I Want To Paint Tank.....but......

[Kindredspirit]

Hey Guys~


Does anyone know if it would be ok to paint your tank with the fish in? I so do not want to empty it ...I am esp talking about the bottoms....since about 30 seconds ago, I realized I HAVE to empty them to paint the back!!

I do not want any paint fumes creeping in and knocking out all my fish~Ryan said to use Latex paint as it peels off easy, when you tire of it....


Thanks!


Marie~

[Westie]

At your LHS(local hobby store) they have tamiya paint which is water soluable. Stinks like a fart but, thats about the extent of the damage to you and yours. And cleans up with H20! Lotsa colors too...

[Greg Richardson]

How much room between back of tank and wall? If a few inches you can buy those paint pads. Attach them to long stick. Paint. Takes longer. But if you are careful works fine.

Latex works fine. No problem painting while fish are in tank.

[Ryan]

Marie, I think the fact that it's the bottom of the tank makes it even less of a worry. So get to painting

[cobaltblue]

Im doing the same thing today Marie....

Picked up a mistinted paint cheap at home depot. 9.00 for a gallon. Actutally its pretty much the color blue that i wanted too. I doing the two sides and the back with a very small brush. Will take awhile and 3 coats, but will look good when done. I got latex, matte finish as jason had advised. Im not doing the bottoms at this time, as i dont want to empty out tanks either.
Good Luck

[Jarrod]

Marie...what about takin something like construction paper and coverin the back of the tank with that and just scotch tape it around the corners of the tank?...Something like poster paper woild work or poster board...just a thought and would save having to drain and move the tank,

Jarrod

[traco]

I've done what Jarrod said. Got a light blue paper from office supply store and taped it to the back of the tank. Easy. Then painting the bottom with paint as you can reach under there, right?

Ah, the things we do for our fish, heh?

[Kindredspirit]

Westie~ I am not sure I wanna use anything that stinks! lol!! But thank you anyways!


Greg~That is a good idea, cuz there isnt much room between the wall and tank...and i can leave all the fishies in....good! Thanks!


Ryan Ryan Ryan....
I am getting to it, dayumit thank you very much! lol!


Col~You don't have to empty out the tanks...for the bottom...juss crawl under and paint! Ya can crawl, can't cha?? lol!! sooooo, latex, matte finish...thanks....I would prolly have bought glossy....I will need luck as i hate to paint and I am fickle, so i wont like the color in a week!

Jarrod~ Been there, done that....doesnt work....esp on the bottom, and sides, they can still see themselves for some reason....I have background paper on it all now, but it always comes off and itz annoying....lol!

Barb~ Where's your smilies??? Im not seeing smilies, Barbara!! lol! You can just give them back then, woman.....so the paper thing worked for you? Okay Jarrod...lol...I will try that again...but i know it wont work for the sides and bottom...lol!




Marie~

[JMArtist]

So Marie, you want to paint?
Despite the fact I'm an artist, I simply bought a background for my tank.
I did paint a dark blue fading into a light blue for the angelfish tank on a piece of illustration board. I used acrylic paint, figured it's water resistant and I covered the back of the illustration board with shipping tape to further make it water proof should I spill water on it. Wouldn't want it warping.
I was going to do a similar background for the Discus tank, but never got around to it.
Also, while I paint on canvas and watercolor papers, I don't do walls, houses, boats or cars...I hire people for that stuff.
Mmm, the den could use a new paint job...what are you doing this week end Marie? You want to paint my den?

[alpine]

Mary, I just cut some formica left overs to match the back of the tank and went to Lowes and got some very nice Baby Blue paint . Painted the formica with three coats and taped it to the back f the tank.

roberto.

[Kindredspirit]

John!
Do I want to paint your den?? I hate to paint with a passion! It always takes 20 hours longer than you 'just knew it would'! Well, i am going to paint only the bottoms, i decided... cruise around this site, babe... I remember putting you in parenthesis, for some reason.....in case you got mean again at me!



Roberto~

Thanks so much for sharing! Tell me, why do most use baby blue backgrounds? I was in Pets Mart today, and noticed, that every single tank is baby blue background....why is that??



Marie!

[Ryan]

Any light background would work really, I just use blue as preference. The discus seem to show up well on it.

The reason I paint the bottoms of tanks rather than use a background or paper is because paint adheres to the glass, getting rid of the reflection. This is also the reason to use flat, or matte, paint. Semi-gloss and gloss allow for a reflection. I didn't think it would be a noticeable one so I tried it out on an angelfish tank once -- they all swam along the bottom because they could see themselves. So only flat paint for me.

Ryan

[Kindredspirit]

Thanks, Ryan!

I am actually going out to get some tomorrow. Baby Blue~ Ryan, I just did my wc on the 55gal and I took some frozen, not live, unwiggly, bloodworms and I held it under water to see if they would come to me so I could pet them....



they didn't~


M~

[Ryan]

Do they stay near the bottom of the tank, Marie? Once you paint it they may feel more secure. It was like night and day when I moved them into a painted tank. They were like puppies, following my hand around and begging for food. Practically wagging their tails, even

[cobaltblue]

Feed them and they will come Marie. It took mine a month or more, but now teh dominant two or three come and bite chunks of my frozen bloodworms right out of my hand...very cool. I am going to try giving the most dominant one a backrub soon......lol