# Paint thinner to remove spraypaint aquarium background?



## klibs (May 1, 2014)

A few weeks ago I spraypainted the back of my 75g black with Krylon Fusion Satin black spraypaint. Turned out great. Filled up the tank and now it sits about 5" from a wall. Fast forward to yesterday and a small section in the corner had chipped off somehow... I got out the krylon and tried to cover it up but the new coat STRIPPED OFF my existing coat because it was too close and globbed on and dripped down taking off big streaks of the background and making my background look awful. I HAD NO IDEA THIS COULD HAPPEN. I'm pissed about this.

Basically I ruined my spraypainted background. I want to just get all the paint off and start over with a traditional background because I can't really get back there to paint it again and am absolutely not going to tear the tank down over this...

I am considering using paint thinner to loosen up the spraypaint.

MY QUESTION IS:
Will paint thinner damage the tank at all?

I am quite sure that paint thinner will be harmless to the glass but I am worried that it might damage my bottom rim / any silicone down there if it drips down.

Any thoughts?


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## jrill (Nov 20, 2013)

Razor blade.


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## klibs (May 1, 2014)

jrill said:


> Razor blade.


Option B...
Going to take so long to scrape off the whole thing...

I'm thinking if I can use trace amounts of paint thinner and let it kind of soak in I could scrape it off easy.


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## Mariostg (Sep 6, 2014)

A good hand plane blade.


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## Midnighttide102 (Oct 2, 2014)

You can deff use paint thinner to take paint off back of tank I've done it tons of times with no issues I then rinse it off with water then let dry and before painting again I wipe glass down with rubbing alcohol I've never had an issue


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## klibs (May 1, 2014)

Midnighttide102 said:


> You can deff use paint thinner to take paint off back of tank I've done it tons of times with no issues I then rinse it off with water then let dry and before painting again I wipe glass down with rubbing alcohol I've never had an issue


Thank you!
What paint did you use / what paint thinner did you get to take it off?


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## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

Just be sure to use paint thinner (mineral spirits), and not lacquer thinner. Lacquer thinner is considerably stronger. I could see it possibly damaging a plastic rim. It will melt a styrofoam cooler for example. Just a heads up because it's usually right beside paint thinner in a similar container.

It doesnt sound like the initial coat is stuck very well. I'd probably try a razor blade scraper first, something with a handle -


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## klibs (May 1, 2014)

we'll see how it goes... I've just been going at it with a little razor blade with little success. I don't want to go too hard at it and have the edge scratch the glass.

Right now my plan is to lightly soak some parts of it in paint thinner (mineral spirits for sure - lacquer thinner is dangerous stuff) and then peel it away with the razor blade.

We'll see how it goes... I'll keep everyone posted just in case someone else has to do this lol


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## flight50 (Apr 17, 2012)

Yeah I am a fan of the razor myself. It is tedious but it eliminates and possible damage that solvents can do. I recently had to scrape by 40g down 3 times. I tried plexi dip, acylic black gloss and the cheap $.99 spray. Neither produced the look I was looking for so I razor-ed them all off. Took roughly 30 mins each time to remove the paint but the tank sustained no damage. The trick is actually in the angle you hold the blade at. 45 degrees or less. Also swapping out the blade for fresh ones work if you noticed the edge dulling or chipping out on you.


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## TINNGG (Mar 9, 2005)

Pinesol or if you can find it, lestoil will remove it. BTW, next time, spray a big glob on a plate and use a brush to touch up.


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## roadmaster (Nov 5, 2009)

Razor blade and warm water on a sponge will help the process.
I have painted and removed paint on my aquariums with the afore mentioned . 
Course I had much more than five inches to work with.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

I'd use some sort of acetone and just avoid the trim/silicone. Then razor blade the edges.


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## klibs (May 1, 2014)

TINNGG said:


> Pinesol or if you can find it, lestoil will remove it. BTW, next time, spray a big glob on a plate and use a brush to touch up.


Does this work well?

I might just do this to try to cover the spots I messed up and see if you can tell. Will be much less work than redoing the whole thing.

As long as the background is just one solid black then I will be happy...


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## klibs (May 1, 2014)

burr740 said:


> It doesnt sound like the initial coat is stuck very well. I'd probably try a razor blade scraper first, something with a handle -


Ended up getting something like this for about $3.50 on Amazon Prime and it worked WONDERS. Very sharp blade ripped right through the paint and it came right off - just scraped the entire thing in like 15 minutes.

Going to paint it again with a roller and some acrylic-based black paint. HOPEFULLY it comes out good after a bunch of coats...


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## strangewaters (May 13, 2015)

Latex paint will scrape off super easy when you do it. 

Sent from my LG-D851 using Tapatalk


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## klibs (May 1, 2014)

Did a little research and ended up painting the background again with Acrylic-based black paint and a few sponge rollers/brushes. Took about 4-5 coats to get a nice even coverage.

Exact paint I used:


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