Painting back of aquarium

MoodeRator

Just wondering on peoples idea of painting the back of a large fish tank. I am currently thinking of using a midnight blue acrylic paint, but not sure even where to source this, probably art & craft store? But I would like to hear of any advise or experience of other enthusiasts.

Sleepy

Have done it with most tanks I've owned (typcially straightforward black acrylic paint - midnight blue sounds like a much cooler option). It's easy enough to do but you'll need to do a few coats to avoid gaps in the paint. Usually painting advice of making sure you've a perfectly clean surface to paint on.

The only drawback I've found is that it can be pretty fragile if you want to attach things to the back of the tank via magnets (blowers, skimmers, filters etc) but otherwise, it works pretty well and avoids the usual problem of bubbles in the plastic backing.

MoodeRator

Thanks for the feedback and advice on coating. Any idea on how much paint would be needed to apply 3 cots to a 6ft x 2.5ft back? Also any idea on where to purchase acrylic paint please?

Sleepy

Mrs Sleepy is something of an artist so we always had it lying around the house I'm afraid. Any Arts & Hobby shop will have it (Easons would either). I used a large tube to cover the back of an 81cm x 46cm tank. I'm guessing you'd need a decent size bottle to get good coverage on the back of a tank that size.

MoodeRator

Thank you Sleepy, would you know how many coats Mrs Sleepy applied with that?

Sleepy

Two.

MoodeRator

Perfect! Thank you VERY much.

MoodeRator

Ok I have a litre of Pthalocaynine Blue acrylic on the way, hopefully this will do the job. Do you just use acrylic from the tube or do you need to water it down a little?