# Finished Painting 55g Back Glass



## rp-photo (Sep 22, 2011)

finished the back glass painting today, only a total of 3 Coats , used Rust-Oleum Gloss Black Professional and a foam roller....

Daytime LED's 









Nighttime LED's









what your guys think?


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## vann59 (Jun 20, 2011)

From the picture, it looks just like you bought it that way. Are those marineland LED hoods?


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## rp-photo (Sep 22, 2011)

vann59 said:


> From the picture, it looks just like you bought it that way. Are those marineland LED hoods?


yes its the dual LED hood kit from Marineland ....


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

Going to be taking my tank down in the next couple weeks to install hardwood floor throughout the house. I am going to paint my tank then but I have always in the past used gloss black. However I am now considering rolling on the flat black. I want to try and eliminate glare off the back glass. With my black sand and bright white rocks the glare is driving me nuts.


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## rp-photo (Sep 22, 2011)

13razorbackfan said:


> Going to be taking my tank down in the next couple weeks to install hardwood floor throughout the house. I am going to paint my tank then but I have always in the past used gloss black. However I am now considering rolling on the flat black. I want to try and eliminate glare off the back glass. With my black sand and bright white rocks the glare is driving me nuts.


well the main reason i went gloss black is so that my moon led's will light a little better..


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## vann59 (Jun 20, 2011)

13razorbackfan said:


> I am going to paint my tank then but I have always in the past used gloss black. However I am now considering rolling on the flat black. I want to try and eliminate glare off the back glass. With my black sand and bright white rocks the glare is driving me nuts.


Your glare is probably off the glass itself, don't clean the algae off once you paint it black, and it will have more of a matte effect. Otherwise, I don't really think it makes a difference whether the paint is matte or gloss.



13razorbackfan said:


> Going to be taking my tank down in the next couple weeks to install hardwood floor throughout the house.


Ok, tell the truth. It's probably not really about the floors, as much as it makes it easier to have more fish tanks everywhere with the hardwood flooring...

:fish: :fish: :fish: :fish:


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## vann59 (Jun 20, 2011)

rp-photo said:


> vann59 said:
> 
> 
> > From the picture, it looks just like you bought it that way. Are those marineland LED hoods?
> ...


I have a set of those I'm not using right now. They aren't the brightest lights, but I like the design of those hoods, they are soooo convenient to use. I changed my lighting to t5 so I could grow plants, and so I custom made full coverage clear lexan hoods, which are much lighter and easier than glass lids.


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

vann59 said:


> 13razorbackfan said:
> 
> 
> > I am going to paint my tank then but I have always in the past used gloss black. However I am now considering rolling on the flat black. I want to try and eliminate glare off the back glass. With my black sand and bright white rocks the glare is driving me nuts.
> ...


LOL...nah...it will however make it easier to clean spilled water and also because I have two dogs. I just DREAD taking the tank down, and setting up my 30g in the dining room until it is done. It will give me a couple days to paint but I am deathly afraid there is going to be some fighting issues even in a bare 30g tank. My fish range from 2" to 4.5" totaling around 11.

As for the algae it has been slow going on the back glass but making progress. I am afraid once I tear it down to paint the back it is just going to die off. I am going to put my rocks in a large rubbermaid container with a power head but I just plan on leaving the sand in the tank while I paint. I am going to use a low VOC paint and just roll it on.


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## Mike_G (Nov 8, 2011)

I've found some "flat" black paints to be a little on the greyish side or at least not quite as deep a black color as gloss black


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

Mike_G said:


> I've found some "flat" black paints to be a little on the greyish side or at least not quite as deep a black color as gloss black


Yep....that is what it was. I knew there was a reason I painted my other tanks gloss black and couldn't for the life of me remember what it was. Thanks....just reaffirms my thoughts.

I just hope my sand and a bit of water remaining doesn't become too stagnant before filling it back up. I may just rinse it out and drain a couple times before moving it back inside.


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## Jayse (Feb 15, 2012)

rp-photo said:


> finished the back glass painting today, only a total of 3 Coats , used Rust-Oleum Gloss Black Professional and a foam roller....
> 
> what your guys think?


RP is that the tank *Vendor Name Removed* sells? Been looking at that tank, but was unsure of those LED's in that canopy. Are there seperate plugs for day and night so you can put each on a timer? I've seen some of those "included with tank" light canopies that end up being junk. Do you think it's well made?


