Advice? New tank advice

good question i think plastic dip may work i do not no if it is reef safe tho.

 

I think of you use anything other than the material you used to paint the back ground itll look a different shade of that color. It might be near impossible to match.

 

Once your tank gets going, you can attach coral to it and let it grow. Or coralline will grow on it. Unless it is a huge eyesore, I wouldn't worry about painting it. I have never tried putting something painted in the tank but don't the paint all the freshwater fish accessories?

 

I would be very cautious with putting anything painted into the tank when the painted surface would be directly exposed to the water. Now what you could do, and this would allow you to color match with the same paint used on the back like MadManMadrid mentioned, use two pieces of glass for the front of the overflow. Paint the inside of the front panel and then seal the second panel to the back/painted surface. It's extra work and material but would get you your end result without having a painted surface in contact with the water.

Another option would be to use acrylic and just lightly sand the inside of it to give it a frosted look so its not completely see thru. Wouldn't be black to match the back but it does accomplish your goals of not seeing into the overflow.

 

I've used krylon fusion on eggcrate and PVC overflow pipes and had no I'll affects for over a year in the tank. Had to lightly rough up the PVC pipe to get good adhesion. Works good but may flake off PVC w/o the scuff (as my first attempt did). Stuck to eggcrate well tho. Would guess it would do the same with acrylic. Just give it a week to dry/cure completely before putting in the tank.

 

Bud could probably make you a black acrylic overflow pretty easily I would think. It would look better And would have no worries .

 

If you do decide to go the paint route, I know of many people including myself that have used Krylon Fusion successfully. I've never heard of any ill effects, and I've never experienced any either. Good luck with whatever you decide!