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Backgrounds - what do you have and why?

leemonk

Member
Joined
17 Apr 2009
Messages
132
Hi,

I am restarting my tank soon... going to be a lowtechy job ala Ms Walstad.

Currently I have a plastic background which shows a typical river scene (or something to that effect).

Just wondering what you all have and why as I am undecided on a painted blue or black or just leave it with a white wall behind it or leave it as it is with the river scene.

Regards

Lee
 
Solid black for contrast. I'm playing with the idea of maybe using a couple sheets of tracing paper/baking paper though.
 
Thanks for the replies, but please dont forget the 'whys'.

Why tracing paper? Why sandblasted clear plastic?

Regards
 
Design wise you use a background to hide the equipment behind the tank like hoses, cables etc. If you manage to arrange them on sides then the room's wall should be fine, if it doesn't have an atrocious color :lol:. I'm not advocating backgrounds especially the dark ones as I like to see what happens in the tank when the lights are off. I have a couple of different backgrounds available that I use only when taking photos of my tank. I usually leave a large space between the aquarium and wall so I can mount lights between the aquarium and background for photo sessions and also be able to move things around with ease, clean the dust etc.

Here's my current setup to see how it looks without a background, hoses and cables mounted on sides with clear suckers to hold them.

7163793061_4ea8f074b5_b.jpg


Mike
 
leemonk said:
Thanks for the replies, but please dont forget the 'whys'.

Why tracing paper?

Regards

Because not only would it hide the wallpaper & cables behind the tank, it is obviously transparent to some degree and would produce an interesting contrast.
 
I like the clean white wall aswell. The way the light hits the back wall can look pretty cool. As I have some nocturnal fish I also like to be able to see them flitting around when the lights are off.
 
I have used Bin liners in the past, and they come in a few colors. I like the heavy duty blue one's as nice and thick.
ATM I am using backing card in a pearlescent light blue color.
 
Clean white wall like ADA, but that only looks really good if your tank is nicely heavily planted. Or, a solid black background are the two smartest looks in my opinion and the two that I use. Some people put a blue light shining upwards on a white background which also looks great or even a yellowish one to replicate a sunset. The light dispersing ones are nice as well that the green machine sell. They give a good even tone and blend anything behind the tank in, really effective.
 
I've used tin foil in the past because it reflected the light and added a bit of depth to the tank.

Really liking the idea of sandblasted clear plastic - I might just try that idea :D
 
I've tried some "frosted" plastic that I had but it didn't stick to the glass too well. As I've only got a 35L Nano at the moment I thought it would easy to just prop a sheet of matt plastic up behind the tank. You can buy the stuff cheap enough on eBay if your aquarium is not too large. Also available in several translucent colours as well.
 
Hi Emyr

Thanks for your suggestion :D , but please forgive my ignorance :oops: when you said

" The light dispersing film that you can get from the GM"

did you mean The Green Machine? I tried looking on their site but could find it - or do you mean something completely different?

Confused :rolleyes:
Fiona
 
rebus said:
Dexie said:
Hi Emyr

Thanks for your suggestion :D , but please forgive my ignorance :oops: when you said

" The light dispersing film that you can get from the GM"

did you mean The Green Machine? I tried looking on their site but could find it - or do you mean something completely different?

Confused :rolleyes:
Fiona

Try here :thumbup:
viewtopic.php?f=47&t=16857

is this like the statically attached frosted film from bnQ?

i've got that and find it hellish hard to not get little marks in it from bits of dirt or hair which ruin the clean white finish.... :(
 
JohnC said:
is this like the statically attached frosted film from bnQ?

i've got that and find it hellish hard to not get little marks in it from bits of dirt or hair which ruin the clean white finish....

Yes it is more or less the same thing. You just have to make sure the glass is very clean your attaching it onto and do it quickly so no dirt gets onto it. I certainly didn't find it tricky.

Any idea of what background your going to go with Lee?
 
Always gone with black personally - let the contents stand out! Do want to get a sheet of card or something in white to try out once the planting is done!
 
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