Color other than blue or black for back glass?

[longgonedaddy]

I've been thinking about painting the back glass of my tanks. Never did it before, but I like the way it looks. It seems that I can only find pics of blue or black backgrounds. Anyone use another color? Thoughts on how it looked?

[creekbottom]

I have all my tanks painted black, but I've been recently rethinking this. Something light colored to mimic blue sky in the background. It would depend what your doing with the tank and the scape but I think it adds alot of depth and a more natural look. When you look at a landscape photo (above water) the blue sky is an integral part. It's the same for an aquascape.

Look at pics of scaped tanks with light backgrounds, I think it makes a huge difference.

[lochaber]

I'm partial to black myself. I think using a dark color (black, dark blue, etc.) gives an illusion of depth, and can help bring out the colors of fish and plants (similar to a dark substrate).

On the other hand, I think most of the pics of Amano tanks I've seen don't seem to have any background at all, and they look pretty good.

[Knotyoureality]

There's an amazing number of options--all can look spectacular.

Frosted white or blue are particularly cool if there's some backlighting, various shades of window-tinting can provide a less stark alternative to the usual solid black. Dark pine green can provide the deep contrast needed to hide equipment and pop the tank colors without the harshness of flat black (had this on my shrimp tank-loved it so much I'll be replacing the overly stark black on my 37g with dark green next time I'm able to access the back).

I've seen some ombre treatments--shading from deep blue to light blue as you move towards the top--that are simple breathtaking.

[Betta132]

I think dark green would look really nice, although I don't use a background on my tank. There's a light blue wall behind it, but the tannins make it look sort of greenish-brown.

[dprais1]

here
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...ght=watermelon

and here

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...low+background

[TheNamelessPoet]

Originally Posted by dprais1

here
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...ght=watermelon

and here

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...low+background

that watermelon looks awful until I saw it totally set up with the fish. now I think its AWESOME!!!

[Algae Beater]

try white, I have used white rattle can on a few nanos and have been VERY pleased

[Algae Beater]

for example

[Mahlady]

Originally Posted by TheNamelessPoet

that watermelon looks awful until I saw it totally set up with the fish. now I think its AWESOME!!!

WoW@watermelon with fish in it!
That's hot, I might just paint my new 55g that. It's great.

As for green, I have hunter green walls, and the 55 I have in there against the green always looks algea-ish. I don't like the green, so I added a black background, which with Tannis, makes the tank look drastically dark.
I think I will go with watermelon to the left and then blue to the right for my 55 twins.

I love that watermelon!

[DogFish]

This is a terrible example as the florescent light have tainted the true color.



You can get a pint of white latex paint at HomeDepot and have it tinted with just a little color. The background above is really faint powder blue. A light back ground bounces more light around in the tank.

In this tank I used a 2'x4' Bubble Textured floresent ceiling light defuser from HomeDepot cut to size. It's behind the tank.



I like this better as different amounts of room light will affect the background. Also, different amounts of light will shine through at various levels. I like that more than the solid color of my painted backgrounds.

I don't have a pic but, I've also used 5% "limo" window film. That will also have different light play so it doesn't look too uniform.

[dprais1]

for the watermalon


I think a big part of the attraction is the low light and shadows, maybe the white sand as well. Personally if you put that in a highlight tank the effect could totally change

[Wayne Dwops]

I want a discus tank now, geeeez.

I am probably going to do a dark purple background for my 20g long. I am a huge fan of dark purple with green and I *think* it will look good in a fish tank. I'll let you know

[Tenor1]

Originally Posted by Algae Beater

for example

This is a great post and thanks for sharing all the pictures. What I wondered about the white background is whether you see algae on it more easily than black or a darker color? The upside of a light color is reflecting more light for the plants.

[lochaber]

Originally Posted by DogFish

You can get a pint of white latex paint at HomeDepot and have it tinted with just a little color. The background above is really faint powder blue. A light back ground bounces more light around in the tank.

In the past, I've had good experience with spraypaint, but considering I'm in a studio apartment not on the ground floor (and dealing with bigger tanks), I'm gong to try the latex paint. When I was in Home Depot, they had these little ~7oz sized trial for a couple dollars, that you can get tinted (I got mine black). container says it should cover a 4x4 area, which should be enough for 2+ coats on most tanks.