Back ground on a tank with external overflow box?
 

Hello

I posted this in my build thread, but I thought it might have a better chance being answered here:

I painted the back side of my previous tank blue with tremclad paint.

With this new tank I cannot do this because of the external overflow, (You would see all plumbing).

What can I do?

Paint inside?

Or, maybe a better option, install acrylic in the tank on the waterside. Any tips? Where to buy in GVRD? 1/8" or 1/4" to help from bowing? Black or Blue?

Maybe mention another option I haven't even thought about!


I really have no experience and any advice would be great

My tank has an external overflow and has a black acrylic panel on the back wall on the inside of the tank. Teeth can be routed into it if desired.

What I tried to do with one of my previous tanks was to paint the back black, paint the inside of the overflow box wall black and then silicone in a thin piece of glass over this paint so it was sealed in. Tank was done in black silicone already. It was tough to make sure it was sealed well because the tank was setup against a wall already and had been running (drained overflow and dried it out as best I could).

It looked really good and best of all I had a glass surface to keep clean rather than acrylic which can get beat up badly.

In the end water seeped in behind that glass. If I was to do something like that again I would actually apply a layer of black silicone across the entire inside of the overflow and then plant the glass on it.

These days I don't think I'd worry so much though. Likely just go with the acrylic lol.

Yeap acrylic on the inside to cover the whole pane is the common approach. Just make sure you have a decent amount of clearance or in other words the acrylic isn't a snug fit as plastic expands way more than glass when heated, enough to burst a seam :surprise:

Thanks, seems like most common is acrylic inside the tank.

How thick did you guys go? Did it warp at all?

Lots of Alberta help, maybe a local could chime in where to buy some around here?

Thanks again for responses

If you go the acrylic/plex route, Fiber-tek on boundary is great to deal with, and open saturdays

1/8" thickness, silicone it to the glass, it won't warp.

Perfect, that's a really easy location for me to check out!

Thanks, did you find any issues with water getting behind it?