My Shadowbox Background Project

[Christian J]

I put so much effort into softening the contrast and then once the main tank came on the contrast diminished a lot more than expected.

I see what you mean, on the midday pic the background rock is almost invisible. It's not the blue acrylic that's too blurred?

Here's another one, with a photo inside a 6" deep box: http://die-neumis.de/webblog/?p=46 --doesn't looks too bad (at least in the picture), but the perspective of the sand floor feels wrong...I guess it could work if you pretend it's a slope pointing upwards against distant shore, otherwise maybe it's better not to show any sand bottom in a background photo. FWIW there's also a link to a forum thread on that page, but it seems you must be a member to read it: http://www.meerwasserforum.info/thr...dview=0&hilight=sichtbox&hilightuser=0&page=1

 

[euromomtx]

I agree with you on the sand. Doesn't look right. I'd skip it.

I think I am okay with how mine turned out. I need the blurriness of the blue acrylic to get that hazy water feel.
I think to get it perfect at all light levels would be a real challenge. Any less blurry to support high contrast at midday would mean it wouldn't disguise enough at low light times like dawn.

And I kind of like how it changes through the day. I think I'd miss it if I had to turn it off during low light times so that I could adjust it to be perfect at high light times.

To me worse than not much detail would be if it looked fakey. So I rather err on the little too blurry side than have it look kind of corny and obvious

 

[canyousee]

+1 well done really enjoyed the way it changed during the day very life like.

 

[palmer373]

howd you get the dawn effect? looks greenish (the sand and rocks).

 

[euromomtx]

GE 3000k bulb in the shadowbox (very yellow) makes it look more green than blue when it's the only bulb on

 

[srusso]

First I would like to say thank you, for starting this thread. I am starting my first reef tank and loved the idea of something other then the plain black background. My tank has a middle overflow which means I have to create two "shadow boxes". I am up for the challenge... someone (sorry for not going back and checking who) posted this link.

http://www.snaptint.com/product.php?productid=16205

The snap tint made this whole thing work for me! My idea is to tank two pieces of ~1/2" thick acrylic Plexiglas sandwiched together with different film shades to create rock and water areas. Using LED's to light the entire project, with them pointing from the inside corners or out corners. Thick acrylic when layered seems to create more depth then is actually there, so with the snap tint and LEDs, I hopefully will create the look I want or should I say we all want...

FYI: I have no idea what I am doing... or how much its going to cost me...

FYI-A: The rock seen in the tank is in no way what I plan the rock to look like in the end. I am just cycling the rock I got with the tank. I plan to build the rock up the overflow box with openings all around, like the one at the bottom left of the tank now.

 

[srusso]

sorry forgot to attach the pic, these power-heads are also temporary

 

[srusso]

Just found this non glare plexi

http://www.estreetplastics.com/Non_Glare_Plexiglass_P99_s/89.htm

http://www.estreetplastics.com/1_8_x_14_x_18_Non_Glare_Plexiglass_Acrylic_P99_p/1801251418.htm

This stuff is only 1/8" thick but I could put three together, and at $11 each we are takin $66 for my tank.


update...

although this 16" by 20" is a better fit... still doable

http://www.estreetplastics.com/1_8_x_16_x_20_Non_Glare_Plexiglass_Acrylic_P99_p/1801251620.htm

 

[kv2wr1]

Very Nice! When you made yours, did you have the rock silhouettes the same distance away from the acrylic or did you put some closer and some further away?

The schematic looks like they are all an equal amount of distance away from the acrylic.

 

[Christian J]

Just found this non glare plexi

What's the purpose of using non glare, will it reduce reflections from the tank even though it's behind the tank's back wall glass?

 

[euromomtx]

I don't think it will affect tank reflections - unless you place it inside the tank in front of the back glass?

kv I don't think the person that made that schematic used any acrylic at all. It's just how I approached it since I knew I wouldn't be able to paint well enough to give that illusion of hazy distance.
The rock cut-outs are very similar in distance although they both lean back towards the top just to eliminate funky shadows.

 

[euromomtx]

srusso
thanks for joining in! Looking forward to seeing what you come up with

 

[sasharotty]

This is a pretty sweet idea but............how bout a diagram or schematic in english. Its confusing what you have there and how everything comes together.

 

[euromomtx]

page 8 has the diagram in English of the original shadowbox as seen in that very first picture.
My own approach was different. I did a box with an acrylic window in front as you can see in the pictures on the first page - not the same as the shadowbox diagram.

 

[Boegie]

Congratulations on thread of the month. Going to try this one day.

 

[SCIFI_3D_zoo]

Seems like a lot of trouble tho the original idea does look really kool. Wouldn't it be easier and very effective if we had "regular backgrounds" to stick to the back that have the same look? I looked around and didn't really find a good selection anywhere. I've been experimenting with NO MO scraping and letting coraline algae takeover the back. Not turning out so well and now I have a huge mess that i'll prob. never clean. I'm just gonna try and grow my corals out to cover it up.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Aquarium-Mirror-Back-Background-15-29-Gallon-/280547328162?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0 MIRROR background. Wonder how that would look?

http://cgi.ebay.com/24-x-12-Ocean-Sea-Blue-Driftwood-Aquarium-Background-/300314603211?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0 Ocean Sea variant

http://cgi.ebay.com/Deep-Blue-Sea-Amazon-Waters-Aquarium-Background-12-x20-/200425146535?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0 Deep Blue Sea one (had this one b4 and it's not bad for depth)

http://cgi.ebay.com/JUWEL-3D-AQUARIUM-BACKGROUND-FISH-TANK-20-24-GALLON-/350312811417?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0 Silicone type rock background (seen b4 in a TOTM I think) that you can let coralline grow on, attack corals too. The one I saw long ago was rockier tho.

I've used and seen a lot of "black" backgrounds too. There's really not much choice out there for this part of the hobby.

 

[buy_baff]

Uh your missing the point. The point is to give the tank more depth.

 

[euromomtx]

baff I was trying to think of how to answer this but I think you already did.

 

[SCIFI_3D_zoo]

Yea. I think it can be done with a good background is all I'm saying. I have not seen this shadow box in person though. It might be 10x more effective in person.

 

[euromomtx]

For what I was looking for the lighting and diffusion was crucial but we all have different things that appeal to us. I absolutely agree that if a 1 dimensional background is what you are looking for then that would be much cheaper and easier.
In fact I have some self adhesive black vinyl that I purchased before I decided it wasn't what I wanted and if anybody wants self adhesive black vinyl PM me and I can make you a good price.