I went yesterday and grabbed a little sample can (pint) of black paint from sherwin williams & already had a mini-size roller to use at home. Getting the 20 off the wall to paint was easy enough, I was actually able to move it while completely full but I still ended up draining it halfway just to make it a bit safer. The 65 was a different story...I drained about 60-70% of the water and still almost pulled my back into pieces trying to swing one corner out away from the wall to get behind it. I eventually got it though...thank god for that little roller and being able to keep one corner of the tank planted where it was...
Applying the paint was kind of tricky...I think I wasn't using the best roller for the job, it was texturing the paint alot and I had a hard time leaving a solid coat. I ended up figuring out just the right amount of pressure & having a (relative) ton of paint on the roller to get a decent base then let that dry for a couple minutes and go back over it. Eventually I ended up with a pretty solid coat, maybe a few specs here & there.
But the back aren't nearly as dark as I expected them to be in the tank. They're actually borderline gray to my eyes. Doesn't look BAD...just not quite what I expected from painting the back of the tank. I can only see two reasons for this...1) the coat of paint isn't thick enough to block all light from the rear of the tank, 2) the 'shade' of black I got from sherwin williams isn't dark enough. OR painting a tank black just doesn't get it as dark as I expected no matter what.
Other random stuff...I got timers for my lights & moonlights, they work great so far (one night & one morning). I just went to walmart and got 2 6$ brinks analog timers with grounded outlets and 2 1into3 outlet adapters. I plugged one timer in under my 20 & one in under my 65, put the moonlights on one and the regular lights on the other, set the times and voila
I could have spent 18$ on each timer and gotten the digital interface with 2 grounded outlets on each (eliminate the adapters) but I didn't feel like it was worth the extra cash.
AND my rena smartheater should be here today
Applying the paint was kind of tricky...I think I wasn't using the best roller for the job, it was texturing the paint alot and I had a hard time leaving a solid coat. I ended up figuring out just the right amount of pressure & having a (relative) ton of paint on the roller to get a decent base then let that dry for a couple minutes and go back over it. Eventually I ended up with a pretty solid coat, maybe a few specs here & there.
But the back aren't nearly as dark as I expected them to be in the tank. They're actually borderline gray to my eyes. Doesn't look BAD...just not quite what I expected from painting the back of the tank. I can only see two reasons for this...1) the coat of paint isn't thick enough to block all light from the rear of the tank, 2) the 'shade' of black I got from sherwin williams isn't dark enough. OR painting a tank black just doesn't get it as dark as I expected no matter what.
Other random stuff...I got timers for my lights & moonlights, they work great so far (one night & one morning). I just went to walmart and got 2 6$ brinks analog timers with grounded outlets and 2 1into3 outlet adapters. I plugged one timer in under my 20 & one in under my 65, put the moonlights on one and the regular lights on the other, set the times and voila
I could have spent 18$ on each timer and gotten the digital interface with 2 grounded outlets on each (eliminate the adapters) but I didn't feel like it was worth the extra cash.
AND my rena smartheater should be here today
) its just not as dark as I expected, which is really no big deal.