Paint good on glass [Archive]

Dissident

10-26-2003, 11:16 PM

What is the best paint to use on glass? I am setting up a 55gal BB and would like to paint the back, bottom and sides (outside). The tank is in pretty crappy condition but holds water fine, so it will never be a show tank. What is the best color and type, I have seen a lot of blue and white paint on BB discus/breeder tanks.

Ann

10-27-2003, 01:14 AM

I use a powder blue colour on my breeding tanks and the fish seem to like it fine. Althought I have used paper and stuck it to the outside as the tanks were new and I did not want to paint them incase I need them for something else later. I think white reflects too much light in the tank and makes it very bright. Just my thoughts though.

Ann

korbi_doc

10-27-2003, 05:49 PM

:bounce2: :bounce2: I've just set up a 55g for growouts. I used Am. Accents stone creations spray paint: sienna for the bottom, looks like wet sand, & green marble on the back. I like the grainy, pebbly look. Does take sev'l coats to cover, then I used styrofoam to help with heat retention. Will put up pics later JMO. Dottie ;D ;D

Dissident

10-27-2003, 07:53 PM

That sounds cool, get us some pics ASAP.
How expensive was the paint and where can I find it?

Smokey

10-28-2003, 03:13 AM

Dottie - you o'l horse thief. lol... I am very impressed you have so much time on your pretty hands to be so inventive.

The paint sounds very interesting .. and so does its look.

Yes - pictures would be great .

Smokey
BTW - Frost and cold temperatures have finally solved the mosquito situation out here in the mountains.

Just a few weeks ago, - I saw two mosquito's playing horse-shoes with the harness. lol.

RAWesolowski

10-28-2003, 10:00 PM

Dis,

Any old latex paint will do on the glass. Key is being sure the tank is clean and be patient. Patience is required because you should do several coats. Once it sets and dries the paint will be waterproof for drips and anything but a flood. The latex will scrape away easily if you ever want to do that.

I used a gay for mu planted tank back. the paint contained grit for a stimulated granite finish on the walls of my office. Leftover paint went on the glass.

RAWesolowski

10-28-2003, 10:01 PM

Sorry, I didn't use a gay! It was supposed to be gray!

Besides gays are not necessarily waterproof and I find that do not adhere well to glass.

Jean

10-31-2003, 09:38 PM

I agree with Dottie the American Accents is best IMO.

Here are some pics so you can see what we are talking about here.... this is the green. Very rich in color, and one of my favorites. This is a close up of course!

Jean

10-31-2003, 09:39 PM

The green from a distance this time on the back and the bottom is the sienna as Dottie calls it... wet sand kinda look.

Jean ;D 8)

Jean

10-31-2003, 09:42 PM

A close up photo of the wet sand paint look alike...

Jean

10-31-2003, 09:42 PM

Last, more of an off white carribean sand look that I have used on the bottom of some of my tanks...

HTH

Jean ;D 8)

Jean

10-31-2003, 09:48 PM

;D and with some fish in there too!

jim_shedden

11-01-2003, 11:09 AM

Thanks for the pics...............looks very good.

jim

Mr. Limpet

11-01-2003, 06:36 PM

I really like the look of those paints. I bought 2 kinds, they Rustoleum brand stone creations and a Krylon brand that is similar. We are going to use it on an Acrylic tank. I tried a sample piece and it looks good, but it isn't full of water, so the final outcome is yet to be seen. We are still working on a painted background that should be interestring. We have the sketch of the plan, now we need to get going. With Halloween gone, hopefully we can spend some time on this. I borrowed the camera from work, so hopefully I can post some pics monday. If this works well, I plan to paint a few more tanks. I love this idea, it is cheap and easy, fits me to a tee. Paul.

Mattzilla

11-03-2003, 02:19 AM

i used a sky blue high gloss enamle paint...three coats
i think it's the perfect colour

matt

korbi_doc

11-03-2003, 08:54 PM

:bounce2: :bounce2: Hey Jean, thanks for posting those pics. My tank now has water, but was away for the weekend putting a horse in training so didn't get time to do pics. I would have had to ask to use those, so thanks again, I love the outcome!!

