how do I blackout the back of my fishtank?
- Thread starter jjdog202
- Start date
a $4 can of paint is cheaper than several rolls of E tape. Let alone if you bought the nice 3m super 33 stuff that wont leave hardly any residue and your looking at 4+ a roll of tape. plus all the time of stringing out the stuff.
I used vinyl. Here is my link to my post and here is the post.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=351978
DIY Background- Vinyl over Painting a tank
I had a black background on my 240 from pet smart. I had a lot of problems with it. Water would get in between the background and the tank when I would service the tank. So It got on my nerves enough for me to rip it off. I ended up having the idea of laying down one big piece of vinyl ( a big black sticker) on the back instead of painting it. I am not a very good painter and I didn't want to do something that permanent to my tank. So I picked up a 96x30 sheet of vinyl from the local decal shop in town for 15 dollars. Which is cheaper than what I got the first background for! The guy at the shop gave me instructions on how to put it on and It was pretty easy as long as you take your time and have a helping hand. Here are some pic's and I cant say that it could of turned out better. I like it a lot and I think It is just as good as a painted background if not better because It can easily be peeled off. I have a extra sheet of the stuff so I plan on doing this to my 46 gallon also.
Attached Thumbnails
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=351978
DIY Background- Vinyl over Painting a tank
I had a black background on my 240 from pet smart. I had a lot of problems with it. Water would get in between the background and the tank when I would service the tank. So It got on my nerves enough for me to rip it off. I ended up having the idea of laying down one big piece of vinyl ( a big black sticker) on the back instead of painting it. I am not a very good painter and I didn't want to do something that permanent to my tank. So I picked up a 96x30 sheet of vinyl from the local decal shop in town for 15 dollars. Which is cheaper than what I got the first background for! The guy at the shop gave me instructions on how to put it on and It was pretty easy as long as you take your time and have a helping hand. Here are some pic's and I cant say that it could of turned out better. I like it a lot and I think It is just as good as a painted background if not better because It can easily be peeled off. I have a extra sheet of the stuff so I plan on doing this to my 46 gallon also.
Attached Thumbnails
I used garbage bags, black ones obviously...and used double sided tape to hold them, did the job, and its removable for when you want to do something else.
I wish I had remembered to do this to my 110 before I filled it up put the fish in. Then stood back and noticed I didnt black it out
zebvance;4548890; said:
Interesting...I may have to look into this. What do you think about being able to stick it on there, on a tank with only a few inches of clearance against the wall? I have the black aquarium backgrounds on my tanks, and they fall down and get water marks and dust...not the best.
_Jessica_;4549108; said:
That was the reason I tried this route. Water would get between my background and tank and mold. I also didnt want to paint the tank because I didnt was something that permanent. My tank was Kinda a pain to move I drained the tank to about 15% full of water and then me and a friend moved it from the wall using a 2x4 as a wedge. The bigger the tank the more challenging this is to put on and not get air bubbles. The key is patients and a extra person. YOu are going to want to have plenty of space to move around the back of the tank. The stuff sticks to the glass like glue and is very hard to peel off unless you are trying to peel it off. I love it and I am very happy with the out come. I think it looks great. and i didnt have to paint it and worry about defects and doing something that permanent. They sell this stuff at any decal place. This is the same stuff they use for store front window decals and car window decals. They also use this stuff for signs It was really inexpensive also. It cost about the same as the plastic background sheets that are in pet-stores. In the pictures that is me putting it on a 8foot by 2 foot by 2 foot 240 gallon tank. I purchased a 9 foot by 30 inch roll so I had some room for error when trimming the edges. It cost me 15 bucks. Very pleased with the results and price!
