Paint for inside tank

[Anonymous]

I'm installing clear glass internal overflows in my 150, and think it would be nice to paint the insides black. Are there any paints that will work for this?

 

[Anonymous]

I don't know.
Is this going to replace, or be in addition to, your 120?

 

[Anonymous]

Nope. any paint will flake off the glass eventually. get tinted glass, or plastic overflow covers.
Sooner or later it's all covered with coraline anyhow.
B

 

[Anonymous]

What Bingo said.

 

[bradl.]

How about black silicone? Maybe practice on something first.

 

[Anonymous]

Dan, there are some epoxies that would work, but it requires etching the glass and it is not 100%. Perhaps you couls scab some black plastic or acry onto the outside of the overflow to camo it a bit.

 

[Tackett]

this is a long shot....but how about plasti-coat ceramic paint used to paint brake calipers and engine manifolds on cars? Ive painted fiberglass with it before without sanding or prepping the surface and Ive never seen that stuff flake off for nothing. Just be sure to paint the OUTSIDE of the glass.

3 bucks at wally world.

 

[Anonymous]

Something I noticed that Charles Delbeek did at the Waikiki Aquarium...

He put that plastic siding you see on the walls of hospitals as the backing inside all the tanks. It's a durable blue plastic. Then he just pulls it out and cleans it. A lot simpler than trying to scrape the back wall. I suppose if you could find the stuff it would work inside your overflow.

Another option is to just get an acrylic box made to fit the outside of the overflow. Then you could just pull it straight out and clean it.

Why didn't you get acrylic overflows?

 

[Anonymous]

Here we go...you can see the clamps that are holding the plastic tight to the wall on either side of Charles' elbows.

It probably wouldn't be tough to have one smooth piece that went the length of your tank over both overflows. Then you'd have a nice smooth back that could be easily cleaned. Just a thought...

 

[Anonymous]

Wow, cool. I think I'll just paint it with green star polyps. Thanks for all the ideas though.

PitPat- I'm moving the 120 contents into the 150. Where the 120 is now will eventually house a 4x2x4 front-opening vivarium.

 

[GSchiemer]

Dan,

Construct the overflows out of glass, which is required for strength, and then coat the clear glass with black or smoke acrylic panels. The acrylic should be attached to the outside of the glass or inside the aquarium. It can be attached with silicone since it's not weight-bearing.

Greg

 

[Anonymous]

That sounds like the best solution of all Greg, particularly since it won't hold up my progress at the moment. Thanks!

 

[Anonymous]

Dan, if you do this, you can apply silicone in dabs just to the 4 corners of the panels (rather than coating the whole thing with silicone). Then you will have an ultra thin gap between the glass and acrylic that water can flow in/out of. Pod factory! You'll be surprised how many will live in there. You can spy on them from the side of the tank too 8) 8)

 

[GSchiemer]

I'd strongly suggest applying silicone liberally and evenly to the entire acrylic panel. You don't want a gap that will create pressure on the acrylic panels and at the very least encourage warping.

I should have added that typically the acrylic panels are cut 1 to 1 1/2 inches taller than the glass box to accomodate "teeth" for the overflow box.

Greg

 

[Anonymous]

Why would the gap create pressure? I can see what you mean about the warping though. I did this on a ten gallon so there wasn't any noticeable bowing. On a taller tank it would look silly.

Dan do the glass panels already have teeth cut into them? You can buy an acrylic overflow box custom made for this. That way it will be one smooth piece that bends at the corner. TruVu sells these for something like $50 a piece IIRC.