Backgrounds for Reef Tanks

[Mandragen]

But the tank is already up and running, don't think spraying that would be a great idea,lol

 

[Korrine]

haha nope that won't work. Do you have enough room to get a small roller and roll paint on? Could get a can of flat black and do that.

I love the black background so much that I painted 2 tanks black and will scrape blue off another to paint it black as well.

 

[Mandragen]

Yeah I can get a roller back there and do it that way. I might even have some paint at the house. When I get home Ill see if I can snag a picture of the paint to if it would work. It's actually what I painted the stand with.

 

[djkms]

I use black as well. While setting up the tank I bought one of those aquarium backgrounds and taped it on good before filling with water. I suppose paint would have worked also but over time I was afraid that the paint would start to fade/chip away.

 

[Mandragen]

Well I was thinkin about just using one of those backgrounds that you put on the back, how is that working out for you?

 

[Korrine]

IME, the backgrounds that you tape on are a pita. As soon as you get some saltwater between it and the glass you need to take it off and clean it and the glass. if you don't it will dry, but will leave behind the white salt residue.

 

[djkms]

Its working great! I cut the background so it fits exactly against the glass and used packing tape along the top, bottom and sides. No water seeping in and it looks nice.

 

[Beaun]

Mine was already set up otherwise I would have painted it with Krylon Fuson. The plexi was easy to install and is easily removed.

 

[get_armbarred]

I just use the duel sided Blue/Black laminated background. it looks good and its not permanent

 

[Mandragen]

So I bought a piece of acrylic to put on the back of the tank. The problem is that it is about 6" away from the wall, is there anyway you can apply a background to the tank without messing things up? I have been told by the people at the sign shop that there is no way I can do this without messing it up. Should I just leave the tank and sell the acrylic?

 

[RokleM]

I actually just put a piece of tape on the top and bottom. My plastic/acrylic is cut in two pieces, one for each side with nothing in the middle where the overflow is. Even have my vortech working through it without issue.

 

[Mandragen]

There was an idea to put the black on some sort of board or foam and try to clip that to the back but I'm afraid that it will let light in between.

 

[Mandragen]

I've never applied this kinda stuff or window tint, anything this adhesive. It has adhesive on it but are you supposed to use some sort of liquid to help it smooth better? Also do you think that it can be done applying it on a 4'x2' surface with only 6" from the wall to work with? I was thinking that if you use a couple people and stretch it out with the paper still on it, start at one corner, peel back and start smoothing then it would work?

 

[Onedeadbob]

You can get the cloth fastened so that it is tight enough.
I used only 4 pieces of the double-sided velcro; about 3/4" x 1" pieces in the 4 corners of my 4' 75g. If you have a longer tank, you could use 6 pieces instead. It is a cheap solution (<$10) and you cannot tell that it is cloth behind the tank.

 

[aleonn]

My background is spray-painted royal blue with matching blue overflow boxes. The wife didn't want black, and we thought blue would provide nice depth and color. If I could do it over again, I'd get the self-adhesive vinyl background so that I can change colors easily in the future, but I can't complain.

 

[Logzor]

I went with a blue background on my new aquarium. I think it makes the tank look brighter and more realistic.