Painting the INSIDE of the back page of an acrylic aquarium.

Hey guys.

So I scored a 135 gallon, "reef ready" setup on Craigslist. I love it...except for the back panel of the tank. It is colored acrylic (not just an applied layer of paint to the back of the panel), so there is no way to easily change the color. It is a bright blue, and while appropriate for reef tanks, I'm not a huge fan of the blue for a freshwater setup. I'd like to make it black.

I've been doing a lot of research, and from what I've gathered Krylon Fusion is the way to go for painting things that go inside the tank because it bonds well to acrylic AND is inert once it cures. I don't mind waiting for it to cure. I can wait the 7 days.

But I worry about durability. I did a test panel with a piece of acrylic that I bought from Home Depot, and an hour after I sprayed it I could easily mark the paint with my fingernail. Does it hold up well to marks and scuffs after the full curing time, or will it get marked just as easily?

Is this my best bet to change the color of the background? I've already taped out the tank and am ready to paint, but am having second thoughts at the last minute. Any opinions out there? :help:

Thanks.

The problem is that it will be impossible to get anything of substantial size into the tank because there are only 2 small holes in the top of the tank. It is an acrylic tank, and with that type of top, getting full-sized sheets of acrylic in there is not plausible.

Those are definitely some cool backgrounds, but remember that this tank has two corner baffles that make the back wall of this tank non-flat. I'm now thinking that some sort of adhesive film would be the best/cleanest route to take. Any recommendations for where I might be able to buy some black, aquarium-safe adhesive film by the foot? That way it can conform to the contour of the back wall. A hard, flat piece of acrylic or 3D background will not work for this application.