Should i colour my acquarium back or not??

jtl · Oct 16, 2018

Black is my preference and Plasti Dip is my favorite product. Very durable and also easy to remove if necessary.

jtl · Oct 16, 2018

Black is my preference and Plasti Dip is my favorite product. Very durable and also easy to remove if necessary.

Coralreefer1 · Oct 16, 2018

I prefer to have my corals attach and grow on the back of my tank rather than paint the back of my glass.

40B Knasty · Oct 16, 2018

Black, Blue, or White in that order for a preference. I used a sponge roller with 5 coats of paint that is NON TOXIC that you can get at a Walmart or a craft store like Michael's. Have it set up in a screened in room. Paint a coat. Put a fan on it from a small distance away. It will help with the fumes and drying. Every hour it is pretty much dry. Go side to side for the first layer. Up and down the 2nd. 3rd side to side. 4th up and down. 5th side to side rolling on the paint. Do the touch up and trim after each coat.

jasonrusso · Oct 16, 2018

I have painted the back glass all of my tanks black. It gives the tank depth and makes the fish stand out. It hides wires and makes the overflows disappear. I also like the way it looks when stuff starts growing on it.

Like someone else said, it is a pita. I probably did 5 coats with a foam roller before I couldn't see light through it (from a flashlight) anymore. You don't have to be neat or mask anything off, but once it's against the wall, you can't get back there (at least I can't) to fix it. I bought 1 sample size of black acrylic paint from HD and I had some left over. The glass doesn't absorb any paint like drywall or wood.

jasonrusso · Oct 16, 2018

Rahul1129 said:
I m thinking of Black vinyl

Somehow, water always gets between it.

Dpate · Oct 16, 2018

Coralreefer1 said:
I prefer to have my corals attach and grow on the back of my tank rather than paint the back of my glass.

But.... if They are painting the BACK of the aquarium, this would not stop them from attaching corals to the INSIDE of the back

batfish5 · Oct 16, 2018

BLACK!!!!!

docvin · Oct 16, 2018

saltyhog said:
I wish I had done it to my tank. Not really possible now though.

Has anyone used the film coats that you put on with a squeege? Can you put one of those on a set up tank with limited clearance in the back?

I use it in all my tanks and it comes out great but you need to have access to the back of the tank or it will drive you nuts. I did it n an empty tank that I was able to lay down on one side.

saltyhog · Oct 16, 2018

I failed to do it when I set it up and can't get to the back now to paint it so I made two backgrounds from black mat board from Hobby Lobby. Looks good, we'll see how long it lasts. Only problem is now the fish are all preoccupied because they can see there reflection now.

WetPets · Oct 17, 2018

The trick to painting them is to get the glass very clean fist. Glass cleaner for 3 or 4 coats (without fish or water in tank).

Vinal also works well.

I like black on a display

White on a frag tank reflects the light back. I would like to see a side by side on 2 exact tanks 1 black paint one white with the same corals plumbed to one sump so all the parameters are the same. I think it would be a good experiment to see if either would grow faster.

norfolkgarden · Oct 17, 2018

WetPets said:
The trick to painting them is to get the glass very clean fist. Glass cleaner for 3 or 4 coats (without fish or water in tank).

Vinal also works well.

I like black on a display

White on a frag tank reflects the light back. I would like to see a side by side on 2 exact tanks 1 black paint one white with the same corals plumbed to one sump so all the parameters are the same. I think it would be a good experiment to see if either would grow faster.

White makes a better choice for reflecting light then a mirror does in a greenhouse environment.
I was surprised to read that study years ago.

I imagine it would have the same benefit for your corals along the back of the tank.

Stigigemla · Oct 18, 2018

If You have a reef wall black is almost invisible between the rocks. You will have much less algae on black.
But shy fishes tend to hide at the back pane.
If You have an open structure blue is looking better. The fishes is not hiding that much at it and it is easy to scrape off algae anyway.
And blue is the color of the open ocean. I always mix some grey in the blue color to make it softer. It is nice to see the color difference to the blue fishes.