Black painted wall

[svetilda]

Today I bought a 7.5g Mr.Aqua from graigslist. It's my 3rd one. I'm going to ask DH to help me put a rack for them in coming Fall. But this tank has a painted back wall. I don't know should I leave it as it is or buy paint thinner and remove it. I like the clear view of the rimless tanks but black can be good too in some cases for contrast or hiding some filter, etc.

 

What do you prefer? I know I'm not going to paint the other 2 tanks.

[Shrimple minded]

Painted back +1

[jem_xxiii]

I like the painted black wall myself. Also dont use paint thinner, just scrape off the paint with a razor blade.

[eggznfinz]

I painted all my tanks back wall black. I think they look better and hide wires well. I also think it makes fish and shrimp feel more secure.

[loubapache]

I like black background as well but do not like the smell of paint and its permanent nature.  I use heavy duty (contractor grade) trash bag.  Even better would be 6 mil black plastic sheeting or pond liner.

[DETAquarium]

I like the clear background to be honest. Simply because of resell value, and the chance that I may switch from a horizontal viewpoint to a vertical at any given time.

[Soothing Shrimp]

To be honest, I wish I had gone with an opaque background on my tanks before placing on racks.

[Pokeshrimp]

I prefer painted backs as well. I usually use plastidip, that way you can just peel it off if you ever want change it.

[Aennedry]

Plastidip? I haven't heard of that. Is it very good. I was planning on redoing my tanks this year and I have been thinking on and off of painting the backs and just using some kind of solid background taped on. It is a peel able paint? No scrape?

=^._.^=

[ShrimpP]

Plastidip is peel-able. No need for a razor to scrape it off, IF you use put enough layers on the paint on.

Though I've only used plastidip on cars and rims, which if you do too thin of a layer, it doesn't peel off so easily (tons of little pieces, rather than coming off smoothly in nice size pieces). I haven't used plastidip on glass yet, so even a light layer may still be easy to wipe off. Worst case, you might just need to use a cloth to rub it off. Still, a razor on glass isn't that bad for removing regular paint.

Make sure to paint the outside glass (not in-tank) haha

 

[Pokeshrimp]

Yea plastidip is fully peelable if applied properly. I've used it on a couple of tanks, some car wheels, and even the entire front end of my car. 

Just make sure the surface is ccompletely clean, and apply enough layers (4-5). 

I hhaven't tried it myself but it would seem black vinyl wrap would possibly work as well.

[usgetata]

I used plastidip in my old shrimp rack. Looked good and easy to peel off when I took down the tanks.

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[ShrimpP]

You could buy those vinyl aquarium background, just get the solid black one (usually is reversible, with blue on the other side or a scenery). You can reuse so no wasted money. But they are all gloss black from what I have seen, not a flat/matte black.

[Soothing Shrimp]

Poster/foam board works okay, too.

[Soothing Shrimp]

Some people use auto window tinting.

[Maurice]

I also like a black background for the colours to be more vivid from the shrimps but then also I have a clear tank in the living room which also looks good

[nicpapa]

I use black paperboard... its cheap and easy to put, and chagne it.

[oem]

On 3/18/2016 at 9:10 AM, Soothing Shrimp said:

To be honest, I wish I had gone with an opaque background on my tanks before placing on racks.

What product would you use for an opaque background?  Clear backs now, but I'm not happy with some of the wall coverings behind tanks.  I too have used poster board as it can be changed out easily.

 

[Soothing Shrimp]

Any of them work.  The cheapest paint may be latex house paint. Latex dries quick, and is water proof.

I'd be paranoid about sprays, but I know many people have used those successfully.

[plamski]

Painted or not . It depends of the setup design and how you like to present the tank.

I like to take pictures of the fishes and shrimps.If the background is clear most of the time it mess up the picture.if it is painted it create mirror effect and it shine very badly,especially with flash photography.

My way of making flat black non reflective background is: Black 100% silicone rolled from the inside.You are getting some texture too.

 

[oem]

2 hours ago, Soothing Shrimp said:

Any of them work.  The cheapest paint may be latex house paint. Latex dries quick, and is water proof.

I'd be paranoid about sprays, but I know many people have used those successfully.

I kind of figured latex paint, but do you thin it down like for a whitewash look on wood or just use one coat of paint straight out of the can.  anyway i'm going to give it a try.  Thanks

[Soothing Shrimp]

If you do that, you want to use glass cleaner on the outside of it.

Exterior Flat latex black paint,and economy brush.  No thinning.  Should take about 4 coats...well 3, but the 4th to block out any light you missed.

Some people do just the back, some people do 3 sides.

Edit: Make sure you get exterior.  It hold up better to water, and you can even paint regular wood with it to water proof it.

[ShrimpP]

2 hours ago, plamski said:

My way of making flat black non reflective background is: Black 100% silicone rolled from the inside.You are getting some texture too.

 

Got a pic of how that looks?

What specific silicone did you use? Just would want to make sure to get the right one so it's non-toxic.

[Shrimp Life]

I spraypaint the back using black matte spray paint. All my plants and shrimp look so much more vibrant with the dark background.

I prefer it to be permanent, as I have no plan to resell my tanks, and they are not the super expensive rimless tanks - and even so there are alot of people who don't mind it black (especially once they see my planted setups with the black background) its never been a hard sell.... If you want to be able to peel it off, I would go with the Plasti-dip. If you want it even less intrusive, go with poster-board.

[oem]

Thank you all for the ideas.  I have never painted any of my aquariums as I like being able to see the backside of my setups in the wall reflection.  It seems  though that black is the predominate color.  Does anybody have their tanks painted other colors?  With vision in only one eye I tend to have issues seeing things when looking at dark surfaces.  With four new tanks I would like to paint them as the wall behind is a darker paneling.  Any ideas based on the colors of the animals in a lightly planted tank would be appreciated. Thanks Guys and Gals.