Fish room wall paint…

[mynameisnobody]

Hello all, When building a fish room, what do you think is the best paint color for the walls. I’m thinking a deep grey. Black would probably work, however I don’t want a black room in my home. I may do 1 black wall, yet predominantly grey makes sense to me. I am aware this is strictly opinion, however I’m asking more for experience. Anyone have any experience on what made their aquariums pop more or more importantly what should immediately be disqualified as an option. Thank you kindly

[Zenzo]

On 10/14/2021 at 8:14 AM, Manny said:

Hello all, When building a fish room, what do you think is the best paint color for the walls. I’m thinking a deep grey. Black would probably work, however I don’t want a black room in my home. I may do 1 black wall, yet predominantly grey makes sense to me. I am aware this is strictly opinion, however I’m asking more for experience. Anyone have any experience on what made their aquariums pop more or more importantly what should immediately be disqualified as an option. Thank you kindly

I like darker colors, as it draws your eyes to the tanks rather than the wall and room. However, it depends on what your plans are for the fish room. If the room is designed for breeding, grow-out, etc., and aesthetics are not important, maybe something bright is better to allow you to see. If you are going for more of the gallery look, something a bit more dark is probably better. 

Here is an example of mine.

 

[mynameisnobody]

@Zenzo Thank you for the input. I am very familiar with your fish room and I absolutely love it. The only issue with something that dark is that this will be part of a living space. I wish I had a basement, however a Florida basement doesn’t exist. I actually used your room as reference and that’s why I was going with a deep grey. Again, thank you kindly for the input. Love your channel dude. 

[Zenzo]

On 10/14/2021 at 9:52 AM, Manny said:

@Zenzo Thank you for the input. I am very familiar with your fish room and I absolutely love it. The only issue with something that dark is that this will be part of a living space. I wish I had a basement, however a Florida basement doesn’t exist. I actually used your room as reference and that’s why I was going with a deep grey. Again, thank you kindly for the input. Love your channel dude. 

Much appreciated!

Maybe go for something more subtle like grey then. Just make sure that it blends with the house and the furniture! 😁

[Patrick_G]

As long as we’re spending your money then I think an accent wall of cedar or weathered barn wood would look great behind the aquariums. 
 

[mynameisnobody]

@Patrick_G Hahahahahaha brilliant. I have installed those before and they look incredible. I didn’t even think of that as an option, but that’s actually a great idea. Brilliant dude! 

[Zenzo]

On 10/14/2021 at 10:02 AM, Patrick_G said:

As long as we’re spending your money then I think an accent wall of cedar or weathered barn wood would look great behind the aquariums. 
 

It's always easy spending other people's money! 😄

[mynameisnobody]

@Zenzo Easier and much more fun. 😎

[Hobbit]

I love the dark wall look for a fish room! Since it’s a living space though, you have to consider whether you’ll be spending much time there when the fish tank lights are out. If so, it could feel very very dark.

Here are some colors I pulled off of Benjamin Moore’s website last time someone was painting their fish room 😁

More taupe-y colors…

Or a blue… (my kitchen is Van Deusen 👍)

Or even a purple-gray:

If you do go with dark walls, the white ceiling can look rather jarring. In my office, which has dark blue walls, I actually painted the ceiling a light gray.

I think this would be a fun ceiling color in a fish room, especially if you can get that rippling light effect:

 

I LOVE the accent wall idea with wood, but then you may need backgrounds on many of your aquariums, since smaller fish will blend in with a patterned background. Also you’d need to seal it well so you don’t get mold growing on the planks.

Or try to turn it into a toadstool wall. 🤷🏼‍♀️

[Odd Duck]

Love that blue or the purple!

[mynameisnobody]

@Hobbit wow, Thank you very much for the info and options. I really like the purple grey color. I wasn’t planning on painting the ceiling, but you do raise an excellent point. I guess it’s better to paint it while it’s empty, rather than later. Thanks again, this helps a lot 

[gardenman]

In addition to color, you might want to consider the type of paint also. There are mildew and mold resistant paints that would make sense in a fish room. Perma-White is one such brand of paint. I've used it in my bathroom and it's great paint. It's tintable to whatever color you want also. Mold and mildew are often issues in fish rooms due to the higher humidity. The right paint can help prevent those from becoming an issue. If you Google/Bing/whatever search engine you use: "Perma-white paint" you can read all about it. It's good stuff.

[mynameisnobody]

@gardenman That is excellent info, will do, and thank you very much. I’m in Florida so I will most likely use this type of paint everywhere in the house. Good stuff! 

[lefty o]

lots of people like to have different colored walls in the same room (crazy, but its a thing). you could a medium dark gray or like that van deusen blue above on the 1 wall behind the fish, and the rest of the walls whatever you'd normally go with. all dark really makes tanks pop like zenzo's, but in a living space, way too dark. 

[Torrey]

On 10/14/2021 at 10:52 AM, Manny said:

@Zenzo Thank you for the input. I am very familiar with your fish room and I absolutely love it. The only issue with something that dark is that this will be part of a living space. I wish I had a basement, however a Florida basement doesn’t exist. I actually used your room as reference and that’s why I was going with a deep grey. Again, thank you kindly for the input. Love your channel dude. 

Are you using racks?

If you use a rack system, you can hang black insulated curtains on the back of the racks, and paint the room however you want.

On 10/14/2021 at 11:03 AM, Manny said:

@Patrick_G Hahahahahaha brilliant. I have installed those before and they look incredible. I didn’t even think of that as an option, but that’s actually a great idea. Brilliant dude! 

Cedar has the benefit of water resistance, but teak is better.

[sairving]

On 10/15/2021 at 4:50 AM, Manny said:

@Hobbit wow, Thank you very much for the info and options. I really like the purple grey color. I wasn’t planning on painting the ceiling, but you do raise an excellent point. I guess it’s better to paint it while it’s empty, rather than later. Thanks again, this helps a lot 

The purple grey color is awesome! I found out searching for a medium grey purple color for my bedroom was easier said than done.  In the end I bought 9 different color samples.  Picking a purple is just as obnoxious as trying to pick the right shade of white or grey.  

A nice soft grey green color would look nice too.  

Edited October 21, 2021 by sairving

[mynameisnobody]

@Torrey No racks here, the plan is a room of 75-125 gallon displays from wall to wall. 

[Andy's Fish Den]

On 10/14/2021 at 1:02 PM, Patrick_G said:

As long as we’re spending your money then I think an accent wall of cedar or weathered barn wood would look great behind the aquariums. 
 

One of the guys in my local fish club did his walls in pallet wood. He works someplace that gets a lot of pallets through and took them home and apart and used that, it looks really neat. 

[mynameisnobody]

@Andy's Fish Den that’s an excellent idea, especially when the pallets are free. 

[sairving]

You could do an accent wall with some interesting stone or glass tiles.  A combination of the two might look neat, use the glass tiles as accents.

Edited October 22, 2021 by sairving