Painting an aquarium background

I'm think of painting my new tank.

After doing a little research I'm thinking of using an acrylic paint and a foam roller.

What colour would you choose for panaques I'm thinking dark blue or black.

Cheers guys

I like black or a dark grey.

I personally hate blue backgrounds looks like a tank in a lfs so does white.

I know what you mean about blue it can luck a little tackey.

My girlfriend came up with grey as well so could be an option.

What paint have you used before?

I like the dark blue and because I also have barebottom I do the base of the tank as well.
Just stops that stark white foam look in the bottom. Fish are much happier.

i have some tanks in black and some in blue paint. cheers jk :thumbup:

I used acrylic paint and foam roller.
I did it for my buddy about three months ago.
We didn't even drain the tank.
I just taped up every opening.
Taped up the stand and the wall behind. I used an extension pole and did one half walked to the other side and painted that half. I did two coats in total.

A darker colour will result in a darker fish, and, at least for me, that's a negative thing. I prefer a high contrast between body colour and stripes.

I've read about a L330 who turned black in a black based tank, and coloured up when removed.

What about a lighter grey?

As long as you have a lighter bottom
or substrate there's no reason for the fish to turn black unless it's just stressed or one of those that never brightens up.

I know I will probably regret it but I think I am going to try sand for substrate.

Hi all,
I use a piece of polystyrene, and then paint it grey/green, darker at the bottom, lighter at the top, but making sure the colour is fairly splodgy and textured. I just get 2 pots of household emulsion in about the right colour when they are in the remaindered bin at B&Q etc.

When the paint has dried, I just wedge it behind the tank, this allows you to change colour should you wish, and provides some insulation. The really fat bits of extruded close-celled polystyrene you get for packaging "white goods" etc are great as the edges are more resilient than the thinner stuff and you can glue them together for bigger tanks. If you can get off-cuts from building work "Polystyrene Flooring Insulation Board" is the good stuff. This actually comes in blue as well, so you wouldn't even need to paint it.

You can see the polystyrene in the background (sorry about the cr*p photo, and I hadn't even managed to clean the glass), the tank backs onto a window, so the background looks a bit lighter in colour than it actually is.


cheers Darrel

Cheers Darrel.

Looks good from the photo it's difficult to see it though. The problem I would have with the fatter stuff is I am limited with how much I can bring the tank off the wall. Do you have any more pics.

what i also use is the polystyrene that you can buy at the aquarium store, whicj you place under the tank. Buy some of these sheets, cut to size and paint that. Not only does is give you a painted back ground, but also insulates. I then use small dots of silicone to stick on the side of the tanks. Look at my thread http://www.plecoplanet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14009
might help cheers jk :thumbup:

Cheers bigbird. Looks good.

I just picked up some gun metal vinyl from a print shop. I will see how that looks tonight. I will post some pics.