Spray Painted the rear glass and there is cracking

[KromiX]

So I spray painted the rear glass of my tank.....

I want to fix this now that the tank isn't set up, it seems in a few areas I oversprayed and it looks like cracks everywhere and you can see that on the viewing side inside the tank...


My question is, should I just razor blade the bad areas and re-spray or do I need to respray the entire back and repaint it all over again so that it looks even?

[shackscs]

Repaint the entire back. You probably are seeing thinner areas that you did not hit too well.

Also, if you are planning on doing any rock work, most of the back will be covered anyway.

Think about going to a sign store and purchasing vinyl material to put on instead of painting. At some point the salwater is going to cause the paint to peel.

Good luck

[milkman55]

You can do a search on this subject and you will see a heated debate on what paint works the best (or arguments not to use paint at all). I used the Fusion satin black on my 120 gal tank back and it worked great. The Fusion is made for plastics and it seems to hold better to the glass from my experience. I can get Fusion at WalMart, but HD and Lowes did not carry it in my area.

[szwab]

I'd take the time now and remove everything and start over. You can try doing sections over but it's not that much more work to just start over.As mentioned though once your tank has aged you may not even notice. That said it's much easier to fix now IMO.

[kimber45]

You can do a search on this subject and you will see a heated debate on what paint works the best (or arguments not to use paint at all). I used the Fusion satin black on my 120 gal tank back and it worked great. The Fusion is made for plastics and it seems to hold better to the glass from my experience. I can get Fusion at WalMart, but HD and Lowes did not carry it in my area.

+1 on the fusion.

[KromiX]

So now, I tried removing some pieces with razor blade, didn't look fun, whats the quickest way to get this off? Nothing in tank yet. its empty.

[hllywd]

So I spray painted the rear glass of my tank.....

I want to fix this now that the tank isn't set up, it seems in a few areas I oversprayed and it looks like cracks everywhere and you can see that on the viewing side inside the tank...


My question is, should I just razor blade the bad areas and re-spray or do I need to respray the entire back and repaint it all over again so that it looks even?

Some spray paints say to re-coat within an hour, or after 24 hours (or something similar), IME that's probably what caused the "cracking". The razor blade is about the best removal tool I can suggest. Maybe the paint will soften if you cover a section at a time with a rag soaked in laquer thinner and allowed to soak for a few minutes...

One it's clean you could follow the instructions on the can and use the same paint. Other ideas are to roll on latex, use sign vinyl, window tint, etc... Then there is the ever popular plastic paint on the glass tank idea (Fusion)...:spin2:

Tim

[hebygb]

I would avoid using any solvents near seams. Use a straight razer blaid in a holder and go slow.

I would also remove all of the paint then clean with vinegar. many light coats will prevent the cracking. follow the instructions for recoating, and especially for final curing time. spray in even passes starting off the surface and going beyond the opposite end. It may seem like you are wasting paint, but not as much as you think and certainly not as much as doing it twice.

[Skeptic_07]

I used black latex interior wall paint. the cheapest i could find at HD. Then sacrificed an old roller to apply it. worked great. a pint was just enough for the back of my 75 gallon.

[KromiX]

came off with just a razor blade, real easy, i guess cause i painted it yesterday so its fresh...


already cleaned glass and started re-spraying this time going to do it reaaaaaal slow and easy one coat at a time lol...