Paint it?

dirt1008

dirt1008

Marine Enthusiast
This might be a fairly obvious answer but then again I am a noob. Should I paint the back of my tank?, does everybody? Maybe if there are varying opinions I could get some pictures?
 
I think painting it is the way to go. It will make the colors in your tank pop, and it will hide any wires or cords you have hanging down.

I use regular old spray paint. It only costs a few bucks to paint the whole back of the tank, and is easy to use.

Edit: Be sure to paint the outside of the tank, not the inside. ;)
 
I say paint it too. I never had a background on my FW tanks but, decided to paint them when I converted to SW. It looks 100 times better now. If you paint, cover the top opening and tape the sides to avoid overspray.
 
The other alternative, if you're worried about not liking it is to go get some posterboard that is the color that you want your background and put it on the back.
 
I painted mine black and now wish I would have gone with a dark blue color. Word of warning: Use a mask when you paint!!! When I did mine, I figured "oh, this will only take a few minutes" and it actually was pretty quick. Shortly after, I noticed a strange feeling in my nostrils. Looked in the mirror and they were black! Eeewww. Should have taken a picture because in retrospect, it was kinda funny.
 
chiqui bb said:
I painted mine black and now wish I would have gone with a dark blue color. Word of warning: Use a mask when you paint!!! When I did mine, I figured "oh, this will only take a few minutes" and it actually was pretty quick. Shortly after, I noticed a strange feeling in my nostrils. Looked in the mirror and they were black! Eeewww. Should have taken a picture because in retrospect, it was kinda funny.
Click to expand...

Think of as dye for nose hair.:mrgreen:
 
yote said:
I used a black shower curtian on mine.That way I didnt have to wait for paint to dry.
Click to expand...

Good point but I'm sure I'll have plenty of time. Still trying to figure out a sump setup to fit under my super narrow stand. It's a 55G but I've only got 10 inches inside so my 10 gallon ideas won't work.
 
I seen a presentation at a frag swap over the summer where a guy came to explain how painting the back of your tank actually causes the parr levels in the back of the tank to drop dramatically. I wish I listened more in depth so I could give a better explanation. Maybe slim remembers
 
Yes, I do remember some about what he said, he did multiple tests, and found out that light isnt only reflected off of the inside of each panel of glass, but also from the outer side of each panel. so he basically said when you paint the tank, you are actually cutting the light being reflected off that panel in half. he said that its not a problem if you have almost the entire back of the tank covered by rock, but if not, he said its better to leave it completely bare, or if you really feel the need to, get something reflective, and secure it extremely tight against the back.
 
I think he also said something along the lines of, with that extra light, you get many more beneficial things that will grow on the back of your rocks that you dont even realize are there
 

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