painting acrylic aquarium
 

Hey guys,

Does anyone know if spray paint on an acrylic tank will cause damage to the acrylic surface? I have a small acrylic tank and i wanted to paint a background on the outside so u can see its from inside the tank, but i was wondering if there was any conflict such as the paint eating through the acrylic?

Kyron Fusion paint should be safe to use. Walmart carries a decent selection of colors.

I used two coats of high gloss acrylic enamel paint when I painted the backs of my tanks and it looks great. Go for it. :-)

what about standard krylon paint spray paint? I already have some of these so it would be nice if i didnt have to buy new paint. I saw the fusion paints but they're a bit pricey. I would go to a walmart but there isnt one near me in dc. I do not think these are acrylic. The acrylic cans say acrylic under the label rite?

Yes, the acrylic paints state acrylic on the label. I'm sitting in front of my collection of Krylon spray paints, reading the labels. They state good for: metal, wood, wicker, plastic, rubber, masonry, paper products but I don't see the word acrylic anywhere... :-?

yea, i think i may just cough up some cash for the sake of making a decent background. Do I need to sand the acrylic before painting? Krylon fusions says no sanding needed, but ive painted plastic before with paint designed for plastic, not krylon, rust olem or sumthin, and it cracked as it dried so i had to repaint it after i sanded the surface.

I didn't sand mine; I just made sure it was clean & dry before I painted.

cool. thanks for the info.

I was always against painting a tank background for this reason...........Being an acrylic tank especially...What if you get a big scratch on the front of your tank?...........I always thought, (and yes it would be work) you can always switch the tank from back to front, in other words, spin it so the back is now the front and the front is now the back and the scratch will never be seen...........Just something to consider.....Not trying to talk you out of anything, but it is a possibility.........

Yea i actually thought of that but the tank is a bowfront so if i flipped it, it wouldn't really work. If anything I can just use that acrylic filling things to fix a scratch if it bothers me that much.