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## rp-photo (Sep 22, 2011)

Jayse said:


> rp-photo said:
> 
> 
> > finished the back glass painting today, only a total of 3 Coats , used Rust-Oleum Gloss Black Professional and a foam roller....
> ...


yes its the tank from *Vendor Name Removed*... each rack has its on plug, no timer.... just a switch to slide (all on - off - blue) its plastic but the canopies and lighting seems good quality, i'll decide to keep or replace it w/ one of the Marinland long 48" LED light bars...


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## Jayse (Feb 15, 2012)

Hmm... I think I'd have to pass on theirs then because of the switch configuration and not having a seperate plug for night lights. If I'm not mistaken they have yet to do the same with their double bright led system. I've seen several people asking for a dual plug on those. I think if they did, they would probably get a huge chunk of other buyers that are looking for something like that. Definitely looks good though, but that was the only thing holding me back from buying one of those. Glad I didn't take the chance since I live over an hour away from any PS/LFS


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## rp-photo (Sep 22, 2011)

its 2 light hoods, which have 1 plug each .... u just flip the switch from Blues to Whites or Off...

besides, if u dont like the hoods just get a piece of plexiglass, and get the Double Bright system...


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## Jayse (Feb 15, 2012)

rp-photo said:


> its 2 light hoods, which have 1 plug each .... u just flip the switch from Blues to Whites or Off...
> 
> besides, if u dont like the hoods just get a piece of plexiglass, and get the Double Bright system...


 I was meaning two power cords so you can have them on timers. One timer/cord for day, the other timer/cord for night so you don't have to turn switches etc. My last setup had no switches at all for light or led night light.... was a real pain having to unplug and plug other when changing.


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## quentin8 (Sep 30, 2011)

Jayse said:


> rp-photo said:
> 
> 
> > its 2 light hoods, which have 1 plug each .... u just flip the switch from Blues to Whites or Off...
> ...


I have looked at them several times, if Im not mistaken both the whites and blus are ran on the same cord. I just can seem to justify spending $40 on a 8" - 10" light, not to mention the mixed reviews. Ill PM you a link.
*Vendor Name Removed*


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## Jayse (Feb 15, 2012)

quentin8 said:


> Jayse said:
> 
> 
> > rp-photo said:
> ...


PMed you back.... funny I just bought the light you linked me with. I agree, I've seen many great reviews on the lights, but have also seen enough bad ones about lights going out, half of light not working, etc to make we take a step back. They have a great price for what looks like a good light. I just got the one you linked to test out their lights and figured I would put it on a timer and use for night LEDs only and use my 50/50 light for days on another timer. They do feel cheeply made, but I guess when each light is a litle peice of plastic, you don't need a big heavy monster of a casing to hold them.
*Vendor Name Removed*


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

Just finished painting the back glass on my main tank and it all looks very good except one small area at the top middle about 1/2" in height by 3-4" in length. I think there must have been some residue of some sort that caused it to bubble and look crinkled...not sure though. Too late now....thought about scraping that area off and doing it again but not sure how it would look.


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## dsouthworth (Sep 7, 2011)

So I wish that I had read this yestreday.. because i just used a flat black as apposed to a gloss. I really hope it turns out as the deep black i'm aiming for..


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

dsouthworth said:


> So I wish that I had read this yestreday.. because i just used a flat black as apposed to a gloss. I really hope it turns out as the deep black i'm aiming for..


Yeah...I used the gloss spray. It looks really good...except that one spot....


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## lilscoots (Mar 13, 2012)

I painted my 90 with flat and it looks very nice, the one pipe I have in the tank was painted with the same paint and at 4 foot away it disappears, it's a nice black (not grey) color


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## rp-photo (Sep 22, 2011)

the way i did mine... rolled it twice, then brushed my corners, then rolled the touch up after... turned out great ...


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## theoryguru (Oct 11, 2011)

Mike_G said:


> I've found some "flat" black paints to be a little on the greyish side or at least not quite as deep a black color as gloss black


I noticed this on one of my tanks, I'll use gloss next time and see if it reduces or eliminates the grey.
I usually use KRYLON FUSION CAMO BLACK Ultra flat really good stuff especially for stuff In your tank eg. intake tubes etc.


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