time scraping off overspray after taking delivery!) with a flat blue paint.

 

[sambo1]

I cleaned my FW bowfront with acetone and spraypainted with Rustoleum. Flat black, three coats.