Hey Matt, do you have any pics of the sky blue enamel? Would love to see how it looks, I need to paint the back of my big tank someday with brush, not spray cuz its in the LR.
Dottie ;D

Mr. Limpet

11-11-2003, 01:37 PM

Ok, after a few delays, we are finally making some progress on painting the background on a 125 tall. I will attempt to post a picture. This (if it works) is the initial sketch, and the start of the blown up full size version. The full size version when done will have to be reveresed and taped into the in side of the back of the tank, facing out. Then comes the tricky part. You have to paint in reverse. The details and the forground first, then filling in to the background. We are using the Stone paint for the rocks and the sand/pebble paint for the bottom. Some of the background willl be see through colored Glass paint. The whole back was painted with a clear primer that the glass paint required. I am making good progress on the stand, I will post some pictures of that soon. Paul.

Mr. Limpet

11-12-2003, 02:56 PM

Making good progress. This is pulling the tape after spray painting the rocks and gravel.

Mr. Limpet

11-12-2003, 02:57 PM

That was kind of small, I'm still learning this photo posting stuff. Here is the tank after all the tape is off. The rest shopuld go pretty quick. Remember, you are looking from the back, the details are starting to get covered. We won't know hoh it looks till we pull the outline out of the tank. Paul.

jeep

11-12-2003, 06:53 PM

Looking good Paul!

Brian

Smokey

11-13-2003, 04:22 AM

Paul, looks like it will bee a piece of artwork..

Keep the pics comming.
Smokey

ronrca

11-13-2003, 11:12 AM

Awesome! I cant wait to see the finished pic! ;)

I like the greenish/blue paint for my bb breeder tanks!

ronrca

11-13-2003, 11:13 AM

another

kjmillerfw

11-13-2003, 11:35 AM

Check out this thread about tank painting http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=13379;st art=0

I ended up going with the pebble for the bottom and the green marble on the back. The pebble came out a lot lighter than I thought it would but still looks good. Here's a couple pictures of how it turned out. I ended up having to put 3 or 4 coats (the whole can), and it's not cheap, but I think it is well worth it. I just wish I had seen this before I set up my 55 gal.

HTH,
Kathy

kjmillerfw

11-13-2003, 11:36 AM

Here's a picture showing the whole tank.

kjmillerfw

11-13-2003, 11:39 AM

Ooops! I forgot to mention I took Judi's advice and used the "American Accents Stone Creations spray paint"

Mr. Limpet

11-13-2003, 12:10 PM

Forgot to take the camera home last night, more pics tomorrow. It is coming along well, I'm working hard on the stand, most of the prep work is done, now comes the fun part.
We used the American Accent paint by Rustoleum, and another by Krylon. The American Accent was definetely easier to work with. Thanks for the comments. Paul.

Mr. Limpet

11-14-2003, 05:59 PM

Here is a crappy picture. I am breaking down and taking home the directions for the camera this weekend. I hope that will help. Paul.

ronrca

11-14-2003, 06:01 PM

Looks good! Almost looks like the tank is floating in the air! LOL! Just wait until you fill it with water and put some tank lighting in, it will really look good ! ;)

Smokey

11-21-2003, 01:23 PM

Ron, your discus look like they are floating in air. The water - so clear.

Paul - that is an incrediable pic. Are you a magian! lol....

The background looks good..

Smokey

Mr. Limpet

01-04-2004, 02:56 PM

I finally finished the paintiing project. Three tanks with slighlty different schemes, You have seen some of the fisrt, but here it is finished with fish. Now these are not Discus of course, but by consolidating them to this tanks, it freed up the 2 following tanks.
This is Painted on the back with "Glass Paint" you habve to primer it with a clear coat first. Some of the paint is see through and the rest is opaque,

Mr. Limpet

01-04-2004, 02:59 PM

The next tank is a 50 tall metal framed Glass tank. This is one of my favourite tanks, It was one of my first tanks from 25 years ago. It has the American Accents Stone Creation on the back and bottom. Pebble on the bottom, and slate on the back. It isn't the best picture, and the way the light is, it reflects a lot of the blue/green from the back to the bottom. I like this look.

