What Do People Do For Background In Your Tank

[RossW]

I am setting up a 75g, or at least will be real soon, and am wondering what most people do for backgrounds.

Do you paint?  If so, what colour and type of paint.

Do you use background paper?

Nothing?

All of my other tanks have background paper, which one day I will mount properly w/ vaseline.

[Saltcreep]

I use an alkyd enamel on most of my tanks. I like the Tremclad dark blue colour. It looks a bit dark from outside the tank but, real nice through the water. I prefer the spray but, brush application works OK too. I actually got a pretty neat effect on my 90G salt tank by laying the paint on very heavy in horizontal strokes. Looks a bit like waves. Don't even think about latex; it will peel off like vinyl when it dries.

Another option, assuming you're not going for store bought backgrounds, is to use those cheap plastic winter sliders. The original brand was Krazy Karpet. The come in a 54" length which, when trimmed, should fit your 75G nicely. You can get these in blue or black but, not until winter.

[mseguin]

Don't have anything on my 58 Tang yet, but probably just gonna go with a plain black or blue background.

[RossW]

Don't have anything on my 58 Tang yet, but probably just gonna go with a plain black or blue background.

Would that be a deep dark blue, like Navy, or something lighter?

[mseguin]

probably something in between, like a royal blue

[Brine]

I have been considering a mirrored back ground for my 90G. It should give the tank more depth and make viewing the fish a bit easier as I will be able to see the back side of hiding places. Anyone ever tried this or have any ideas or reasons why it would not be a good idea. I have considered that any males I stock may get aggressive with their own reflections.

[fischkopp]

I like to use HUNTER GREEN sprayed on plywood that is just double-sided taped to the back and the sides. This green is quite dark and gives a bit of muddy atmosphere - especially in a planted tank.

[sdivell]

I found this idea on another forum and I'll be doing it to my 20gal tank once I move it.  Probably the black.  They use Stone Creations spray paint and it makes a very neat look.  heres the link to the other forum. (sorry guys I've been cheating on you with another forum...I'm so embarrassed  lol )

http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/equipment/47324-has-anyone-ever-tried-spray-painting-back-their-aquarium.html

[RossW]

That Stone Creations stuff does look really cool!

mmmm......

[BigDaddy]

Standard background with Vasoline

[audioslave_36]

Standard background with Vasoline

Ditto, Ross when you come over to give me a hand with your new 75g tank you can see what the back grounds look like when the are Vaselined to the glass.

Dave

[beowulf]

paper on one and nothing on the other....I have the paper but never put it on.

[plecoL83]

Nada on my fifty (except for a small bit of algae, my pleco's just plow through that stuff though) and nada on my 5.

[neon]

Solid Black background with vaseline.  I think the black is the best as it shows off the green of the plants and the colours of the fish.

[charlie]

 I use Solid black & blue aquarium background paper, there is more pop in your aquascape. I use to be a fan of the fancy background paper  , until squeeker suggested a solid colour after viewing  a picture i posted ( thanks squeeker  )
Regards

[KLKelly]

I use nothing on one tank - It is in the basement with a cool ralph lauren blue wall.  Shows up the fish well.

The 90 gallon has a nice background of black beard algae.  Ugly as heck but helps eat up the ammonia/nitrates.

I did see a cool background on another forum - bamboo blinds.  I'd love to do that with a tank one day.

I tried the window stuff from home depot last year - monet water colours but it left yucky airbubbles.  I wish I had known the background tricks.

[PrincessFish]

Wow these are some nice ideas for my next tank . . . but in the meantime please do share more about this vasoline thing??  My plain blue storebought background is just taped to the back and doesn't stay on very well and some parts are snug while others have air spaces and so the colour varies.  Do I just put vasoline and press to the back??  And how well does this work long term?  And just how messy is it?   

[Mettle]

Right now my turtles are in bare bottom tanks and I used the stone spray method to cover the bottoms (from the outside of course) to give some visual interest to their tanks. It looks pretty cool, but I've honestly lost interest in the look. Soon I'll be covering it up as the turtles will move out of their 40gals and into a 90gal together and snakes will be moving into the 40gals and I'll b able to cover it up with substrate.

The big thing I want to try for a background is a custom built background that I will also be doing with the turtle tank. This means building out some type of structure from the inside of the tank and then coating it with the right material in order to ensure the underlayer is protected and that it, itself is water tight and not toxic. I'm planning on combining two methods to achieve what I want.

I'm going to use pretty much everything from this article...

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_aquarium_background.php

...save for the fact that I want to try the Great Stuff expanding foam that Squeeker used to make her new gecko enclosure seen here...

http://ovas.ca/index.php?topic=19117.0

Adds way more interest I think than a regular stick-on background.

I'm going to do all my testing and such for this on a little 10 gallon first before attempting it on the 90 gal. (I still have to bring it outside and make sure it holds water, anyway. Lol.)

[audioslave_36]

Wow these are some nice ideas for my next tank . . . but in the meantime please do share more about this vasoline thing??  My plain blue storebought background is just taped to the back and doesn't stay on very well and some parts are snug while others have air spaces and so the colour varies.  Do I just put vasoline and press to the back??  And how well does this work long term?  And just how messy is it?   

you have to put the vaseline on, just smear it all over the place then put your back ground into place, try to tuck it in past the trim a bit(don't worry if you can't) then smooth it out with you hands so it stays in place the take  squeegee ( I use a vinyl sticker application squeegee) and work it out till it is smooth and bubble free, so far I haven't had any come off that I didn't take off. As far as it being messy, ya a little, if you only put a small amount of vaseline on then add more if you need it  it is less messy,  but the end product is well worth the work and the mess.

[Nerine]

I have paper backgrounds for my 55 and 75, but they are both falling off hehe I need to reapply with the Vaseline.  I really want this cool blue background that petsmart sells (dont know if they still do actually) it is blue swirly vinyl (looks kinda like a shower curtain) but it's sooo expensive LOL I found something like it at walmart in the shower curtain section and think I'm going to try that! if I dont like it I can return it hehehe or use it in the bathroom!!!