what type of paint for the rear glass?

[brians4671]

any advice will be appreciated..

[storrisch]

I've used Krylon Fusion - Flat Black

I like the look of the flat black and it sprays on pretty easily.

[rlabriola]

i use black primer from wal-mart, super cheap and primer sticks well.

[Derek03]

I would suggest using vinyl sticker from a graphics shop. It is easy to apply. The color is uniform and comes off easy. Once you use it you will never go back to paint.

[NealNano]

Second on the Fusion. Sticks well (it is made for plastic and glass) dries very fast.

[kevin95695]

Fusion. Gloss, semi, flat -- Doesn't matter. What you see from the front is all the same. Are you going to be looking at the back?

I went away from vinyl on account o' bubbles, peeling, etc. You can razor the paint off if you have to.

Each to their own.

[rgaskins]

Originally posted by Derek03
I would suggest using vinyl sticker from a graphics shop. It is easy to apply. The color is uniform and comes off easy. Once you use it you will never go back to paint.

I agree, a whole lot less mess than the paint...

[rgaskins]

Originally posted by kevin95695
Fusion. Gloss, semi, flat -- Doesn't matter. What you see from the front is all the same. Are you going to be looking at the back?

I went away from vinyl on account o' bubbles, peeling, etc. You can razor the paint off if you have to.

Each to their own.

Bubbles? Did you put it on wet?

[jcpatella]

The vinyl sticker sounds like a good idea.

I used limo tint that I got from the local auto quick-stop shop. $10 and 1 hour of time.

[rgaskins]

Yes, that would work also...

[Derek03]

Originally posted by rgaskins
Bubbles? Did you put it on wet?

Yes you kinda put it on wet. Use a spray bottle filled with water and spray the sticky side of the vinyl. Then mist the back of the tank with water as well. This keeps the vinyl from sticking so that you can work out any bubbles or wrinkels.

Once you have it in place you start at the middle and squeegee the water out in all directions. A drivers licens or credit card will work. If you take your time on this step you shouldnt have any bubbles. If you do get any you can usuallly use a small needle to pop the bubble. You wont be able to see any holes. The best part is if you decide to remove it for any reason you just grab a corner and pull. It comes off in a second vs. scraping paint with a razor blade. There are a bunch of colors to choose from as well

I have done vinyl enough now that I can put on a background faster than the time it would take to tape off the sides of the tank for paint.

If you have a graphics shop around stop in and ask if you could have a piece of scrap. There is alway some laying around. Try it and see what you think.

[ThrowinRoost89]

i used 3.5% limo tint on the back of my 120.


works great, hardest part is separating the tint and the clear backing on it lol



i tested painting the back of a 2nd 120 i have, its a pain to try to keep overspray to a minimum when your painting in a basement.
once all said and done, the paint still scratches easy. so i dont see any benefits to paint.

[rgaskins]

Derek is right...If you want more working time just add a few drops of baby shampoo to your water...It will also squeegee alot better too....

[CleveYank]

I used Valspar "American Tradition" only available at Lowes Acrylic Latex Int/Ext Ultra Enamel. It sticks to the glass. You can paint it on and no overspray and it's soft enough that if you want it off or to change the color it can be done easily. A razor blade and some water takes it off in a snap. I put 2 coats on with disposable brush and I was good to go. Being that it's soft I pushed on components too hard and scratched it...just dabbed touch-up where I scratched it off and again...good as new. Havn't had any issues since.

[mspad]

You can also use black self-adhesive shelving paper. You will get some bubbles, but by the time you get all your live rock in the tank, you see very little of the back glass.

[brians4671]

thanks for the input everyone..........

[MrSquid]

Years ago I worked at an LFS - had latex paint on the tanks when I started and it was peeling bad on the saltwater tanks. Scraped them and redid it with oil-based. Looked great!

[poppin_fresh]

I second the window tint. It looks good and there are no fumes or overspray to deal with.

[ccorpse27]

I used krylon as well. Works great.

[sjm817]

I used gloss black Rust-Oleum applied with a roller.

[MrSquid]

Is the window tint a nice solid black? Or is it a brownish black? My overflows are towards the center of the tank and if the back of the tank isn't solid black, they'll stick out like sore thumbs.

Planning on doing something with the back of my 125 this week.

[poppin_fresh]

its plenty black