Mr. Limpet

01-04-2004, 02:59 PM

another ,

Mr. Limpet

01-04-2004, 03:02 PM

Lastly, this is a 100 gallon tank that has the Pebble bottom, but the back is painted with an exterior latex. It took almost 4 coats to get a solid color on the back. i guess it didn't really want to stay on the plexiglass at first, but it looks pretty good.

Mr. Limpet

01-04-2004, 03:10 PM

Finally, these are the fish in the 100, These are White Butterflies that I won last year here at Simply Discus' one year Anniversary giveaway. They are still settling in from the move from the quiet garage.

A few pieces of advice.
You have to tear everything down for a few days to do this. The Stone Creations is a spray paint. You need warmish dry weather to paint. The best time of year is not the middle of december in the USA. Also, if it is your year to have everyone over for Christmas, you might not want to be hoping that the weather clears so you can finish this before everyone shows up. Finally, there is not as much paint in those spray cans as you might think. It takes a lot of light coats, because it really wasn't meant for full coverage on large areas. All in all I am glad we did this. Now it is time for a few more fish. Paul.

jaydoc

01-07-2004, 01:58 AM

I have used the Stone accent paint on the back of one of my tanks and am now starting on the other. I left the bottom unpainted because I like the light shining through to the base so I ca see what I am doing in there. Is it necessary/ advisable to paint the bottom? I am putting in a new wet/dry sump in one tank though and may paint the tank bottom over the sump so as not to get an algae problem in the sump.

Smokey

01-07-2004, 09:49 AM

Paul nice looking set-up One question - see pic.

Smokey

jeep

01-07-2004, 09:51 AM

The Stone Creations is a spray paint. You need warmish dry weather to paint. The best time of year is not the middle of december in the USA.... Finally, there is not as much paint in those spray cans as you might think. It takes a lot of light coats, because it really wasn't meant for full coverage on large areas.

That's the key with SC paint. It's not latex, so make sure each light coat dries completely or else it just smears itself around... I did find out that it's fery easy to remove...

Jaydoc - As for painting the bottom of the tank, it's really up to you. In the beginning, fish seem to almost try to swim through the bottom (depth perception???), and from our point of view, a non-painted bottom looks reflective. Light still shines through even when painted, although not as much...

Brian

Smokey

01-07-2004, 10:54 AM

Jaydoc - I might suggest placeing a sheet - one or two inch thick styrofoam under the tank. It is available in sky- blue.
AND can be "Painted" with felt markers, etc.

Bonus - TOTALLY WATER-PROOF; eliminates heat loss and the tank will be less subsestiable to "vibrartions".

Smokey

Mr. Limpet

01-07-2004, 05:15 PM

Smokey, The tanks has 2 Fluval filters underneath. The Tall tubes on each side are the inputs with a sponge pre filter on them. The item you are pointing to is a diffuser on the output of one of the filters. The other filter output can be barely made out at the top of the tank in the middle , above the diffuser. The idea was to flush the tank with filtered water to each side towards the filter inputs. You can see a bunch of bubbles coming out the diffuser. I put a 6 inch airstone inside of it, just to see how it looked.
Jaydoc, I think you will really like the look of the painted bottom. It changes the whole atmosphere of the tank. It is also not solid, and does pass some light through to the stand. Paul.

djknightingale

01-15-2004, 01:57 PM

Could someone give me an indication of how long it takes for the Am Accents spray paint to dry. I used sienna stone on the bottom of a couple of my BB tanks (painted last night). Just wondered how long to wait between coats???

dave

jaydoc

01-15-2004, 02:36 PM

Similiar to the directions on the can, I waited 20 min between coats. When I had the amount of coverage I thought I liked, I then let it dry overnight and then painted over it with an Indoor /outdoor white coating from rustoleum because the package info. suggests that the Accent paint is not water safe. ( Just what I did-seemed to work well.) Anybody else have othere thoughts?

korbi_doc

01-15-2004, 02:52 PM

:bounce2: :bounce2: I used the sienna stone (Am. accents)on the bottom of my tanks, & yes I feel you should paint the bottom or use styro cuz the fish can't see an end point without it. Used the green marble, 15 mins between coats, on the back & when I ran out of spray, could see just thin areas, so finished with an overcoat of a green enamel that covered it well, Dottie

Very Fishy

01-23-2004, 03:21 PM

I want to paint the bottom of a new 110g tank and have been looking everywhere for Rustoleum Stone Creations paint. I really like the look of the Sienna colour. Have any Canadians found a retailer that sells this brand? Canadian Tire does sell the Krylon fleck paint that is similiar but I haven't been able to find the Rustoleum product.

