tank background

[wastemanagement]

heres a old trick I used on a fresh tank years ago and this post just reminded me of that.
I cut some plastic backing to size and then oiled it with some light veg oil and squeegied it to get out the bubles and and as I recall I taped the topto the tank above the waterline to not see and the resault it a very bright backing.
I dont know exactly how it makes the light catch the backing but it sure worked a wonder for that tank.
Just try it out on a small piece first if you a bit sceptical of my madness!!

[bmshehan]

Already went to Lowe's and got the first coat on, not wasting any time! I must tell you it looks great so far. I followed what Tangster said to a T and it is working out great... clowns not acting funny at all other than being freaked out by me moving the filter!! Could probably get away with one coat but I will put another on tomorrow for good measure. Watch getting under the lip of your trim though it will show.
Here's some pics of the first coat. Remember not only is plastic a pain with stuff getting between plastic/glass, but check out the pic of my old plastic, it has a big bright spot at the top because of the lights fading it out. Took me maybe 30 min to paint including moving filters, taping cords to the wall, etc.

[sean_p_f]

BM that is looking great i have blue paint on my 72 and i like it alot better that the black on my 20. good choice.

[luvreefs23]

I use eggshell latex paint from lowes, 7 or 8 coats and its a beautiful finish. Never had ne issues with the health of the tank being related. Local fish store owner has been doing it for 10 years...never an issue. Forget the plastic crap...who wants water between the glass and backround?

[wastemanagement]

nice looking backing mate, is it the same blue tangsta mentioned also?

[bmshehan]

Yup royal blue rustoleum. I got the pint (smaller can) and it will just barely be enough to do my 2 coats which will be plenty sufficient. So if you wanna do a bigger tank = get a gallon. Sounds like this stuff is a lot easier than 5 or 6 coats of latex paint. Thanks and karma to Tangster.

[Chucky]

yep +1 to the rust-oleum just did my tank couple days ago, took like three coats ...then i did one coat of krlon fusion needless to say you can't see thru it....and if you want it gone **razor blade**

[matt s]

OK tangster you had told me earlier to use rustoleum primer but since I'm in a small town I could only locate regular spray paint, I want to say it was Krylon but I don't recall for sure now? It was a name brand of some sort anyhow. So I went ahead and used that, is it just going to peel off and cause me problems later? Should I take a razor to it and get some primer next time I'm in the big city to redo it?

Also since someone else mentioned it what's the advantage of the final coat of fusion?

Tangster knows this already but for others that might be reading this is for a tank that is in the process of being set up, no water in it or anything like that.

[Chucky]

Originally Posted by matt s

Also since someone else mentioned it what's the advantage of the final coat of fusion?

Ok for me it was because i didn't use primer?!?!! so i ended up with some spots (could have been because i was painting outside in the freezing cold with snow drifts and such)where the paint had pin sized dots where the paint didn't stick to the glass (imagine stars at night hehe). so i just used some of the fusion paint for one more coat to finish it off, worked well in the end but i could have done a better job with the right paint. The paint it self is on there very well it's not pealing off anytime soon.

Good luck