+Hydro Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 I'm having a hard time deciding wether to use black paint on the back or a dark blue color on the back of our new tank. I'm torn, black doesn't look natural at all but makes the fish and corals more noticeable but dark blue is a natural color and may blend in better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 Black..it fades from view. Blue screams, "I'm painted blue!!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theresa Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 Black, it makes everything stand out more and give more dementional (?) look. Blue is my favorite color but the black brings the corals out much better. GO BLACK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+August Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 I like black.. I think it shows the corals and fish better which is ultimately the most important Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GKarshens Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 I disagree (big surprise). I had a dark blue background on my 125 and really liked it. The corals still stood out, but it looked more like distant ocean than black does. I bet you never even noticed my background was blue did you Marc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GKarshens Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 Here is a pic: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KeeperOfTheZoo Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 Does it matter? At the rate they get covered in coraline the back will be purple in no time regardless of what you want. I've seen back walls covered in gsp which I also think is cool. I have a bunch growing on my back wall right now and I think I'm gonna encourage some yellow polyps as well. All that said my tank is black and I like it much better than the bright blue. Dark blue might be neat though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Hydro Posted May 7, 2010 Author Share Posted May 7, 2010 Here is a pic: That is the blue I'm considering, its almost black. Do you remember exactly what color that is and where you got it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 well Gabe, if that's blue, it looks black to me. Just don't paint it light blue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Hydro Posted May 7, 2010 Author Share Posted May 7, 2010 Don't worry, no light blue! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmanning Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 well Gabe, if that's blue, it looks black to me. Just don't paint it light blue. Mark, The reason why it looks black to you is because your color blind. Midnight blue, navy blue or even black is better than light blue....IMO. In a case, it's what you like that matters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GKarshens Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 It's not paint. It is Coroplast. It is basically plastic cardboard. I got it at Regal Plastics. It is $15 for a 4' x 8' piece. It is rigid and stood up over the almost 4 years I had that tank. Nice thing is you can remove it if you need to for maintenance or to see something behind the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medi Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 Hmm...very interesting. How did you attach it to the glass? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Hydro Posted May 7, 2010 Author Share Posted May 7, 2010 Hmm...very interesting. How did you attach it to the glass? They make adhesive that glues them to the glass, supposed to look the best that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
absolut_racer Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 I used Oracal Intermediate sign vinyl on my 58-Gallon. It's outdoor grade and rated for 6 years. I figured if I didn't like it, I would heat it up, peel it off, and change the color. If anyone wants to try this out, let me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 I am in the camp for having a black background. But a really dark blue like Gabes looks nice also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzobob Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 recommendation would be to hang it a 1/4" or so behind the glass. Painting the glass or attaching backgrounds directly to the glass have been shown to negatively impact light levels (PAR) in the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Colonel Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 Its personal preference, I have always liked black on tanks that are not too deep (front to back) and blue on deeper tanks (30+" front to back). I like some of the ideas up-thread about doing something so you can change it later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derekreefer Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 Great thread...I'm going to go and pickup a sheet of this Coroplast......thanks Gabe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayneb Posted May 8, 2010 Share Posted May 8, 2010 Although I'm giving serious thought to the Coroplast also, do have a couple of questions concerning the paint. What type, brand is best for glass? Should it be matte, semi-sheen, or shiny? Any special prep to the glass required besides being a clean surface? thanks, wayneb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Hydro Posted May 8, 2010 Author Share Posted May 8, 2010 No prep to the glass besides cleaning, I used oil based semi gloss EXTERIOR paint....ended up getting navy blue and I'm very happy with it. The paint is not permanent and can always be cleaned off with a razor blade, so don't feel overly commited if you do paint it. One tip is to scrape off any silicone that you can from the glass, paint does not stick to it very well at all. It must be scraped completely off of the glass, even a thin film will cause problems with the paint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Timfish Posted May 8, 2010 Share Posted May 8, 2010 I vote black Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbender04 Posted May 8, 2010 Share Posted May 8, 2010 Ok after looking at gabes tank I think I'm going to go the way of very dark blue too. I have had black for some time now and I think I wanna try something different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Hydro Posted May 9, 2010 Author Share Posted May 9, 2010 So I found a really nice navy blue and I painted the back and sides of the tank, looked awesome until I put in the 2 black overflow covers in there. The black overflows against the blue paint did not look good and was very noticable. So....I scraped off all of the blue paint and repainted with a semi gloss pure black. Including the time picking paint, having it mixed twice, 2 coats of blue, scraping it all off, 2 coats of black, I wasted a lot of time.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted May 9, 2010 Share Posted May 9, 2010 So I found a really nice navy blue and I painted the back and sides of the tank, looked awesome until I put in the 2 black overflow covers in there. The black overflows against the blue paint did not look good and was very noticable. So....I scraped off all of the blue paint and repainted with a semi gloss pure black. Including the time picking paint, having it mixed twice, 2 coats of blue, scraping it all off, 2 coats of black, I wasted a lot of time.... not gonna say it...not gonna say it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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