Also, where can I purchase contact paper or film that clings or sticks to the glass? I was also considering this instead of paint.

djknightingale

01-23-2004, 04:09 PM

Very Fishy,

If you have a Home Depot near by, they sell the paint you want. It's called just Accents here in Canada, but it is made by Rust-O-Leum and is the exact same thing as the American Accents. They have 5 or 6 paint styles and runs about 8-9 dollars. Sienna stone and Blue slate look really nice. I would suggest 2 cans for the bottom and 2 cans for the back, otherwise you'll run out before it is all covered. Hope it works out.

dave

Very Fishy

01-23-2004, 04:32 PM

Thanks Dave, I was going to check at Home Depot tonight. Glad to hear they carry it.

Warren

Mr. Limpet

01-24-2004, 09:30 PM

Dave is right on about 2 cans for each, It gets a little expensive, but I still love the look. You can look at the Rustoleum website, and it will list stores near you that carry their product. Good Luck, Paul.

Very Fishy

01-25-2004, 10:37 AM

I bought 2 cans of Rust-oleum Accents Sienna Stone at Home Depot. I applied 3 coats last night (almost 1 full can) and you are right, I will need the second can. It does require multiple coats to get solid coverage on the glass. The cost per can was CAD$9.95.

Since I am applying the paint only to the bottom of the tank, is it really necessary to apply a clear top coat to protect from moisture?

korbi_doc

01-25-2004, 10:54 AM

:bounce2: :bounce2: Fishy, I've had the same pblm. If your 3 coats covered pretty well, just thin in places, what i did worked for me. Found in the house, a green (for the green marble back) enamel that was pretty close in color & just top coated with that. Makes a background cover & looked great when I finished. Now for the next tank I'm planning to do, have acrylic tinted dark brown for the bottom after I cover with 2 cans of sienna stone, & also have an acrylic blue green that I'll use for the back. This may be cheating, :funny: but the final product doesn't give it away as long as the pebbly stone cover is adequate. I did have some clear Krylon that I used on the bottom as a final sealer cuz of water, but don't think its necessary. Just happened to have these leftover from previous projects, & I will use it to cover the latex paints for permanency. HTH, Dottie

Very Fishy

01-25-2004, 02:04 PM

I had some time to take some pics of what I am doing. These are all after 3 coats. Here is the product by Rust-oeum

Very Fishy

01-25-2004, 02:05 PM

Here is the tank after 3 coats...

Very Fishy

01-25-2004, 02:05 PM

another shot

Very Fishy

01-25-2004, 02:07 PM

close up from inside tank...

Very Fishy

01-25-2004, 02:08 PM

one more close up...

korbi_doc

01-25-2004, 02:32 PM

:bounce2: :bounce2: You'll love it. Wish I had it for my earlier tanks, but the plain did ok. I'm still working on what to do with my show tanks. The mineral oil for the backgrounds dried in vertical spaces. Need to redo them maybe with softened silicone; if that doesn't work, may just get more accents, but would have to break down & move fish lol, Dottie 8)

Mr. Limpet

01-25-2004, 05:42 PM

Warren, you are a brave guy spray painting in the house. It looks great, and I have to agree with Dottie, you can probably use a different paint just to make a solid background. Also, since it is on the bottom you probably have enough coverage. I did use a clear coat to finish it off. It was cheap insurance. You are going to love the look. Paul.

kjmillerfw

01-26-2004, 12:37 AM

For my standard size 55 gal. I applied two cans (green marble) to the back and one can of the siena to the bottom and it looks great. Even if the coverage wasn't completely solid, you'd never know it.

I've used this paint on both of my tanks now and just love it!

Kathy